Chapter two of Jurassic World follows with a phrase “Fallen Kingdom” and with that it’ll be no surprise if the box office is softer than expected. Even though the film is as action packed as its previous outing, the series has become “more of the same” and too much of looking back at the past. Saving the film from dropping below average the filmmakers have two big things going for it, aesthetically brilliant CGI and Chris Pratt who adds his brand of humor that keeps the movie a bit comical among the serious thrills.
The island of Isla Nublar has been inundated be lava from volcanic explosions since we saw Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) standing in a building full of survivors from a Jurassic World Amusement Park dinosaur rampage. Now working at Dinosaur Protection Group as their chief of staff, Clair’s trying to save the dinosaurs from perishing on the island. But, Claire has had little luck getting the attention of the US Government for help to save the prehistoric animals, and they are about to get slaughtered by the raging eruptions.
After a news report about Congress turning down help to save the Dino’s, Claire gets called to meet with dinosaur cloning developer Sir. Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell). He offers her a chance to relocate the prehistoric beasts to a safe island habitat he has designed especially for them. She jumps at the chance, but there is a catch. She has to bring Owen on so they can catch the prize raptor Blue, an intelligent ancient lizard that can control the other beasts.
Going with Lockwood’s deal, Claire, Owen, her assistant vet Dr. Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda) and Franklin Webb (Justice Smith) her tech savvy former IT of Jurassic World, get flown to Isla Nublar to help round up the beasts. Director J. A. Bayona knows a lot about special effects, suspense filled situations and disaster films with his release of the tsunami stunner The Impossible. Here he continues to mesmerize his audience with terrific underwater action, island explosions, near disaster scenes and attacks by a giant Mosasaurs, a T-Rex, and a Super Velociraptor called Indominus Rex.
Bayona gets all fun and games from the start charging up his audience with a five minute scene of an attack on a mini-sub trying to enter a gated port on Isla Nublar. He then gives viewers a chance to catch their breath with a lot of mundane talk about saving the Dinos before diving head long into a non-stop action packed trip from Isla Nublar to Northern California. Although it’s a lot of fun for adventure lovers, it brings back visions of hackneyed movies like King Kong (2005) and Godzilla (2014).
Chris Pratt gives his usual enjoyable performance with his on screen characters and actually saves the film from its worn-out plot. Here he’s the jilted Owen who was cold shouldered from an attempt to woe Claire in Episode one of Jurassic World. Rekindling the relationship he turns in a puppy dog act to charm her and luckily cheating death to save her. But, Pratt’s that kind of guy showing his skills in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and of course TV’s “Parks and Recreation”.
Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom has been rated PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril. Dissecting what I saw in the film, “science-fiction violence” looks no different than any other kind of violence whether it be crime or disaster, and it looks very real with today’s CGI. Blood and gore are commonplace in the film and murder by beast rear’s its ugly head. So be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have many scenes that may be inappropriate for youngsters.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A film that you can sink your teeth into while watching dinosaurs sink their teeth into a worn-out plot. (3.5 out of 5 stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeff Goldblum, James Cromwell, BD Wong, Ted Levine, Justice Smith, Geraldine Chaplin, Daniella Pineda, Toby Jones, Rafe Spall and Isabella Sermon
Directed by: J.A. Bayona (The Impossible)
Genre: Adventure, Action, Sci-fi
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril
Running Time: 2 hrs. 8 min.
Opening Date: June 22, 2018
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Released in: Standard, Real 3D, IMAX 3D and Dolby Cinema
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
