Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Movie Review

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Watch the trailer
Written by: Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow (written by), Michael Crichton (based on characters created by)
Directed by: JA Bayona
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, James Cromwell, B. D. Wong, Jeff Goldblum
Rated: PG-13

Plot
When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.

Verdict
This is a lot of dinosaur action and very little cohesive plot. What happens when dinosaurs are brought stateside? A lot of destruction. This attempts plot and character development, but it's always contrived and characters generally make dumb decisions to move the plot forward. Towards the end I was ready to be done. The ending  is annoying, from a reveal that's present just for shock value to the repercussions. While it leaves it open for a sequel, and one is in the works, it's completely unsatisfying. Now I will go watch Jurassic Park (1993).
Skip it.

Review
The original Jurassic Park, based on the Crichton book came out in 1993. Twenty five years later and the movie franchise is still going, sparked by a resurgence when Jurassic World released in 2015 (read my review). Jurassic World was a really big budget B movie, and the sequel is more of the same.

This is much like the first Jurassic World. It throws a lot at you and there is a lot of contrivance. It follows the rule of cool often. We get a big scene or a fun scene, but it's not always logical.

It's not a Jurassic Park/World movie without a roaring T-rex.

There are quite a few throwbacks to the original. It seems to be a mandate that we get a roaring T-rex. The first scene is a group of mercenaries on the Jurassic World site, stealing Indominus Rex DNA from the bottom of the ocean as the park has flooded partially. It's a set the stage scene, much like the 1993 movie's opening. They are attacked of course, but they don't close the gate and let the megladon out, which is dumb. The megladon could have jumped over the wall if it wanted. We see it jumping in these scenes. While it did escape, why didn't it escape sooner?

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Claire.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Claire, returning from the first Jurassic World and running a non-profit to save the dinosaurs as the island from Jurassic World has a volcano that will kill all dinosaurs. Should genetically altered dinos returned from the grave live or should nature follow it's course? It's an interesting question that the movie doesn't explore.

John Hammond created Jurassic Park. Has his partner Lockwood ever been mentioned? They play up the name as important and I was wondering if I should know the name. He was Hammond's silent and unknown partner. Until now. I had never heard of him. He tasks Claire with saving the dinosaurs on the island. She recruits Chris Pratt's character Owen.

Mills is the main villain, entrusted to manage Lockwood's estate. In his first scene he seems nice and earnest, but in the next scene when he yells at the grand daughter you just know he's going to turn out bad. While Claire was told she's saving and preserving the dinosaurs, Mills wants to retrieve the dinosaurs and auction them off to the highest bidder. His excuse? It will fund future philanthropic ventures of the estate.

The premise of this movie? What if an auction for dinos found a way.

My biggest question from this movie is about the auction. Did Mills really outfit the basement of the mansion just for this auction? There are dino cages on tracks with various holding cells. This is not something you just have on hand. He built the perfect room for an auction, and this is on top of the lab they have to create new dinos like the laser guide Endo-raptor.
What could possibly go wrong with bringing dinosaurs stateside, putting them in cages and auctioning them off in the basement of your mansion? This is the premise of Fallen Kingdom. Why is it subtitled Fallen Kingdom? From watching the movie I determined the reason is only because it sounds cool.

Jeff Goldblum makes a cameo for no real reason other than fan service. I was surprised he didn't have any cliche lines like, "Life finds a way." There is a lot this movie could cut that wouldn't affect anything. We get two new characters, Franklin and Zia, who work with Claire. Franklin is comic relief, a catch all computer engineer that's afraid of everything. Zia is an outspoken and tough dino vet. You could cut them completely and not lose anything. There's a slightly unhinged mercenary, Wheatley, leading the dino extraction. He double crosses Owen early on. Why would you leave a guy to die instead of finishing the job? The main reason is that if  Wheatley was competent the movie would end before it begins.
Lockwood's grand daughter is part of a big reveal towards the end that goes absolutely nowhere. It's got big implications, but apparently that doesn't matter.

Chris Pratt plays Owen.

This got to a point where I was just waiting for the movie to get to the point, any point. Characters make such dumb decisions just for the sake of the plot. The ending to this is eye roll inducing. From character motivations, to how it unfolds, to the repercussions. It's just dumb. It's the kind of ending that makes the rest of the movie worse, and this already wasn't hitting on much.

Franchise movies have subscribed to the idea of throwing as much on the screen as possible in the hope that something will connect to viewers. These types of movies don't have a point, they are mindless action with huge set pieces, lots of CGI, and the occasional attempt at some kind of plot. The Fast and the Furious franchise, as well as Terminator and even the Marvel movies play to this. I couldn't figure out how Jurassic World did so well at the box office. This follows the same formula and is even worse. I bet it will be a box office smash.