Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review
7 / 10. A surprisingly emotional addition to the franchise, a lot of fun if somewhat predictable *MINOR SPOILERS*
Three years after the chaos and utter destruction of the ill-fated Jurassic World theme park (they didn’t learn from the first time around), Owen Grady and Claire Dearing return to Isla Nublar island to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from a volcano that's due erupt and destroy the entire island, once and for all. As always, breeds evolve or are created, and they uncover conspiracies that could doom the entire planet.
Directed by J.A. Bayona, Fallen Kingdom starts strongly with the trip back to Isla Nublar which raised some interesting moral dilemmas regarding the fate of the surviving dinosaurs. This part of the film did remind me of the plot of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, with the mercs coming to 'free' the dinosaurs, but it was enjoyable. Chris Pratt plays Owen with charisma and is amusing, as is Justice Smith’s Franklin, but I find Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) to still be a bit of a wet quilt. The return to the island led to an emotional reunion and a very sad moment.
As a huge fan of this series, the old and the new, I enjoyed this new instalment to the franchise. When I first saw Jurassic Park in the cinema at 12 years old, I was in awe and it started my love of cinema and movie monsters. The rumbling puddles as the T-Rex approached and his roar have stuck with me, and the special effects still hold up to this day.
There was a lull in momentum in the middle part and the new Indoraptor didn't instil the same fear as the Indominus Rex did in Jurassic World. There was some predictability to the events once the action moved to the Lockwood Estate. Another upsetting moment had me rooting for the dinosaurs, all of them.
The ending set up nicely for the third instalment of this part of the franchise and I’m intrigued to see what comes next.
The inclusion of Jeff Goldblum’s return as Dr Ian Malcolm in a small but crucial role was a highlight, as Jeff's appearance in anything always is.