Admittedly, Jurassic Park holds a dear spot in my heart. It is one of the earlier movies that, to this day, still manages to wow me with its impressive use of visual and practical effects. Even if the rest of the sequels fail to reach that initial standard set by Steven Spielberg, I still would very much defend the franchise which created something so spectacular and was brought to the big screens for moviegoers to experience. 25 years after the original, we now have a new Jurassic Park movie which acts as a direct sequel to 2015’s soft reboot, Jurassic World, titled Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
The theme park in the fictional island of Isla Nublar that holds various dinosaurs is now destroyed after the events of Jurassic World. Dinosaurs are scattered and roam freely around the island with no human supervision. However, that freedom is coming to an end when an active volcano starts to erupt, threatening to kill all living creatures on the island. That is when dinosaur enthusiasts Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) reunite and team up with a private rescue team with a mission to save as many dinosaurs as possible. But little did the on-off couple know that the rescue team has a hidden agenda that might affect the dinosaurs’ well-being.
Straight of the bat, the first sequence in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom brings that familiar sensation of suspense and terror that the original movie is known for, when an illegal mission goes horribly wrong at the now abandoned Isla Nublar. The sight of the terrifying Tyrannosaurus and gigantic Mosasaurus brings chills and also awe at how these larger than life creatures look like on the big screen. Then, the movie shifts its tone to the human characters and regrettably, it all falls apart.
From there, the movie suffers from a boring pace revolving on human characters that are just very expendable to a point where it does not matter whether these characters live or die. Maybe not so much on Pratt’s and Howard’s characters since they are the OG of the reboot franchise, but the newer characters – they are just appalling.
Justice Smith plays a hacker working closely with Claire who is always screaming in fear for no apparent reason and also is the moronic one among the group implying that he is supposed to be the comic relief when none of his jokes land. Daniella Pineda is a paleo-veterinarian who acts tough and gives out smart-ass answers but unconvincingly does so to the point that it becomes annoying. Then there is Isabella Sermon as Maisie Lockwood.
Poor Sermon. The young actress has to go through the most bizarre subplot in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. So bizarre that it leaves the audience wondering if this movie takes its logic too far. From her relationship with her grandfather who, conveniently enough, is John Hammond’s former partner, to her head-scratching nonsensical origin story. If the payoff is too much, at least make the build-up interesting, right? No, her subplot drags on for too long with weak dialogues and poor acting that do not contribute to the movie in any way. Revealing the big surprise would be a spoiler, but truthfully, it was not worth it.
With this subplot and focus on humans, the movie seems to not understand what the audience wants, and that is more dinosaurs. People don’t resonate with the Jurassic Park franchise because of its human characters. They remember this franchise because of how it projects these awe-inspiring dinosaurs with their specific manner and behaviours that audiences have never seen in real life. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom seems to forget and neglect that magic that they once had by putting their dinosaurs in the background.
Hopefully, this mistake can be corrected in the third Jurassic World movie which is already confirmed for 2021 with Colin Trevorrow set to return as director. Judging by the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, there are still hopes of bringing this franchise to the right track. But as for now, we will just have to sit and enjoy(?) this mess of a “dinosaur movie” that does not showcase dinosaurs.
[2/5]
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