Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom Review

I’m gonna keep my opinions on this movie until the end of the review, to give more of a slightly more objective feel. For a few more seconds anyway...

Story/Writing- The island is melting, and who else is going to save it but Owen Grady? A few side characters who are under surveillance by the large shell type corporation that wants to get all the dinosaurs off the island to turn a profit. The disappointing thing here is this is yet another story that was predictable. The guy who seemed well-meaning turned out to be a bad guy only in it for money (see Incredibles 2 for a modern example of this, although that movie was much better), this story was just divided in pieces. It was part disaster movie, part prison breakout, and small part Jurassic movie. I just wish they didn't rely on easy movie tropes for this one. It's also disappointing that the Mossasaur was criminally underused in this movie as it was a big part of the previous one. Also "Indoraptor"? It's like they asked a five year old Jurassic World fan what to name the new dinosaur.

Cinematography/Props- The fact that they kept saying they were going back to a lot of animatronics kept my interest, but I feel like they didn't use as many as they were hyping it up to be. I don't dislike CGI (I hate when it's overused, as do most people who appreciate quality movies with its use), but when it's used poorly you can tell. A movie from the 90's pioneered and blended the use of both, and it still holds up today. At least it didn't look terrible in this movie to its credit.

Acting- Chris Pratt obviously plays the likable hero, and I'm a sucker for his sarcasm and wit so I did enjoy his style, even though they pound you over the head how "he's this awesome superhero cool guy". Bryce Dallas Howard's character at least shows a bit more progression, but the real standout is Daniella Pineda. I really enjoyed her character because she had the wit and likability of Pratt but also was her own person, which was enjoyable to see unfold and how she cared for the dinosaurs. I'm only briefly going to mention how misleading it was to even have Jeff Goldblum in this movie, if you can even say that. He has less than 30 seconds of screen time, although I'm sure he got a substantial paycheck, much like Michael Caine in Jaws the Revenge.

Directing- J.A. Bayona directed this movie, of which this is his fourth. For it being his fourth time directing, and a big budget one like this at that, I can give him some credit. Actually more to his credit he didn't write it so he handled the material decently. He didn't use gross distorted shots like Michael Bay, and I can at least say this movie wasn't as poorly made as the later Transformer movies. Overall, not too shabby.

Soundtrack/Audio- I don't even recall if they played the main theme from Jurassic Park. I feel like if they did use it, they shouldn't have because it would do a disservice to the original masterpiece. Again, the sound wasn't bad, but just a little lacking for the over the top set pieces.

Final Verdict- C-. I suppose this isn't a terrible grade, but I'm just really disappointed in the content of this movie and the sequel bait it turned out to be at the end. I was excited but still kept my expectations low and still left the theater underwhelmed. I'd say rent it if you really want to see it, just keep expectations low. Sorry for the first inherently negative review, but every time someone asked me my opinion on this movie I just got disappointed even more. I kept referring people that a movie about tag is more enjoyable than this big blockbuster Jurassic sequel. For reference I did enjoy the first Jurassic World movie, this one just didn't do it for me.

#Action #Adventure #ChrisPratt