I’d like to lightly paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm in regards to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom being made, or truly any Jurassic Park sequel. “Your (producers) were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
Jurassic Park sequels are still nowhere near the “wish you were never born” level of say, The Pirates of the Caribbean or the Matrix sequels. However, much like the dinosaurs created in the lab, you have to wonder how these filmmakers never learn from their mistakes.
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are back in mix as their characters are both pulled back to Isla Nublar as part of a dinosaur rescue effort before a volcano destroys the island. Though, as we learned in The Lost World, bringing dinosaurs back to the real world brings immediate calamity, especially as a few devious scientists have created a brand new threat – the Indoraptor.
I was genuinely excited for this movie, hoping it could move beyond the soft, familiar relaunch of the series with Jurassic World. Sadly, when you break down the story beats of Fallen Kingdom, it matches The Lost World a little too closely, give or take a gymnast.
There’s a lot of great to Fallen Kingdom. The intro scene that shows a stormy, desolate Jurassic World years after its closing, is moody and thrilling. It’s a great start that, if continued, could have been a great movie.
What follows is one of the most uneven movies I’ve seen in a while. The crew gets to the island in the nick of time as lava and pyroclasts rain from the volcano, narrowly missing our leads. This island rescue is too short to be memorable, and just feels like an all-too-convenient way to incorporate our leads from the last movie.
The meat of this story takes the story into a near Purge-level side of weird. The clever commercialization message of the first Jurassic World has now gone into an anti-capitalist angle where dinosaurs are auctioned off to rich people and government officials. But don’t worry audience, anyone that is considered evil will clearly be eaten.
The best section of Fallen Kingdom is also its most ludicrous. The Indoraptor prowls through an old gothic mansion eagerly stalking its prey. For this, I credit director J.A. Bayona for how he crafted these scenes. It is actually thrilling and will scare younger audiences. The Indoraptor itself is yet another hybrid creation that doesn’t feel quite necessary in a world where raptors and the T-Rex exists. That said, she is the equivalent of Freddy Krueger chasing our protagonists through a dusty old mansion. For all its leaps in logic, it’s very fun to watch.
My main problem with Fallen Kingdom is that nothing ever feels threatening. Heroes always get away and you never question their safety. With teeth, lava, claws and villains at every corner, you’d hope for a bit of actual danger. Basically, this wants to be a tonally scary movie, but treats the audience like kids.
I do have to credit composer Michael Giacchino, as his score is the best thing about the movie. The music creates tension where CG dinosaurs can’t.
You’ll walk away from Fallen Kingdom with the feeling that it was a fun movie to watch. Just do yourself a favor and don’t think twice about the plot holes, the hammy acting or poorly-explained exposition. This is slightly better than the first Jurassic world, but in the end is only rental quality. C+
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