Review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) by Billy V — 28 Jun 2018

I wanted to love it. So to give you a breakdown: it turns out this park was built on a dormant volcano, but it has woken up with a vengeance. The hot topic is if the dinosaurs deserve to go extinct a second time, or do they merit being rescued.

Well, we wouldn't have much of a movie if they decided to let them die, so Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen (Chris Pratt) are tasked with staging an operation to save as many dinos as possible.

Now I am an unabashed defender of the first Jurassic World. If you come at me and say that it is dumb, I come back and say you don't know how to let your hair down and have a good time. The first trailer to Fallen Kingdom had me sold, so you know I had to go see this on opening weekend, despite it getting mixed reviews.

It has been about a full week since I watched this, and the more I have dwelled upon this, the more I have accepted the fact that this leaves a lot to be desired. Now I started off onboard with this, despite a long windup.

I could get past the logic gap behind why this park was built on a volcano, and I came to terms with these people going on this highly dangerous operation when they could probably just cook up more dinosaurs at home if they really wanted to.

I had fun with the first half of this movie, even though I absolutely recognized the flaws. But what you may not know is that this is actually two movies in one, and the first one is far easier to buy into than the second because it is a roller coaster ride.

Everything in the second half of this falls apart if you give it more than five seconds of thought, and it is really just lazy writing when you break it down. At the end of the day, this doesn't feel like this movie was directed, it feels like it was made by committee, a studio film with a number of mandated scenes and elements that are required to be there.

I know director J.A. Bayona is a capable filmmaker from his previous films, and it seemed like he was more interested in staying on the island, but there is not a moment to spare when you get there; there is lava and explosions before you know it, and there is a haphazard flow to the script.

Much like the Fast and Furious franchise, you are either going to go with this or you're not. Unlike Fast and Furious, which has taken its time building up these characters, you're less invested so it makes it harder to blur your eyes to look past some very stupid and underdeveloped plot points.

Fallen Kingdom isn't without its moments, and there are surprisingly poignant scenes where the emotional beats are effective, and it is always when there is a dinosaur involved. I do want to see a third movie because of where they ended this, but do the ends justify the means for this sequel?