Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Knowing that J.A. Bayona, director of one of my favorite films, A Monster Calls, was directing the next Jurassic World, I was shocked. Both the tone and scale of these two films are polar opposites: one dealing with an emotional journey about family, death, and the art of stories, and the other spending millions of dollars to create a cinematic theme park with dinosaurs. I was not a fan of the blockbuster reboot of Jurassic Park in 2015 at all so I went into its sequel with no expectations— and I had a blast. I was able to ignore the writing and several of the characters because it shows the dinosaurs as its true stars.

The first scene of this film was surprisingly great. It had the atmosphere and progression of a classic Spielberg story, which I believe is what J.A. Bayona was trying to fulfill. This homage to the original films’ director helped this film connect with the series—more than the first Jurassic World by leaps and bounds—and it is clearest in this opening scene. I had the lowest expectations, but by the time the words “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” were in front of me, my mouth was open in awe. Most of the film, especially the story, does not come close in quality to the first scene, but Bayona’s directing never diverged from Spielberg’s ways or the tone established at the beginning. He makes the camera always focus away from the humans and onto the dinosaurs. The best jokes and emotional scenes are performed through these CGI giants, and he somehow pulled it off enough for me to feel sympathy towards them.

I have to be honest about the story and its characters. Not only was it the weakest part of this film, but it was the only part that was poorly done. The acting, the CGI, and especially the directing, made this boring and predictable script a thrill ride for the eyes. Chris Pratt does a charming performance, and Bryce Dallas Howard knows how to scream loudly, but their characters had little development or chemistry between them. The antagonist is the typical suit searching for a profit, and he has a well-directed scene that shows this, but the choices he makes are never chosen through any struggle. There is one part of his arc where he just decides to murder someone; no thought, no hesitation, he just sees the opportunity and instantly does it. There were other characters, the bossy vet woman and computer guy, that had the perfect amount of screen time to be obnoxious but enjoyably delightful. They raised the quality every time they were on screen, and they took nothing away from the over-arching story. Other fun—but cliché—characters were the secondary villains like the gung-ho poacher and the Spielberg-henchmen at the auction. They add to the fun with their simplistic motives and fun deaths, especially with the intense and surprisingly clever introduction to the Endo-Raptor.

This film is a filled with thrills and fun if you do not care about the story or the human characters. Chris Pratt is still funny, some side characters are great, and the bad guys get what they deserve, but nothing special. If you want to see fantastic action between dinosaurs and some scenes with true emotion for the creatures, then this film is perfect for you. The action never reaches the final battle of Jurassic World, but this film actually got me to care about the creatures. That was an aspect I was not expecting, and I was impressed with how Bayona established more humanity in the dinosaurs than humans. It sounds weird, but this film benefitted greatly because of it. Overall, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom would be a simple cash grab with nothing worth seeing, but the actors’ performances and J.A. Bayona’s directing give more emotion and energy than the script deserved.

Story Rating: 4/10

Character Rating: 3/10