When it comes to films, I'm not typically a fan of franchise type films, however when it comes to the Jurassic franchise, I'll make an exception. Ever since I saw "Jurassic Park" back in 1993, I was hooked. The high-adrenaline, explosive, dinosaur-ridden adventure was definitely a film I could escape into and have been with each installment since. So, now we have been offered "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" to sink our teeth into, and like the others, it rocks!
It's been three years since theme park and luxury resort Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment. Isla Nublar now sits abandoned by humans while the surviving dinosaurs fend for themselves in the jungles. When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.
Owen is driven to Blue, his lead raptor who's still missing in the wild, and Claire has grown a respect for these creatures she now makes her mission. Arriving on the unstable island as lava begins raining down, their expedition, which also includes Franklin (Justice Smith) and Zia (Daniella Pineda), uncovers a conspiracy that could return our entire planet to a perilous order not seen since prehistoric times.
Others to round out the cast are Rafe Spall as Eli Mills, James Cromwell as Benjamin Lockwood, Toby Jones as Mr. Eversol, Ted Levine as Ken Wheatley, Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm, BD Wong as Dr. Wu, Geraldine Chaplin as Iris, Isabella Sermon as Maise Lockwood and Robert Emms as Tech Merc.
This was intensely directed by J.A. Bayona ("The Orphanage" '07, "The Impossible" '12, "A Monster Calls" '16) plus tons of videos and shorts. While he doesn't have a ton of theatrical experience, what he does have has allowed him to gravitate within his qualified comfort zone. Whether the character is cruel, sarcastic, gentile or insane, he gives exactly what we would expect from any character development. He had to follow in Colin Trevorrow's footsteps--who directed "Jurassic World", so when we see this, he was able to expertly give the audience a very similar characterization. It was grittily written by Derek Connolly ("Gary: Under Crisis" (TV movie) '05, "Safety Not Guaranteed" '12, "Jurassic World" '15, "Monster Trucks" '16, "Kong: Skull Island" '17) and Colin Trevorrow ("Making Revolution" '03, "Reality Show" (Documentary) '04, "Gary: Under Crisis" (TV movie) '05, "Jurassic World" '15). Even though "Jurassic World" was different than this in nature, I felt that film was simply setting the audience up in introducing the different characters, whereas this was taking us along with these characters into a story that might better show us more what could happen to them in different situations. All the while giving us intense situations with amazing visual effects predominantly created by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic), this was still able to give us a thrilling, tight, gripping script that will have its audience biting their nails done to the nub. And I've said it before and I'll say it again, these dinosaurs are so lifelike, it looks as if the crew went out and rented them from a dinosaur farm.
I really strive at being as impartial and objective as I can be, but I feel this film was amazing--sure, I do like this franchise, but it was well put together--visuals, writing, directing and even the acting was truly solid. No, the acting wouldn't receive any Oscar nods, but that's not why this movie was made. This is the true popcorn, quintessential film all in a nifty IMAX and 3D format. I saw it in IMAX and it rocked!
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG-13 128mins.
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