Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is predictable, but dependable fun
The revival of the Jurassic Park franchise with 2015’s Jurassic World turned out to be a massive success. Though some success was obviously expected because of the recognizable property and the social relevance of Jurassic Park it was nearly impossible to anticipate what came to be. Jurassic World shocked everyone by becoming the #1 biggest weekend opener as of its release.
Bringing new faces like Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard into the franchise certainly helped boost the box office numbers. Jurassic World found a perfect mixture of big blockbuster fun and nostalgic value. Now after three years, we get the second installment, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
The follow-up builds on the groundwork laid in the previous film. After the long-dormant volcano on Isla Nublar (an island where the dinosaurs roam) becomes active, chaos ensues in a variety of ways.
Political struggles arise over whether it is correct to allow the dinosaurs to die on an island with the impending volcanic explosion or if there is a safe way to save them from extinction.
Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), part of an advocacy group for saving the dinosaurs, receives a call from a businessman willing to help save dinosaurs from the island.
Claire recruits a small group, including Owen (Chris Pratt), and they all set out to an island with free-roaming dinosaurs and an active volcano with the objective of saving as many species as they possibly can.
The movie does take a few turns in unexpected directions and does not necessarily follow the plotline it sets up at first.
This can either be interpreted as a positive or a negative thing depending on how invested you are in the first part of the story. There are some twists here and there and sudden plot turns, but at the same time Jurassic World: the Fallen Kingdom can be fairly predictable.
There is not much out of the ordinary in any aspect of this film: The acting is solid. The story is engaging enough (sometimes it pushes a little too far). The action is good and entertaining. Everything is good. It is exciting to see dinosaurs on the big screen once again and to revisit old friends from past movies like the velociraptor Blue and the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
There is some exploration of ideas brought up in past films, the genetic modification and genetic creation of dinosaurs is explored some more in the Fallen Kingdom.
We get to explore some of the bonds between humans and dinosaurs some more as well. There are some very heartfelt moments between Owen and Blue as we see how they grew closer together and were then separated after the incident at Isla Nublar. Jurassic World: the Fallen Kingdom deals with very extraordinary and improbable scenarios. This is a world where dinosaurs roam the Earth once more, and despite this it finds a way to be relatable on some basic aspects. The connections between animals and humans are something that most people can relate to and the Fallen Kingdom feeds on that in a positive way. It understands how to create sympathy for our non-human characters.
The introduction of some new human characters such as the tech-savvy Franklin Webb played by Justice Smith and the passionate Zia played by Daniella Pineda were handled well, most of the time.
A new child character is given an entire arc in the film, but it doesn’t feel natural or necessary at all. This ended up making me take the film a little less seriously.
The writing of this specific character just felt a bit off. Otherwise, the new characters did not play too large of a role on the overarching story of the film, but they did add to a few key moments and were fun to see on screen.
It had been quite some time since I last walked into the theater and felt what I did while I was watching Jurassic World 2.
I felt a different type of on-screen fun, just a big blockbuster movie feel and with big action and an entertaining enough plot to get you through eating your popcorn and drinking your soda.
There are many faults with the film overall, but it is a worthwhile time if you are looking to have some fun.