Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review/First Reaction

So I just saw Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the sequel to 2015’s Jurassic World, which was essentially a soft reboot of the Jurassic Park franchise, though I don’t really think of it as part of the true Park series—it’s the next step in the series’ evolution, if you will.

I don’t really know where to begin with this one. I wasn’t all that excited for it, based on the direction Jurassic World chose to go, with incorporating a genetic hybrid as the main antagonist and dishing out far more over-the-top action, dialogue, and situations than the original film. In the end, I’ve realized that, being such a fan of the Jurassic franchise, and a fan of dinosaur movies in general, it would take a lot for me to actually fully not like one of these movies. So yeah, I didn’t dislike it. But did I like it? Well...a little.

First, the positives. Chris Pratt is Chris Pratt, I’ve accepted that. But, he did a good job this time around. Not that he wasn’t decent before, but he’s even a bit more likable and entertaining. There are plenty of dinosaurs in this movie, from beginning to end, and not too many long stretches without any dinos. Plenty of references are made to the previous films, as well as the novels upon which the first two movies are based, and many of these references I quite enjoyed. The visual effects were a tad better than before, and the cinematography was much better. It was darker, more varied, and a few of the shots were really well executed, particularly one of a Brachiosaurus standing amid the volcanic cloud spreading over the island. Some of the action sequences were suitably exciting and unique. I really enjoyed the gyrosphere going over the cliff into the ocean, as seen in the trailers, which reminded me of The Abyss, and a scene with the T-rex, though not action-packed, was reasonably entertaining, as well.

The biggest problem is the story. It’s a bit familiar, a bit scattered, and significantly ridiculous. Yes, that word could be used to describe many parts of this movie. The concept of the island being an erupting volcano is one that turned many people off right away, I think. While you could say it plays into the general ridiculousness of the whole movie (which it does), it’s also something significant in the novels, and there’s mention in The Lost World: Jurassic Park of the facilities running off geothermal power. So yes, it does work, technically, in the world of the film. But I’m reminded of Malcolm’s line from the original: “Just because you could, you didn’t stop to think if you should.” I still don’t love the island erupting concept, but moving past that, there’s a lot of material regarding the nature of cloning and creation, as there should be in any good Jurassic movie. That’s something I missed from Jurassic World, which focused more solely on the theme part aspect and the action. But now that I got what I wanted...I wish I didn’t.

Jeff Goldblum is back as Ian Malcolm—something all the fans were eager to see—but not only is his appearance predictably brief, his dialogue is not all that great, and Goldblum’s delivery is not that enthusiastic. Dr. Wu is back, as well, the only character from the original who returned for the previous Jurassic World. This time around, he’s gone full crazy Frankenstein, which annoyed me. Two of the new characters, Zia, a paleoveterinarian, and Franklin, an IT guy, are actually pretty likable additions to the series, both believable and funny. Unfortunately, they aren’t in the movie enough. There are two main parts of the story: the rescue of the dinosaurs from the island (blatantly copying what was done in The Lost World) and the goings on in a secluded mansion of an elderly rich man, John Lockwood, who was once partnered with John Hammond, the creator of Jurassic Park. This supposedly important character felt rather contrived—for being so important, how come we’re only hearing about him now? It’s been five movies! Some of the stuff that happens at the mansion ranges from boring, to straight up dumb, but almost every time it cuts away from the island or the transport of dinosaurs to the mainland, it’s less interesting.

Every one of these movies has to have at least one kid in it, apparently. The kid in this one is a non-character. She just wanders around the mansion, curiously looking at stuff, and yet she’s much more crucial to the story than you might expect. There was basically nothing I found likable about her. I just wanted her out of the movie.

A big problem Jurassic World had was a lack of practical effects

and an overabundance of questionable cgi. It was pushed in the marketing that Fallen Kingdom would have more practical dinosaur effects, with full-size animatronics interacting with the actors. There are a few, but they severely pale in comparison to the dinosaurs created by Stan Winston for the Jurassic Park trilogy. I don’t know if it’s the effects guys’ fault, or if it’s the lighting, or the way they’re shot, but they still don’t look as convincing or lifelike as in previous films.

I don’t want to say too much, as to avoid spoilers, but if you’ve seen the trailers, then the whole movie has basically been spoiled for you, anyway, so what I’m going to talk about in the next two paragraphs I’ll preview with a spoiler alert. The Indoraptor is introduced about halfway through, as the perfect killing machine—more perfect than any other cloned creature. The only problem is, it’s not! The Velociraptor is still more effective. I wasn’t a fan of the Indominous Rex, and this thing is essentially the same, only smaller. The third act tries extremely hard to be scary, but it just isn’t. This creature is no scarier than a real dinosaur would have been.

The climax of the film is almost exactly the same as what Steven Spielberg was originally going to shoot for the first Jurassic Park. Instead of having the T-rex show up to kill the last two Velociraptors, the collapsing skeletons were going to do the job, with one of the raptors impaled by a rib. I have no doubt Fallen Kingdom’s ending was meant as a tribute to that original idea. What I find baffling is, if Spielberg abandoned that concept in favour of something more epic and satisfying, which I don’t think anyone would argue that yes, it is better than a rib impaling the villainous creature, why would the filmmakers think doing that ending would make for a more exciting climax? Shouldn’t they be trying to outdo the previous Jurassic World ending? This ending is pathetic in comparison.

At this point, I don’t have a lot else to say about Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. I really loved the opening scene, and I was into it for the first act, but it started losing me halfway through, and by the end, I was kind of tired of it. The more I think about it, the more issues I seem to find. Given this is my initial reaction, it could change somewhat in the future, but as of right now, I would say it’s my least-favourite entry in the series. They just pushed the boundaries of believability too far past the tipping point. Jurassic Park made you believe everything you saw. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom doesn’t make you believe much of anything. It’s still a fun action adventure film with lots of dinosaurs, some surprisingly dark moments, and interesting concepts, but is far outside the realm of believable, exceptional filmmaking—even further than the first Jurassic World already was.