Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

[The Great Owl]

Here's my non-spoiler movie content review after seeing this one at the theater earlier this evening...


Years after genetically engineered dinosaurs wreaked deadly havoc at the Jurassic World theme park on Isla Nublar, Claire, a former park manager played by Bryce Dallas Howard, and Owen, a Velociraptor trainer played by Chris Pratt, return to the island to rescue the creatures from possible extinction due to a volcanic eruption. Unbeknownst to them, however, their billionaire employer has a more avaricious agenda in mind for the dinosaurs and their DNA. Claire, Owen, and their team of paleo-enthusiasts are inevitably demoted to the bottom of the food chain as they are left to fend for themselves while monsters and mayhem surround them.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is my favorite film in the Jurassic Park franchise since Steven Spielberg's original 1993 blockbuster. This is not saying much, since all of the sequels have been blatant cash grabs, complete with action sequences that are just inferior clones of the highlights from the first movie. This latest entry is no exception, and it never rises above mere surface level popcorn entertainment, but, without revealing overt spoilers, I thoroughly enjoyed a change in location setting that occurs halfway through the story and places our protagonists in a claustrophobic environment reminiscent of haunted house movies. This final hour is where director J.A. Bayona, who also helmed the 2007 Spanish horror masterpiece, The Orphanage, really finds his footing. One late scene, where a particularly fearsome dinosaur edges closer to a character who is cowering in bed, earns my vote as the most visually effective horror moment of the series since the Tyrannosaurus Rex introduction in the original.

Ted Levine, who is best known as “Buffalo Bill” in the 1991 film, The Silence of the Lambs, is fun to watch here as a rugged mercenary who joins in on the island expedition. A couple of veterans from the first Jurassic Park movie also have welcome appearances.

In terms of storytelling, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is illogical nonsense across the board as it races us from one sensory overload set piece to another. During the final 15 minutes, the characters make a bewilderingly unwise decision that will leave viewers laughing and shaking their heads. If you are skeptical about the idea of sitting through another pointless sequel that seems solely geared towards pitching Universal Studios amusement park rides on the audience, then this one will not change your mind. I'm nonetheless compelled to give it a solid thumbs-up, because I love the enclosed setting during the final half and because a handful of scenes have a visual “oomph” to them that has not been present in any of the other sequels.

I also have to tip my hat to Bryce Dallas Howard's character for at least trading her awesome high heels for a pair of sensible boots during the action scenes this time around. Her first scene in this movie will earn a smile from those who remember her from the previous film.