Last Updated on August 5, 2021
PLOT: Three years after the Jurassic World disaster, the Isla Nublar dinosaurs are on the verge of extinction, with a volcano set to sink the island into the sea. Cue Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), who are lured back to the island by a rich billionaire under the guise of saving the dinos, including Grady’s beloved pet raptor Blue, only for them to discover a far more sinister agenda.
REVIEW: I wasn’t surprised that JURASSIC WORLD was well-received by fans back in 2015, with a decent mix of nostalgia and excitement helping the film gross $1.6 billion worldwide, but I didn’t anticipate it becoming the cultural phenomenon it ended up being. Fact is – I was cool on the movie and I shrugged at the idea of a sequel until I learned it was going to be directed by J. A Bayona (THE IMPOSSIBLE, A MONSTER CALLS).
Sure enough, I prefer the sequel to the generic original, but it’s embrace of B-movie cheese, as well as a plot that comes off as more of a GODZILLA-monster movie hybrid than a legit JURASSIC PARK follow-up, will certainly make it controversial among fans. Despite Michael Giacchino’s score working overtime to evoke John Williams, this is a far cry from Steven Spielberg, with a plot twist setting up a potentially even goofier sequel that’ll either keep this saga a global phenomenon or run it into the ground.
To be sure, JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM falls prey to some of the things that marred the original, although they were less flaws than realities of the current film game – mainly the all-CG dinos. I miss the animatronics that made them seem real in the Spielberg films – here they never, for a second, seem legit. And, like the first, the story doesn’t make a lick of sense, with Pratt and Howard’s heroes ranking among the most ineffective leading characters of all time. In fact, one could argue they set off everything bad that happens and had the villains, who include Rafe Spall’s greedy businessman, been able to just do their thing, disaster and many deaths might have been averted.
All that said, JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM is a whole lot of fun. Once the plot kicks into high gear and we actually leave Isla Nublar, it arguably becomes the most purely entertaining entry in the series since the first, although the silliness is cranked up to eleven. Pratt and Howard are back, with the latter getting a solid rewrite to make her a bit more believable (no more heels!). Pratt also gets to strut his stuff as an action hero, with a twist that the baddies want to sell the dinos to be hunted for sport giving him an excuse to do some hand-to-hand stuff with the mercenaries. If you’re wondering when I’m going to mention Jeff Goldblum, well, it’s little more than a glorified cameo. Seriously, if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve essentially seen his whole part.
Of course, the idea of dinos being sold to billionaires to hunt for sport is ridiculous, as are the low prices they fetch, with them going for like 4 mil a piece. 4 million! For a dinosaur! So, Chris Pratt, for what he made for doing this movie could have bought one good one, like a raptor, or two of the second string guys. Heck- even Goldblum for a day of work could have bought a Dino. It’s too cheap people!
Still, as silly as it is, the movie is fun and jam-packed with action. Bayona even tries to tug at the heartstrings a little by revisiting Pratt’s relationship with his pet Dino Blue. It all leads up to a crazy, bonkers-nuts ending, which some may think is idiotic, while others may salivate at the potential for even crazier sequels. I’m somewhere in the middle. JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM is silly and doesn’t elevate the franchise like we might have hoped with Bayona at the helm, but as pure entertainment, it works pretty damn well. I had fun.
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