Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom *** (2018, Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Ted Levine, Jeff Goldblum) – Movie Review

It plays like a video game, has very little story to speak of, two likeable stars battling blue screen to produce performances, some miscast British actors struggling, and an irritating little girl at the centre of things, but there are some great scary dino action set pieces to keep the old-fashioned monster movie fans satisfied.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom plays more like a video game than a movie, has a new situation but very little story to speak of, has two likeable stars battling blue screen to produce performances, some miscast British actors struggling, plastic-looking creatures, and an irritating, interfering little girl at the centre of things.

After an irrelevant action opening sequence to attract your attention, there is a very dull 20 minutes to get the second Jurassic World cranked up into some kind of gear, when Claire finally talks Owen into returning to the dinosaur island of Isla Nublar, off Costa Rica, to rescue the remaining animals from the island’s erupting volcano. Like you would really go back there to face dinosaurs and an erupting volcano! Yeah, right!

However, director J A Bayona’s movie certainly delivers on the scary action front, and there are some great scary dino action set pieces to keep all the fans of old-fashioned monster movies well satisfied. And there is only really excellent villain. Ted Levine, the one-time Jame Gumb in The Silence of the Lambs, enjoys himself extravagantly as one of the bad guys, Ken Wheatley. Jame Gumb was a monster too, but a monster of a different kind from the dinosaurs.

But the much advertised return of Jeff Goldblum (as Dr Ian Malcolm) to the series proves a shockingly damp squib as he has virtually nothing to do, except mouth mumbo jumbo about the deteriorating state of the planet, almost all of which is in the various trailers. He’s also got this line to say: ‘These creatures were here before us. And if we’re not careful… they’re going to be here after. Life cannot be contained. Life breaks free. Life… finds a way.’ And, yes, it’s also in the trailer.

Rafe Spall is a very, very good, appealing English nice-guy actor, but his big American bad-guy turn defeats him. Ditto Toby Jones, though with much less to do, as Gunnar Eversol.

James Cromwell and Geraldine Chaplin may be glad of the high-profile work, but their roles disrespect them. Cromwell has got one of those dying old folk roles, entirely confined to bed, and Chaplin has a nothing role as his devoted housekeeper. That is annoying.

The young people are better treated. Justice Smith is quite fun as scaredy tekkie Franklin, and Daniella Pineda is nice and feisty as Zia Rodriguez. They both build good, credible characters out of stereotypes. However, all the film’s burden falls on Howard and Pratt, and they seem a bit weary and only half engaged most of the time, especially an often tired-looking Pratt. They are not helped by a script that gives them hardly any good lines to chew over. Most of the dialogue is on the ‘run!’ and ‘eek’ kind of level.

If most of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is hard to believe in, its final payoff is totally unbelievable. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom sets up Jurassic World 3 in the most blatant way in its final scenes that seem like a trailer for the next movie.

At 130 minutes, it is around 20 minutes too long. A swift edit of the first section would produce a neater, tighter, smarter, faster movie.

It is not as good as its 2015 predecessor Jurassic World, but there is suspense, there are thrills, there is excitement and there is fun too. There are intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril for grown-ups but the film is continually forced to cut away from the results of the violence to keep its 12 certificate, producing a family friendly movie that is at odds with its horror movie subject, sometimes suggesting it is aimed at the age of the young girl at its centre.

By the way, what has happened to Jurassic World‘s co-stars Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins and Judy Greer? Fallen Kingdom misses them. And what has happened to Sam Neill and Laura Dern for that matter?

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

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