Despite being a major catalyst for the chaos that occurred in Jurassic Park, Dennis Nedry wasn't the villain that fans . Played by Wayne Knight in Steven Spielberg's '90s classic action-adventure film, he was appointed by John Hammond to develop and oversee the theme park's operations, specifically its security systems. After constantly complaining about being undervalued and underpaid, he went to InGen's competitor Biosyn, and made a deal to smuggle out several highly coveted embryos from the park's most infamous genetic specimens in the bottom of Dodgson's Barbasol can, including velociraptor, tyrannosaurus rex, and triceratops.
In order to accomplish his scheme, Nedry needed to turn off the security systems long enough to sneak the embryos out, at which point he promptly high-tailed it to the docks so that he could escape from Isla Nublar before anyone noticed. This prompted all the electric fences and paddocks to be unsecured, allowing the most dangerous predators to roam freely while Dr. Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Sattler (Laura Dern), Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and Hammond's grandchildren were taking a tour of the park. Nedry got his comeuppance, in the end, when his ruse helped free the dilophosaurus that killed him, but the entire debacle could have been easily prevented.
Hammond Should've Listened To Nedry In Jurassic Park
Prior to doublecrossing John Hammond, Nedry made several comments about the park's need for more staff to handle the size of the security system, but Hammond refused to listen to him. Even before Nedry took advantage of the system's bugs, he explained to Hammond that the system could crash at any point, leaving visitors' at the mercy of dinosaurs that could break free from their enclosures. Ultimately, the very problem that Nedry warned against was what gave him the cover he needed to sneak into cold storage and steal the embryos without arousing suspicion.
By dismissing Nedry's concerns and making him feel like an undervalued asset, Hammond inadvertently fomented the very resentment that led Nedry to take matters into his own hands. When Biosyn offered a lucrative offer if Nedry stole Jurassic Park samples, he jumped at the chance to make more money and prove to Hammond that he was right, and his employer was wrong. Had Hammond respected Nedry's expertise and treated him fairly, then Nedry might not have turned into the Jurassic Park villain that instigated the loss of innocent lives.
Nedry Was Used By Hammond In The Jurassic Park Book
Jurassic Park's John Hammond is different from the book, in which Michael Crichton depicted him as a raging capitalist who couldn't stomach the idea of paying for more employees, and overworked Nedry from the beginning. Nedry's company won the contract for programming the park's system by underbidding, and once Hammond accepted their application, InGen added numerous requirements at the last minute while also refusing to pay the overtime necessary to implement them. In a scene in the control room, Nedry even states that he isn't compensated for his expertise or workload, but Hammond blames Nedry's own "financial problems" rather than taking responsibility as his employer.
Despite the fact that Nedry stated the sort of automation he accomplished for Hammond was nothing short of a miracle, Hammond would neither compensate Nedry fairly for the amount of work he did nor give him a budget for a larger team to manage the workload, leading Nedry to look out for his own best interests. Nedry's plan never made sense, but the book provides the necessary context for his selfish actions in the film, which are mostly attributed to greed rather than burnout and desperation. Despite sparing "no expense" Hammond's cutting corners with Nedry led to everything that went wrong in Jurassic Park.
