[Please note: the images below include those which I would call relatively big spoilers, all of which were shown in the first movie trailers. If you care for this stuff, maybe don’t pay much attention to my screencaps below.]
The fifth entry in the two and a half decades old film franchise, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a direct sequel to 2015’s Jurassic World, once again starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. Following the chaotic destruction of the new park, Jurassic World, the dinosaurs of Isla Nubar face extinction due to a long dormant, now soon to erupt volcano beneath the island. Claire Dearing (Howard) is forced to get back in contact with Velociraptor expert Owen Grady (Pratt) to save the dinosaurs, with the help of the funding of Eli Mills (Rafe Spall).
+ two of the new cast members, dinosaur saviour activist Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) and hammy, semi-villain Gunnar Eversol (an always fantastic Toby Jones) are welcome additions, thought their roles are still very limited compared to the new core cast.
+ this film is full of throwbacks to the previous movies, particularly the first in the series. Whether it be a similar camera angle of a Brachiosaurus, or the familiar close-up of a T-Rex eye, as much as this movie wants to lead the charge in a new direction it never forgets its roots
– I’m a little bit sick of “the new” Chris Pratt (ie. Guardians of the Galaxy onwards), if I’m honest, in the same way I was getting sick of Ryan Reynolds always playing the same character. Bryce Dallas Howard is also here again, in the same high heels and tight tops as the first movie, and it’s a shame these two main characters feels so much like a retread. Of the new cast members, Justice Smith and Daniella Pineda join the cast as the nerdy black IT guy and the sassy Latina, respectively, and my not telling you their names is because they are ultimately as unimportant as any dinosaur not a Velociraptor or T-Rex.
– how many times is someone – note: usually the same scientist someone – going to have the idea to create a new dinosaur from the genes of various others and be, gasp shock horror, surprised when things go wrong? I can only have sympathy for these idiots for so long, and I can only suspend my disbelief that not only is it possible but likely to be repeated before I get sick of the idea of the movie in general
– some would-be “twists” are hinted at so strongly they are obvious form their first mention, but are still treated as shocking reveals later. In a similar complaint, scenes from the very end of the film were the most prominent in the trailers, which seems counter intuitive. Perhaps more so, it seems like the whole movie was just an advertisement for the next movie
> In a situation where dinosaurs are not simply likely to be around you, but in fact “hunting” you for certain, if you hear a loud noise, why would you stop to slowly turn and look in that direction instead of just hauling ass away from the noise?
Should you see this film: No. At 128 minutes, this simply went on far too long and fell into the same boring and/or frustratingly contrived tropes that the previous (at least) two have. Not to mention, many points of danger in the movie could have been avoided if all electronic doors were just programmed to close faster.
MoshFish Reviews 