Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

This review was co-written with my wife, Jan.

Warning: Spoilers For Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, BD Wong, & James Cromwell
Directed by J.A. Bayona
Written by Derek Connolly, Colin Trevorrow

The Jurassic Park franchise went very dark and extremely sad in the latest entry, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Case in point is that tragic scene where the island home of the dinosaurs is destroyed by a raging volcano. With all this dinosaur cruelty, where is PETA when you need it?

The premise of Fallen Kingdom is that thanks to the no longer dormant volcano, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing (played Pratt and Howard) must return to the destroyed park to rescue as many creatures as possible. In the dramatic last breath of Isla Nublar, many thunder lizards meet a grizzly end. But it’s the final dinosaur seen on the island that will bring you to tears.

As Owen and Claire look back at Jurassic Park, a long neck dinosaur runs to the water’s edge alone and in need of rescue. Unable to help, the poor brachiosaurus is killed off by the volcano. It’s a tear-jerking scene.

Making things even more heartbreaking is that it was later revealed by director J.A. Bayona that the poor dino is the very same one Alan Grant saw in that epic reveal scene from the first Jurassic Park movie. And the director planned all of this on purpose!

In my opinion, J.A. Bayona is a mean director who left the poor girl to die on the island in the lava- just to make people cry! “I think it’s a beautiful moment — it’s sad but it’s beautiful, and it’s so relevant,” the director has been quoted as saying. Had I known that little segment would have made me upset- I wouldn’t have gone to see Fallen Kingdom!

After the destruction of the island, the protagonists learn that they’ve been duped. Those financing the mission aren’t interested in rescuing the animals from destruction. Instead, they want to manipulate the prehistoric refuges as weapons of war.

As result in this movie, the characters are either looked at as either heroes or villains that you hope become dino-chow. It’s rare that you find a movie where you want the cast to either live happily ever after and the other half to die violently. There’s no middle ground throw away characters that you have very little care for in this film.

Plus, that long anticipated scene with Jeff Goldblum’s return as Dr. Malcolm was superfluous. He’s used as a link to the past Jurassic Park franchise. However, his role serve served no other apparent purpose in the plot.

Bryce Dallas Howard’s performance was something else that bothered me. She was a strong female lead and based on her character, you would not expect her to scream at every danger. Yet, she shrieked more than that 10-year old character Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) did.

One thing that has been a consistent issue for me throughout all the movies is how contained to the island the dinosaurs have been for 5 movies. For example, there are pterodactyls on Isla Nublar. These are dinosaurs that can fly. Being only 150 miles away from Costa Rica, what’s kept them from causing destruction in other countries? It’s a plot point that has never been truly addressed.

Another issue with this movie involves large majority of the action scenes. Many of them, including a large jump off a cliff into a very deep part of the ocean, would not have been survivable. There are quite a bit of scares in this film as well. If you are a jumpy viewer, Fallen Kingdom was effective in this part.

If watching lovable ancient reptiles needlessly die makes you sad- Fallen Kingdom will to that to you! If you enjoy watching baddies become their just desserts at the hands of dinosaurs- you will enjoy this movie. One way or the only, don’t expect to leave this film feeling 100% satisfied.

The events of this movie has set things up for a third and final installment in the Fallen Kingdom potion of the Jurassic Park Franchise. But I refuse to watch it if J.A. Bayona cannot guarantee that there will no be another tragic scene as that long neck’s death throes.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.