JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Steven Spielberg is known for directing features that have gone on to become classic films, including Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Jaws, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and Schindler's List. Jurassic Park, which was released in 1993, is no different. The film focused on the titular theme park created by Dr. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) and featured cloned dinosaurs. Because of its impressive special effects, gripping and tense action, it was a huge success at the box office, receiving over $914 million and becoming the highest grossing film of 1993. Of course, because of its success, Spielberg released a sequel in 1997 titled The Lost World: Jurassic Park. While it didn't live up to the quality of its predecessor, it still proved to be solid entertainment, with Jeff Goldblum returning as Dr. Ian Malcolm and Julianne Moore giving a supporting role as his girlfriend. It didn't make as much money as Jurassic Park, however, it was still the second highest grossing film of 1997, making over $618 million.  In 2001, a third film was released, Jurassic Park III, which saw the return of Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant who helps a divorced couple find their son who has gone missing. This proved to be the weaker film of the three and, 17 years after its release, people still agree it's the worst of the Jurassic films. Because of its less than impressive box office results (it made $368 million) and poor reception from critics, it seemed like that was the end of the Jurassic films. Until 2015, when Jurassic World was released. Set 22 years after the events of Jurassic Park, Jurassic World takes place on the same fictional Central American island of Isla Nublar, off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, where a theme park populated with cloned dinosaurs has operated for ten years. The park plunges into chaos when a genetically created dinosaur breaks loose and goes on a rampage across the island. Although the sequel was unnecessary, it impressed both critics and audiences and made over $1 billion after its release in 2015. Three years later, another sequel has been released, however, is it a good follow-up or another disappointment?

It's been four years since theme park and luxury resort Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment. Isla Nublar now sits abandoned by humans while the surviving dinosaurs fend for themselves in the jungles. When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event. Owen is driven to find Blue, his lead raptor who’s still missing in the wild, and Claire has grown a respect for these creatures she now makes her mission. Arriving on the unstable island as lava begins raining down, their expedition uncovers a conspiracy that could return our entire planet to a perilous order not seen since prehistoric times. With all of the wonder, adventure and thrills synonymous with one of the most popular and successful series in cinema history, this all-new motion-picture event sees the return of favourite characters and dinosaurs - along with new breeds more awe-inspiring and terrifying than ever before. 

I wasn't the biggest fan of Jurassic World as I didn't think it was necessary as it offered nothing new to the franchise. People screaming and running away from dinosaurs, it had all been done before in the previous three films. I thought that Jurassic Park III would be the last film but nope, the producers wanted to make money out of the franchise. While the special effects had certainly improved since the release of the first film in 1993, that was the only thing that was impressive. The characters of Claire and Owen weren't as interesting as Neil's Dr. Grant, Goldblum's Dr. Malcolm and Laura Dern's Dr. Ellie Sattler. Despite all of this, Jurassic World still managed to be entertaining at times but there were a few eye-roll moments, especially that scene where Claire tries to run away from a Tyrannosaurus Rex in high heels. Although it wasn’t a perfect sequel, it still managed to be successful at the box office, which lead to yet another sequel.

Because I was less than impressed with Jurassic World, I wasn't interested in seeing its sequel, Fallen Kingdom, however, I watched it recently and I had to say I was pleasantly surprised. Fallen Kingdom manages to be an improvement over its predecessor, however, it still doesn't come close to the quality of the first film. It has a darker and more intense atmosphere and, with the dinosaurs at risk at becoming extinct from an erupting volcano, Claire reunites with Owen in order to save them and take them to a new home. She teams up with Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) as he wants to help her but, surprise suprise, he really wants to make money by using Blue (the velociraptor from the previous film) to create a more advanced dinosaur.

Bayona is known for creating features that stir emotion, including 2012’s disaster drama, The Impossible starring Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and a young Tom Holland, and last year’s A Monster Calls, a fantasy that focused on a young, lonely boy who gets visited by a friendly monster. With Fallen Kingdom, he successfully managed to make me feel sympathy for the dinosaurs. A moving scene shows one of the dinosaurs succumbing to the effects of the volcano as Owen and Claire watch from a ship. It’s a sad scene but it made me wonder, should we let them succumb to their fate? Dr. Malcolm, who makes a small cameo, seems to agree as he believes that this is nature’s way of correcting the mistake that Dr. Hammond made in the first film. However, Claire has set up a ‘Dinosaur Protection Group’ and becomes determined to prevent the dinosaurs from becoming extinct.
The special effects are probably one of the most impressive aspects of Fallen Kingdom, especially with the dinosaurs. They all look real, especially the terrifying indoraptor, which was created by combining the DNA of a velociraptor with that of an indominus rex. Most of the intense scenes occur after the indoraptor escapes, especially the scene that shows a small girl trembling in her bed as the indoraptor's claws reach out to grab her. Those looking for dinosaurs chasing and eating people will not be disappointed here.
The ending of Fallen Kingdom hints that a follow-up may be released at it shows Dr. Malcolm explaining that humans may have to co-exist with the dinosaurs. If that is the case, I actually wouldn't mind another sequel being made as the idea of humans and dinosaurs co-existing together is an interesting one as, so far, the films in the Jurassic franchise have been all about people being afraid of dinosaurs and running away from them.
Like Jurassic World, Fallen Kingdom isn’t as good as the earlier films in the franchise, however, it’s still fairly entertaining and I’m sure that those who liked the previous film will enjoy this latest instalment.
7/10