“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” (PG-13)
Oh, how the mighty have fallen with “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” the hotly anticipated sequel to the 2015 mega blockbuster “Jurassic World” and fourth installment in the “Jurassic Park” series. Dark and bleak with no real fun to be had, “Fallen Kingdom” isn’t a bad film, at least from the technical standpoint, where the dinosaurs are as big and loud and scary as ever. Instead, the burden falls on the creatives, who clearly found out that the once-inspired story line of bringing dinosaurs back to life through the wonders of DNA is close to running its course.
“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” is set three years after the last film, and it appears theme park on the (fictional) Isla Nubar off Costa Rica is doomed by erupting volcanos. And while the island is unoccupied by humans, the government is faced with the excruciating decision of trying to save all the cloned dinosaur species or simply let the monolithic creatures become extinct once again, perhaps forever.
Tim reviews “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” with Adrienne Broaddus on KARE 11.
Despite the havoc wreaked by the dinosaurs in the first film, Jurassic World operator Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) is intent on preserving the creatures, and she seems to have found a viable solution when the partner to late Jurassic Park founder John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) funds a mission to transport about a dozen dinosaur species to an island sanctuary where they will be free to roam the way nature intended. The mission can’t be completed, however, without the help of Claire and dinosaur wrangler Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), who soon enough learn they are pawns in a plan to use the dinosaurs for sinister purposes.
AUDIO: Listen to Tim’s review of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” on “The KQ Morning Show” with Tom Barnard.
Admittedly, director J.A. Boyona and co-screenwriters Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow (who directed the first “Jurassic World”) are in a tough spot when it comes to expanding the already limited “Jurassic” saga storyline with “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” Let’s say they move the dinosaurs to a sanctuary where they live in peace and nobody sees or interacts with them, then you have a boring movie. If another park is created, then it’s a rip-off of the previous movies.
All that’s left, at least as far as this film is concerned, is having the dinosaurs fall into the wrong hands of people with (what else?) deadly intentions. Worse yet, the story is predictable almost from the get-go, from the time Claire and Owen meet the operation’s commander (Ted Levine) who is saddled with all the classic traits of ne’er do-well up to no good.
Despite its predictability, “Jurassic World” still manages to be entertaining, especially when its dinosaurs (in particular the genetically altered ones) go on the rampage against their weak human counterparts. No matter how many times you’ve seen it happen, whether in the original “Jurassic Park” trilogy or “Jurassic World,” there’s nothing that gets stale about an effective CG dinosaur relentlessly pursuing their human prey. In fact, like the first film, the sequences are so jarring that it makes you wonder just how the studio got away with a PG-13 rating, when the violence clearly merits an R.
While the first “Jurassic World” felt fresh, fun and inventive, “Fallen Kingdom” is doomed by taking itself too seriously. To begin with, while Pratt played his role fairly straight-up the first time around but was still amusing, he’s only afforded a few times to lighten the mood in “Fallen Kingdom.” Howard seems to be given less to work with in the film, too, including those pesky high heels which were swapped out for boots this time around. The biggest waste of talent, though, comes with the bait-and-switch move Universal pulled with original “Jurassic Park” star Jeff Goldblum, who reprises his Ian Malcolm for a pair of brief scenes where he shows none of his trademark, wry sense of humor whatsoever.
With any luck, Trevorrow, who is on board to helm the third film, will bring Goldblum back and give him some meaningful screen time if “Jurassic World” has any chance of being restored to its former glory.
Lammometer: 6 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
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