E's Reviews: Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom


Life finds a way. Again. For the fifth time.

Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom is now the fifth film in the insanely successful Jurassic Park franchise started back in 1993 by one of the greatest filmmakers of our time, Steven Spielberg. This new entry in the franchise is directed by J.A. Bayona and has Chris Pratt returning from Jurassic World as Owen Grady, the specialist on raptors, his on again off again love interest and badass former operator of Jurassic World, Claire Dearing played by the returning Bryce Dallas-Howard. This time around, they are joined by the ever enjoyable Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm (albeit for a very short amount of time), Rafe Spall as Eli Mills, James Cromwell as Benjamin Lockwood (who helped Mr. Hammond from the first film with his foray into genetics to bring dinosaurs to life), the very awesome duo of Justice Smith and Daniella Pineda who play Franklin Webb (a tech specialist) and Zia Rodriguez (a paleo-veterinarian). They are also joined by newcomer Isabella Sermon who plays Maisie Lockwood, who is a mysterious child that is (or maybe not...?) Benjamin Lockwood’s granddaughter.

In this new film, the island where Jurassic World was is under threat from the island’s volcano, which is about to erupt violently, and could completely destroy the ecosystem and all the dinosaurs living on the island. Claire gets Owen, Franklin and Zia to join her in her quest to rescue the dinosaurs from complete annihilation, at the behest of Mr. Lockwood. Unfortunately for our heroes, not all is as it seems and some sinister plot to steal some dinosaurs goes down, and we get a movie.

As far as the technical aspects of the movie go, it’s well directed, the CGI isn’t as obvious or as over-saturated as you’d expect. There are great sequences with some very compelling practical effects and puppetry/mechanical dinos that were very reminiscent of the first film in the franchise. The movie looks great. The acting is just as good, with Chris Pratt proving once again that he is a legitimate hero that can carry a franchise. Bryce Dallas-Howard’s Claire is once again a great, strong character, that isn’t afraid to face the terrors of dealing with these monstrous animals...and let me tell you, the third act is all terror. These are the films strong points, you’ve got a great ensemble and a great looking movie. The problems...well...

The biggest issue I had was the screenplay. The story was kind of paper thin to begin with, and made me feel like I was watching The Lost World all over again (that movie being, in my opinion, the weakest in the franchise). You’ve also got Jeff Goldblum reprising his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm, and you only give him about 5 minutes of screen time. Why would you do that? That felt to me like a gigantic wasted opportunity. Then there was the reveal near the end that I totally saw coming (and which I won’t spoil) that felt kind of cheap. Then there was the ending itself that also felt like a complete cheap shot to the audience. This movie, with all the things it had going for it, was a world building film. It didn’t feel like the middle part to a trilogy, it felt like it was going for the BIG FRANCHISE numbers. It had several beats to it’s credit that made it fun, and made it entertaining, but then when you see how it all ends, you’ve got what a lot of studios are going for...which is to make MORE. In this case, it falls short and it felt cheap.

The things I absolutely loved about this film, was that it brought back that horror aspect from the first movie, especially dealing with the raptors and the...mega raptor...which I won’t spoil for those who haven’t seen it, but let me tell you this...the movie goes from action/adventure film to horror/suspense by the third act. That actually made me worry and had me on the edge of my seat, so that combined with the great acting and great look, made this movie entertaining for me and for fans of the Jurassic Park franchise thus far.

I also need to mention that I’m biased towards these movies because I absolutely LOVE them. If you haven’t yet seen it, I recommend watching them all in order. It’ll bring back the nostalgia for all of us who’ve seen them before, and it’ll bring wonder and imagination to the younger generations.

Final Score: 7.5/10

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