Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall
Directed by: J.A. Bayona
Rated: PG-13
Over the years, Jurassic Park has been opened, closed, abandoned, reopened, closed again, and re-abandoned! What is there left to do with this franchise? Recycle storylines, of course!
3 years have passed since the events of Jurassic World and the park is now abandoned. It seems that the dinosaurs can live on their own on the island separate from humans, right? WRONG. That would be such a boring movie. An active volcano is about to erupt on Isla Nublar where all of the dinos live. Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her team attempt to convince the public to save the dinosaurs. She gets the attention of billionaire Benjamin Lockwood and his assistant Eli Mills. They have the idea to move the dinosaurs to a safe island. Claire re-teams with Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) to go back to the island and save the dinosaurs before everything is destroyed. Of course, chaos ensues because this is a Jurassic Park movie, but is it exciting or mindless action?
The first act of Fallen Kingdom is genuinely entertaining. It's a thrilling race against the clock to see if Owen and Claire can get the dinosaurs off the island before an active volcano erupts. The effects are fantastic and the action is riveting. Then we're hit with the second and third acts. It's like watching a different movie. Instead of the exciting sequences on the island, the rest of the film takes place in a confined mansion. It's dark, clinical, and small compared to the film's opening. Not to mention, we've already seen everything that happens. Scenes fromJurassic Park and Jurassic World were just directly copied and filmed here. Why would you open a movie with your most exciting material and then use recycled material the audience has seen for the next 2 hours?
Another massive issue with Fallen Kingdom is the screenplay. No one in this movie can make a logical decision to save their life. Who would decide to go back to an island that's inhabited by dinosaurs that try to kill any human that gets within a 1000 foot radius? It's a noble thing to try to save the species, but not realistic. The second half of the screenplay has no character development, just paper-thin villains attempting to create the exact same creature from Jurassic World and "militarize" dinosaurs." Great idea! Let's put the creatures that we've been trying to control for 5 movies in the military! Nothing could go wrong.
Just when I felt the movie couldn't get any more ridiculous, there is a "dinosaur auction" that happens. I would love to quickly gloss over this, but I have to address it.
1) Who wrote that there would be a dinosaur auction in the script?
2) I know there are crazy people in the world, but who is gonna go to a dinosaur auction
3) What do the people do once they buy the dinosaur at the auction?
I understand that the general idea in the movie is that each buyer will "militarize" the dinosaurs, but what if there's some Great Gatsby type of guy who really wants to impress a girl with his wealth so he buys a dinosaur at an auction. "Daisy, come to my party this weekend. I just got a new Brontosaurus."
Speaking of the Brontosaurus, the effects in Fallen Kingdom are something to applaud. Every dinosaur looks truly impressive showing how advanced digital effects have become in the film industry. The film itself looks great with several shots boasting cinematography that looks, dare I say, artsy for a Jurassic Park film. A few scenes in particular stick out to me, one as the team looks back on a destroyed island and one as we see the shadow of a dinosaur. Shadows are played with a lot here and the visual works quite well.
Moving on from visuals, the cast does well with what they are given. Chris Pratt is always entertaining and he carries the movie. He's funny and charming as Owen Grady playing the character as a total action-hero. The controversy surrounding Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Claire Dearing, has been put to rest. She is never seen wearing high heels once in the sequel. In fact, they changed her characterization from a hard working corporate woman to a stereotypical action movie female. Daniella Pineada and Justice Smith are new additions to the cast as Zia (a paleo-veterinarian) and Franklin (a former park technician). They are helpful members of the team, but their attempts at comedy fall flat a lot of the time. The villain Eli Mills (played by Rafe Spall) suffers from a severe lack of character development and feels like a character we've seen a million times before.
Fallen Kingdom has a decent first act, but then, just like the Kingdom, the movie falls. Its impressive visuals can't save the bad script and recycled action sequences that we've seen so many times before. Unfortunately, this is a disappointing addition to the Jurassic Park franchise.
My Rating: 5/10