[yasr_overall_rating]
When the island’s dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.
I’m sure Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment held their breaths as “Jurassic World” opened worldwide back in 2015. Considering that it was all the way back in 2001 when the franchise’s last iteration, “Jurassic Park III,” opened to not very favorable reviews and box office returns, the powers-that-be must have been praying for a miracle. And a miracle is exactly what they received. “Jurassic World” was the number two movie in 2015 and made over $1.5 billion worldwide and reinvigorated the public’s enthusiasm for dinosaurs. I personally enjoyed “Jurassic World” and to this day, put it behind the original “Jurassic Park” in terms of pure, unadulterated entertainment. After the success of “Jurassic World,” it was only a matter of time before the inevitable sequel arrived and here it is, three years later.
It has been three years since the events on Isla Nublar closed the Jurassic World theme park, leaving it abandoned. When an ancient volcano on the island roars to life, the public grapples with the thought of trying to save the remaining dinosaurs or leaving them to die. When Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), goes before Congress and states that they should leave the island as it is, believing that it is nature remedying the mistake John Hammond made years earlier, they side with him and announce that the dinosaurs will be left to perish on the island. Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), our fearless heroine from “Jurassic World,” has formed the Dinosaur Protection Group, an organization trying to raise enough money so that they can go to the island themselves and save as many dinosaurs as they can. When she is contacted by Eli Mills (Rafe Spall), the assistant to Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), John Hammond’s former partner who helped him create the technology to clone dinosaurs, Mills informs her that they want to save as many of the different species as possible and that they have an island specifically for the dinosaurs to live on, with no gates or fences and where they can live in peace with no human interaction.
Naturally, Claire is delighted but Mills states that finding and rescuing Blue, the Velociraptor that Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) trained in the first movie, is vital as she is the last of her species. Claire knows that nobody will be able to get close to Blue, except Owen, so she pays him a visit and tells him that it is a rescue mission. Initially not interested, he has a change of heart and joins them on their expedition. As they explore the abandoned island along with the rescue group sent by Mills, led by Ken Wheatley (Ted Levine), Claire is able to reactivate the trackers that were inserted into each dinosaur and Owen manages to successfully locate Blue, re-bonding with her but no sooner has he gained her trust, Wheatley tranquilizes her, knocking her to the ground. When one of Wheatley’s men shoots Blue with his gun, Owen charges at him but Wheatley tranquilizes him too and leaves him on the jungle floor. He and his men flee, leaving Owen and Claire and their assistant Franklin (Justice Smith), behind. After waking up, Owen meets with Claire and Franklin and they watch from a distance as they load as many different species onto a waiting ship. They manage to sneak on board just as it is pulling away and over the course of their trip back to the U.S., they discover that Mills actually has his own agenda and is creating a new genetically engineered dinosaur, one that has never been seen before, called the Indoraptor, created with the DNA of the Indominus Rex and a Velociraptor.
When they reach the shore, it is not too far to Benjamin Lockwood’s sprawling estate, complete with a huge underground basement built specifically to house a variety of assorted dinosaurs. When Lockwood’s granddaughter Maisie (Isabella Sermon), overhears Mills talking to a prospective buyer and she realizes that they are not trying to save the dinosaurs, but sell them off to the highest bidder, she tries to convince her grandfather but he presumes her overactive imagination is hard at work and sends her to her room. Shortly after, he discovers what Mills is doing and after confronting him, threatens to call the police but because of his fragile state, Mills smothers him to death. As the night progresses, a large assemblage of wealthy buyers, both domestic and international, make their way into the basement where each dinosaur is auctioned off. At the end of the night, Mills introduces the Indoraptor, stating that it is practically indestructible but when it manages to escape from its cage, it is up to Owen and Claire to save the day, once again, and prevent as many of the remaining dinosaurs from escaping into the American wilderness.
The movie is a worthy follow-up to “Jurassic World” but much of what transpires onscreen is quickly becoming clichéd. How many different times can we witness tree branches thrashing around before the T-Rex materializes from the shadows? How many times can we be introduced to a “brand new” species of dinosaur that is absolutely unstoppable, only to have it stopped by film’s end? “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” pays homage to the movies that came before it but the overall narrative is wholly unoriginal. It bears more than a striking resemblance to the original trilogy’s second chapter, “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” where Ian Malcolm and co. travel to Isla Sorna to document the dinosaurs in their natural habitat, only for John Hammond’s greedy nephew, Peter Ludlow, to dispatch a team of mercenaries to capture as many dinosaurs as they can and bring them back to San Diego for a new park attraction that will make them a lot of money. The similarities are perpetually discernible and even when we reach the last act, and we finally meet the feared Indoraptor, we get a strong sense of déjà vu that brings us right back to the Spinosaurus in “Jurassic Park III,” supposedly the largest of all known carnivorous dinosaurs, and even the Indominus Rex and the Mosasaurus in “Jurassic World,” each film seems to present a totally new creature that is unrelenting and imperishable, only for them to eventually expire. Director J.A. Bayona adds some exciting action setpieces and some spectacular visuals but they’re nothing you haven’t seen before.
In theaters Friday, June 22nd
