Ok, for those who don’t know, I am a massive Jurassic Park fan. Whoever it was that thought “ok, let’s take the modern world but let’s see what happens when you reintroduce dinosaurs into it”, was a genius. That concept was completely out-of-this world and so ahead of its time when the first film came out in 1993. Of course like any great concept, the sequels and the remakes keep on coming. Just look at Batman, Spider-Man, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Fast and Furious; the list is endless. This film is no exception; Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” is the 2nd of the Jurassic World films but technically the 5th instalment of the Jurassic Park series.
Like many sequels it picks up where the last film left off. Of course, we left Jurassic World, another dinosaur park, where the dinosaurs had broken loose and the island is now pretty much become a sanctuary where no humans can really visit. Unlike any of the other Jurassic Park films, the islands’ dormant Volcano has become active and will destroy the island and all the dinosaurs on it. It becomes Owen Grady’s (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing’s (Bryce Dallas Howard) mission to rescue the dinosaurs from extinction again.
This review is probably going to be my most negative yet however I didn’t hate the film, let’s get that straight. Let’s start with what is good about it. First and foremost the CGI in the movie is phenomenal. Even though the people in 1993 had such vision for the Jurassic park films, they didn’t have the technology we do today. The CGI is ridiculously good in the film and the dinosaurs look incredibly real that it’s totally believable. I even caught myself questioning whether dinosaurs were in fact extinct because I could see them right in front of me on film. Another element that was great was all the action and stunts in the film. The film has everything you want to see from a Jurassic Park film. Fights between dinosaurs, Fights between humans and dinosaurs, water stunts where you question if they in fact die at the point of the film and lots and lots of running, especially from lava. Obviously it was helped by the CGI, but this film keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire movie. Myself and the people around me at the cinema were jumping in scary moments; becoming agitated in the tense scenes and one kid even said “no sir, I don’t like the look of this” at one stage. The movie is so captivating and thrilling to watch. I, 100%, urge you to see this film just for the CGI, action and stunts alone. You won’t be disappointed in that sense.
What you might be disappointed in is the weak storyline of the film. Now there could be some spoilers ahead so I’m warning you now. I’ll try to keep it as close to the trailer as possible. So yet again we return to the island which has been abandoned by humans because the dinosaurs got free. Yes, we haven’t been in the situation where the dinosaurs are threatened with extinction from an active volcano before but we have seen characters in the past who have tried to get the dinosaurs off the island in a boat. And this is what is happening in this film, the characters are trying to track down all the dinosaurs on the island so they can get them on a boat and safely away from the island which is about to be covered in lava. They focus on one dinosaur in particular, the raptor “Blue”, hence Owen Grady coming back to the island to help find her. It is very important for them to find her as she is the last known alive raptor in the world. As the audience, we think it’s all about trying to preserve a species however it’s not. Spoiler alert, the bad guys have (AGAIN) engineered a new designer dinosaur. This time it is focused on the base gene of a raptor. Here’s my problem again; this has been done before! In the last film, Jurassic World, it was ingenious! Someone was clever enough to put the two scariest dinosaurs together, a T-Rex and a raptor and make a whole new dinosaur. That was amazing! It was awesome! But in this film it’s no big deal. Yes, in this film, it’s more scary; it’s been designed for combat and therefore it’s like a terminator dinosaur that only kills but it isn’t anything new. The greatest part of the storyline is the ending, which I won’t go into because that really will be a spoiler.
Finally, I should say that the actors and actresses in this film are actually really good. I have to give a shout out to them and the wonderful characters they brought to the screen. We get to meet new characters which bring new dimensions and humour to the film. In particular, Justice Smith (Franklin Webb) and Daniella Pineda (Zia Rodriguez) were great new additions. Justice brings this hilarious geeky vibe while Daniella is a kick-ass doctor who takes not shit. Of course we get to see the wonderful onscreen duo which is Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard). Their fight for survival, intense sexual tension and funny banter are still very much present in this film as it was in the last. A film can have great CGI and stunts but the cast really bring it all together in the end. Without them, it’s just a bunch of realistic dinosaurs running around.
Overall, if you’re looking for a thrilling action film to watch, which is also a classic; you should watch this film. You should also watch this film for the very reasons you watched “The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2” and “Jurassic Park 3”; we wanted to see what happens. However, do expect massive twist and turns in the story because they aren’t many at all.
Check back in next week for a review on Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!
Mean Productions 