‘How many times must the point be made? We’re causing our own extinction…’
I was gushing in my praise for Jurassic World upon its release and while I stand by most of what I said, I may just have had my head turned by the excitement of seeing freakin’ dinosaurs roaming around on screen again. Looking back, that movie was undoubtedly a successful action movie whilst also being undoubtedly flawed. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom makes sacrifices on the action front to fix the problems that defined Jurassic World.
Dinosaur whisperer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and prehistoric activist Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) reunite in order to save the remaining dinosaurs on
Isla Nublar from the threat of an imminent volcano eruption. Unfortunately, Eli Mills (Rafe Spall – or Ralph Spafe as my wife inexplicably calls him) and the shady Mr. Eversoll (Toby Jones) have other ideas.
Firstly, Fallen Kingdom feels like more of a Jurassic Park movie than Jurassic World did. This is partly because of the welcome return of Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm and partly because of the increased use of animatronic dinosaurs rather than an over reliance on CGI. Both of these factors go some way to realigning the franchise with its beloved beginnings, a move that is sure to get older fans back onside. Secondly, Fallen Kingdom pushes the dinosaurs to the forefront of the movie, with Pratt and Dallas Howard taking something of a backseat to their carnivorous and herbivorous cousins. This also allows us more time with an excellent supporting cast including James Cromwell as an ailing Benjamin Lockwood and the return of BD Wong as Dr. Wu.
Sacrifices are made in terms of big action set pieces with nothing to rival the show stopping conclusion of Jurassic World, but this allows Fallen Kingdom to feel a little more intimate and, by extension, more atmospheric and even frightening in parts.
Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom is not Jurassic Park. It’s not even The Lost World. What it is though, is a summer blockbuster that doesn’t have to rely on superheroes or the Jedi in order to be exciting, and that is an achievement of sorts in this day and age.