Rob Ryan's Movie Reviews - Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom

11th June 2018

Rob Ryan from York College reviews this weeks big new Dino blockbuster...

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is probably the most perplexing film in the entire franchise. To describe it more accurately, this is this series equivalent to Star Wars: The Last Jedi in that it’s a sequel to a rebooted series which the first film (Jurassic World) was a safe rehash of the very film in the series that only existed to introduce some new characters and possibility's that would allow the franchise to continue. Star Wars: The Force Awakens existed for that exact same reason and now you get to the sequel that is meant to take the series in a new path and destroy the thing that people are used to seeing in the other films and Fallen Kingdom brings some new elements to the table does a fairly good job in taking the franchise to a new chapter as well as doing things differently from what we are used to seeing.

Unfortunately the thing that lets this film down is that the plot and characters that surround these attempts at new ideas (much like the previous entry's ) are pretty sub-par. The only character in the entire film you agree with is everyone's favourite character Ian Malcom (Jeff Goldblum who's one and only scene was spoiled in the trailers) Simply because everything he says in the short screen time he has is 100% true and us humans cannot co exist with the dinosaurs and our attempts at doing so has only ended poorly every single time in the previous films. Its just a shame that after his terrific speech we end up following our female protagonist from the last film Clare (Bryce Dallas Howard) who is bent on doing the thing we don't agree with. She wants to save the remaining dinosaurs from the abandoned island that is about to erupt from a volcano. Even worse the character herself much like the last film is not very interesting with the exception when the film tries to give her more growth and a arc of her having to come to terms of her accepting that she is responsible for the Indominous Rex reeking havoc in the last film. While the character is mostly bland I give the film credit for trying to give her more depth then what Jurassic World gave us.

The rest of the cast range from serviceable to forgettable. Chris Pratt is back as our Indiana Jones esc, wisecracking, charismatic action hero who gets some funny lines and some cool action scenes and while the character is paint by numbers, Pratt plays the role well and has a likable presence and has gone above and beyond proving that he is a capable action hero. Rafe Spall plays our antagonist who schemes to sell of the dinosaurs to animal traffickers. While Spall is a very talented British actor, he's not given much to work with and same goes for Toby Jones who puts on the worst Italian American? Accent ever. Its downright embarrassing! You have your comic relief black technician and sassy, animal rights activist. Both characters feel lifted from some quirky American indie film and what would a Jurassic Park sequel be without a child who our hero's have to constantly save from the dinosaurs?

Fallen Kingdom has a new face in the directors chair in the form of Spanish director J.A Bayona who directed A Monster Calls from 2016 and the biopic of the 2004 Tsunami The Impossible back in 2011. Both films where expertly made and with this he brings a lot of impressive sequences involving some inventive camera tricks and tracking shots and his handling of blending CGI and practical effects is a lot more effective and seamless then the last entry. In between the many eyerolling and cringeworthy moments are some very atmospheric and exciting set pieces especially in the third act where the movie moves away from the Island to a mansion where the characters have to hide from the genetically engineered raptor with all the lighting and atmosphere of a horror film. Its his involvement in the film that makes Fallen Kingdom a more enjoyable experience and he doesn't fully detract from the whimsical tone from the first film which I think is a solid move on his part. I would love him to helm directing duties for the next entry in 2 years time.

Fallen Kingdom is also saved by its ending. While it annoyed me at first ,I let it settle in and then realised what the writers where trying to do. Without spoiling it the film introduces a moral dilemma that not only do the characters have to deal with but it also fulfils its purpose by introducing change to a series that doesn't feel forced. Some might argue that the ending only exists unnecessarily try to pad this franchise out and they are completely wrong and I'm not going to disagree but It kind of makes me interested in where they go after this which is more then anything I felt in Jurassic World.
So yeah, this film is pretty dumb and if you criticised it in depth I would probably agree with you on a lot of them but I would honestly watch this again then Jurassic World simply because I would rather watch something that’s flawed but ambitious then completely by the books and forgettable. Its more well made then the last one and has some cool sequences that keep you entertained and it wasn't terrible overall. So I'm kind of torn on it overall but I would say check it out and decide for yourself as the film is becoming divisive on my end. Its mostly paced well and is entertaining enough to be a passable blockbuster so....a mixed bag.

Rating: 5/10

Posted by Ben Fry at 10:35am