Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) - Review

I think it is high time the Jurassic Park series takes after the real dinosaurs and goes extinct...

In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, raptor trainer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and dinosaur scientist Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) are tasked to return to Isla Nublar, the site of the original Jurassic Park and the updated Jurassic World, to retrieve as many dinosaurs as they can before the island explodes due to a violent volcano. Things are not as they seem, however, when Grady and Dearing find themselves caught in a black market scheme with potentially devastating ramifications.

For context, I really enjoy the original Jurassic Park film. It is a text-book example of the wonders of filmmaking, as Steven Spielberg was able to convince audiences that these creatures really existed. While I hold a mostly ambivalent opinion of The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3, I was not a fan of the first Jurassic World. In my estimation, the nostalgic call backs felt empty, and what new that was added lacked in interest and meaning. All this to say, I had little to no expectations for Fallen Kingdom, and I am sad to say that this final product fell well-below my already basement level anticipation.

Jurassic World is rife with poor performances and poorer dialogue. While the film opens with what could have been a terrifically terrifying opening, the wooden, hokey lines and campy acting made me laugh more than shriek. This is a problem that prevails the whole film. At no point did I ever believe these people were really present in the situation, which to me is needed for a special effects extravaganza to work. The original Jurassic Park had this in spades: Grant, Sadler, Malcolm and the kids all felt like real people. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's characters feel like over the top cartoons who are simply there to fill time and further the plot to the next banal VFX sequence.

Bryce Dallas Howard, a capable actress, turns in one of the worst performances of her career. Given nothing to do aside from screaming, Howard seems checked out. The "comic" (I use that term very loosely) relief, played by Justice Smith is one of my least favourite film characters in recent memory. Every single line illicit nothing but eye rolls and cringe. Writers Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly should be ashamed of their work on this character, though I blame Smith for the delivery just as much.

Chris Pratt is charismatic and likeable, but Owen Grady is a one-note, surface level character that Pratt seems so limited in the role. In addition, the super-heroic Gary Stu action sequences Grady is able to pull off (I'm talking defeating 5 private army soldiers in successive hand to hand combat fights) come out of no where.

With that off of my chest, I can now turn to my real issue with Fallen Kingdom. The CGI. In 1993, Industrial Light & Magic was able to create dinosaurs that looked REAL. Through a combination of puppetry, animatronics, computer generated imagery and clever cinematography, these fantastic creatures looked to be in-camera. They felt tangible and life-like. Yet somehow, despite all of the advancements in technology in the last 25 years, Fallen Kingdom's dinosaurs cannot hold a candle to Jurassic Park's. The lack of a realistic presence evaporates any attachment the audience has with the dinosaurs, which is film breaking considering the plot's heavy reliance on the relationship between Pratt and velociraptor "Blue". When the dinosaurs attack each other, it is more like a video game scene than live animals. As well, Fallen Kingdom features some of the WORST CGI I have ever seen, in the spreading lava of Isla Nublar's volcano. It looks unfinished, perhaps only passing a first or second render. Children's cartoon's have better effects than this sequence.

There are moments where this film seems as if it is going to turn the corner and offer something entertaining. The original John Williams score twangs, cinematographer Oscar Faura's beautiful wide shots linger, and it seems as if director J.A. Bayona might provide us with a nostalgic yet modern blockbuster. Then a human speaks, and the goodwill that just built goes down the drain. Once or twice I'll allow, but when the film is over 2 hours and I am checking my watch a third of the way through, I have officially checked out, and there is no coming back from that. Jurassic Park was not meant for a sequel, and yet we ended up with 4. I can only hope Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the last. SKIP IT.