I heard about Sam Neill's passing, I thought I'd take a moment to talk about perhaps my favourite moment involving his character, Dr. Alan Grant. I know some people look at this line and think it's random or corny or what, but for me personally, it really makes this scene that much more meaningful.
Because ANYONE could look at an entire ecosystem of animals brought back from extinction and say something like, "That's amazing!" or "They're back!" or "They're alive!" or something like that. But only Dr. Alan Grant would look at all of this and say, "They do move in herds."
He's witnessing animals that haven't been on the planet for tens of millions of years, and the only thing that guy can think about is that dumb little theory he's been arguing about for most of his paleontology career being validated before his very eyes. Heck, I'm sure you've felt the exact same way he does right here when you watched your favourite fan theory or OTP become canon!
It takes what could have been a bog-standard reaction scene and makes it unique to his character, making him understandable, relatable, and that much more human instead of just an amalgamation of tropes and cliches.
What else can I say? It's a beautiful scene of a well-written character perfectly executed by a brilliant actor. Rest in peace, Neill.
