Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the second entry in the soft rebooted series that takes place a few years after the events of the park descending into chaos. This was of course due to the animals all being unleashed upon the guests following the creation of a new vicious man made specimen. Time has passed and the core group is splintered with only the two leads, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) returning. They’re no longer together and with a save the dinosaurs from extinction campaign running she’ll need to get him back into the fold.

This is simply the starting point as they return to the park under the threat of volcanic eruption. This is a return to a darker style for the series that aims to capture that horror aspect once again. The last film did have some visceral scenes, but nothing that really captured the creepy scenes that made the original so interesting. This one aims to once again present that and for the most part they did succeed.

The visuals were fine with the dinosaurs mostly looking realistic, while also providing some emotional points in how they were represented. There was a good mix of action, with the horror and of course some sly comedic points along the way to keep a balance. They even had some good emotional aspects depending on your feeling towards the dinosaurs. The plot was a tad over the top and predictable.

There were moments that were ridiculous, but I suppose that’s part of the charm. It also felt as though they were retreading in a territory that has already been explored in the franchise. There also wasn’t any evolution for how the plot progressed, with more human meddling being a problem. The cast was fine, the two leads were better this time around having better chemistry. I didn’t mind their two assistants, but can’t say I was a fan of them.

The Conclusion

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom doesn’t really do anything new with the series but presents more of a classic horror style that works. It was a fine film in terms of how it was presented, just don’t expect the series to evolve with this release. The dinosaurs are obviously back, they paint an interesting picture with the fate of the island and showcase many favorites. The creatures mostly look great with the further tweaks being even more menacing.

Still, it seems that many tropes are just recycled from past entries in the series. Many of the themes were presented well and I could see there was a larger attempt to add context and meaning behind the dinosaurs. While this is darker as I’ve mentioned it’s still something for all audiences and during my screening the younger ones didn’t sound as scared as I imagined they would be. There are some gorgeous scenes, moments of comedy and over the top roars.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by NBC Universal

Rating Overall: 7.2