To celebrate the release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, check out my review of Jurassic World, one of the first reviews I’ve written on this site. I apologize in advance. Check out out review of Fallen Kingdom later this evening.
Dinosaurs are still cool but not as surprising as the first time around. The technology definitely has improved over the years but the story remains the same (close to the first 2 movies). There are a few references to the first 2 movies but you don’t really have to see any of the other movies to know what’s going on. This movie feels more like a remake of the first film instead of an actual sequel.
The movie starts off with a pair of brothers go on a trip to the rebuilt Jurassic Park (now World) to spend time with their aunt who happens to run the park. The story in the film is told from the perspective of the two brothers, the aunt just trying to hold everything together (which I will get to later), and the hunk dinosaur trainer guy. It’s been 22 years since the first film and now that infamous island has a new park on it. The first glimpse of the new park involves a bright and vibrant opening that reminds the viewer of the first time they saw the original Jurassic Park, with a voice over by the late Richard Attenborough in introducing the park visitors and the audience of the wonders of the first dinosaur amusement park. Sort of a tribute to what the first movie was about and the realization of it coming true.
Problems soon arise when, due to dwindling park attendance numbers, the park begins to start splicing the DNA of their animals in order to create a new attraction. Surprisingly enough, they manage to create a bigger, more aggressive, smarter dinosaur, the Indominus Rex. Being the type of film it is, this dinosaur finds a way to reap havoc within the park and cause problems for the film’s protagonists. The film tries to act as a social commentary about the ethics and morality involved with cloning animals and whether or not they should be considered property or to be treated as living objects. The movie does not beat us over the head with this as most of the movie plays out as a creature movie where the stars of the film must merely try to survive the Indominus Rex and avoid the destruction in its wake.
The movie when compared to the first 2 is not as scary or suspenseful because the new dinosaur they have created for this film is simply not as scary and the way it is was depicted does not inspire suspense. While watching the film, I never felt a sense of danger as the stars never acted like they were in danger. Knowing what I do about the first 3 films, the story was rather predictable and did not innovate or further the series at all. This isn’t the best movie I have ever seen but I was entertained. The performances of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard kept me interested (albeit a little cliche). Some of the “family problem” stuff, I could have definitely gone without and the film kind of took a little time to get going. Fans of the series will not be disappointed with this installment and for those who have not seen a film in this series will be entertained as well.
Score: 7.5/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.