Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

6/10

Starring

Chris Pratt

Bryce Dallas Howard

Rafe Spall

Justice Smith

Directed by J. A. Bayona

The new Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom reminds me a lot of every other Jurassic Park movie created after the first one (Jurassic Park in 1993, directed by Steven Spielberg). Each of those movies was good, but not great like the original Jurassic Park.

In the first two sequels (The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III), things were coasting, and the movies felt more like a collection of ideas the producers wished they could have included in the first Jurassic Park.

In this continuation series, my biggest issues are the additional long conversations and build-ups to what we’re all waiting for: the dinosaurs getting totally out of control. Instead of adding a new spin to the plot, the last two movies have been the same old tale with a different cast.

In Fallen Kingdom—again, though I was hoping it wouldn’t be—the “villains” are planning to create a new dinosaur by merging the DNA of the Indominus Rex from Jurassic World (2015) with that of the last living Velociraptor. Yes, the movie is dealing with the same further mutation of mutated dinosaurs that all the movies have been about. There’s nothing new to add, just a lengthy buildup, as I said, and some video clips from the past showing how raptors can be controlled. The movie also tries to keep you on edge by dropping clues and using unnecessary tactics to warn you of the danger ahead, which ends up being too boring to applaud.

So, the dead Indominus Rex’s DNA is harvested, and by fooling Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) from the first movie, our new idiot financier wants to weaponize these creatures with his new hybrid. He plans to sell them to the highest bidder and eliminate anyone in his path toward this financial breakthrough he envisions. The island where the dinosaurs were located is about to be destroyed by a volcano, and our cruel financier—and all-around bad guy—tricks the beloved duo into helping him capture some of the dinosaurs with the lie of relocating them to another island.

Before you get to the part with the thrill and excitement, you’ll have to wait over eighty minutes for the dinosaurs to break loose.

The movie seems to be on a path toward financial profit for Universal, and I’m sure a third installment is already in the works. Universal went all-in when it came to the marketing and production of this movie, pumping over $350 million into it—way more than the first movie. If things go the way of the first movie, it’ll be another big payday. Sadly, though, the movie is just there, and I hope the third part will have more to add to this already exhausting plotline.