The secret to enjoying a movie like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is to have no expectations of it. Considering it’s the sequel to a reboot/continuation of a trilogy that started in the nineties, that’s not too hard of a task. What should be worn out and dull by now is surprisingly engaging, however. Fallen Kingdom fully owns what it is (a popcorn blockbuster featuring dinosaurs as the leads) and winds up working on a variety of levels.
The island hosting Jurassic World (a second attempt at a theme park featuring live dinosaurs that went predictably haywire in the previous film) is about to destruct due to a volcanic eruption. The government publicly decides not to intervene, but that doesn’t stop secret military forces from transporting select creatures to the mainland. Dinosaurs, of course, can be used as military weapons and are a potential industry worth billions of dollars.
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard reprise their roles from the first Jurassic World. They are now former employees of the park, teamed up in spite of a failed romance to save the dinosaurs, namely their beloved raptor friend, Blue. As stupid as that last sentence sounds, the movie somehow manages to work in spite of itself.
While the first Jurassic World boasted some amazing effects/action sequences, it also suffered from contrived characters and relationships that made parts of the movie intolerable. Miraculously, Pratt’s and Dallas’s characters are much more enjoyable this time around. They’re no longer clumsily directed to resemble a forced update of Hepburn and Tracy with no chemistry. Their characters and performances are more relaxed, and their rapport is no longer so obnoxious that we actually want them to get devoured by a T-Rex.
While there are some sprinkles of social commentary and some short meditations on the ethics of scientific interference with evolution (if you want them), Fallen Kingdom succeeds because it is unabashedly a piece of spectacle entertainment. Director J.A. Bayona delivers some great moments of suspense, keeps the pacing tight, and gives just the right amount of screen time to develop the movie’s human characters without stealing from its main attraction: dinosaurs wrecking stuff.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was one of the biggest surprise pleasures of the summer of 2018. It won’t win any awards or gain any future accolades from critics, but it is successful in providing quality escapist entertainment. It’s a startlingly well-made and intelligent continuation of a franchise that just won’t die… Which might actually be a good thing, now.
GRADE: B+
