Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - movie review
Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom
Plot: When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.
Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall
Director: J. A. Bayona
Certificate: 12A (moderate threat, occasional bloody moments, action violence)
Runtime: 2hrs 8 mins
Release Date: Wednesday 8th June 2018
"Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur?". That's the question that Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Claire Dearing, asks. I do. It was the moment when the Tyrannosaurus Rex leans down to the window of a car and we see its pupil dilate as a light is shone into it. That was the exact moment when I believed that I had just seen a dinosaur brought back to life. The Jurassic Park franchise is one of ups and downs. Starting off unbelievably strong with one of the greatest cinematic pictures ever made, Steven Spielberg came out swinging with his 1993 classic, forever changing the filmmaking game with revolutionary visual effects and some of the best practical animatronics put to screen. It is, in my eyes, a perfect film. However, the tides soon changed when Spielberg was forced to answer the call of fans and Hollywood when he released a sequel four years later entitled The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The sequel, whilst not by any means terrible, was a significant decline in quality and the franchise wasn't aided by air third instalment either as many deem that to be the worst of the bunch. However, in 2015, we were able to re-enter the park to see the culmination of John Hammond's dream as Jurassic World hit cinemas with a thunderous stomp. The nostalgia was there. The excitement was through the roof. The characters were a little flimsy but who cares when you've got a T-Rex teaming up with a Raptor to fight a giant hybrid dinosaur. It might not have been cinematic gold but Jurassic World was a fantastic blockbuster. Inevitably, with the success of the newly revamped Jurassic saga, a sequel was soon announced, this time helmed by horror extraordinaire, J.A. Bayona, who has hits under his belt such as; The Orphanage, The Impossible and A Monster Calls. How did it all turn out? Not too bad but I type that with a lot of caution...
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| "THANOS IS COMING! THANOS IS COMING!" |
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom picks up a few years after the devastating events of Jurassic World as we see that Claire is now the head of a dinosaur rights movement group and Owen (Pratt) has resided to the wilderness in which he builds houses and drinks beer. However, they're called upon to venture back to Isla Nublar to save the dinosaurs from a volcano that is set to wipe out all life on the island and create an extinction-level event. This is where the film poses a very interesting question. On one hand, I felt like it might be best to leave the dinosaurs as they are and let nature take it course. The human race tried to play God and it blew up in their face not to mention that if they evacuate the dinosaurs, what would they do with them?? On the other hand, we have the ability to save a species from extinction. We created them so we now have a responsibility to care for these creatures and intervene to preserve them. Therefore, if the movie wanted me to feel conflicted about this impossible decision, it was a job well done. And it was this first half of Fallen Kingdom that I loved. It checked the majority of Jurassic Park boxes with some great tension and a jaw-dropping sense of awe. Returning to the island is always a pleasure but what I liked this time round was the ticking clock scenario. Their trip isn't as extensive as I had hoped for but it is time well spent. There's no dilly-dallying about, aside from an obligatory Brontosaurus encounter, as Owen, Claire and others race against time to save as many dinosaurs as they can. The entire sequence was exactly what the franchise needed. It packed in action, humour and unexpected emotion to the point where I was having to put blame on hayfever for my eyes welling up. Pratt is as charismatic as always proving that he is a captivating screen presence no matter the role but in Fallen Kingdom, he advances Owen into an actual character rather than the stereotype given to him in Jurassic World. The same goes for Claire who is given a lot more to work with and the relationship between the two leads actually seems believable. As for newer faces, Owen and Claire get a few helping hands on their daring and adventurous escapades. Justice Smith and Daniella Pineda provide some of the comedic relief and thankfully, it never becomes irritating. The laughs are genuine especially those from Smith. The most impressive introduction goes to Isabella Sermon who plays young Maisie. Sermon is remarkable in the role balancing a childlike sense of wonder and intrigue whilst also, in times of peril, displaying clear moments of terror as if Bayona was actually scaring her on set and capturing her fear. Other faces pop up now and again, including the antagonists of the film but I'll save that for my negatives. However, for the Jeff Goldblum fans reading this, temper your expectations for Ian Malcolm. Bayona wasn't lying when he said Goldblum's role is only a cameo. He is in a whopping TWO SCENES so whilst life may find a way, Goldblum does not.
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| Nice of the T-Rex to stop and pose for the camera. |
FACT: Bryce Dallas Howard learned how to scuba dive for the scene where the gyrosphere sinks into the water.
Where Fallen Kingdom begins to stumble is as soon as the gang step off of the island and return to normal civilisation. One thing that I will say in defence of this half of Fallen Kingdom is that it's definitely trying to do something different with the franchise. It's clear that the creative team behind the Jurassic World trilogy are separating themselves from the original films and wanting to make their own story, disconnected from what has come before. Jurassic World spent its time respectfully honouring its predecessors and now, Fallen Kingdom is crafting its own path. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm too keen on this chosen path. The conclusion of Fallen Kingdom is likely to leave audiences split but my main complaint is that, and this is avoiding spoilers, if it isn't executed properly, the final chapter of the Jurassic World series could result in a cheesy B-movie premise. That being said, perhaps if the creatives would let Bayona make the film he wanted to rather than saddle him with a mismatch script, there is potential for this to work. Fallen Kingdom also fails in nearly every way imaginable when it comes to the villains. Remember when the main threat of the Jurassic Park films were the dinosaurs themselves and not corporate douchebags in fancy suits? From Toby Jones to a couple of faces that are meant to be surprise reveals that their characters have malicious intentions, each and every villain behaves like an outlandish cartoon who needs only a moustache to twirl to complete the image. Their motivations are preposterous and despite wanting to change Jurassic Park forever, their masterplan belongs in a Robot Chicken sketch not an actual entry into the franchise. Put it this way, if you were eager to see more of the plan Vincent D'Onofrio teased in Jurassic World, Fallen Kingdom will make you very happy. If you were like me and thinks rationally, then you have no intention of seeing that progress anymore.
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| Creeping in a child's bedroom. You're under arrest Mr. Indoraptor. |
I was also let-down with Michael Giacchino's score. The music in Jurassic World was a beautiful blend of new themes as well as honouring the work of John Williams. I understand that Fallen Kingdom was pushing to difference itself but would it have killed Giacchino to include a smidge of Williams' work? If you've never understood the power of a musical score, I challenge you to perform an everyday mundane task with the Jurassic Park theme in the background and you can't help but feel epic. That being said, what we may lack in a triumphant score, we gain back in the return of practical animatronics. Despite finding overwhelming enjoyment in Jurassic World, my biggest complaint was the astonishing lack of practical effects and an unhealthy reliance on CGI. It took away from the threat facing these characters and no longer felt tangible. In Fallen Kingdom, there is still a large amount of CGI to create the dinosaurs but there are many more sequences that feature real-life animatronics that move, breathe, blink and even the occasional roar. And then there's Bayona himself. Personally, I think Bayona deserves as much praise as possible due to his impeccable film record. His experience in horror and tension made him a perfect candidate for the Jurassic Park franchise and in terms of directing, Bayona does not disappoint. The camera often has a fluid motion to it as we swoop, flip and spin around vast, open islands and tiny, claustrophobic rooms. Bayona also knows how to draw tension out of the smallest moments in the simplest manner possible. He often uses lighting as an ally to tease an oncoming threat. One shot in particular involves the reveal of a dinosaur via the light emanating from lava seeping through the ceiling. There are plenty of frames that I'd be happy to freeze and hang in my room.
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| All The T-Rex wanted was a light snack. |
After Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic Park and Jurassic World are connected in name and dinosaurs only. The two franchises are on different paths and that's ok. Fallen Kingdom displays some of the series' best moments with a director that isn't afraid of displaying his inventiveness. However, there are a number of storytelling flaws that drive the film into an almost inescapable ditch as we enter the second half. Whilst it's no classic, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is still one of the more entertaining summer blockbusters we've had this year.
My Verdict: 7.5/10
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