When The Lost World: Jurassic Park was released, I saw it in theaters and thought that I was the only one who loved it, but with the popularization of the Internet, I discovered others who were willing to admit that it was their favorite of the franchise. I know that what I am about to write will have people questioning my sanity, but Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom felt like the Pacific Rim of dinosaur movies. It felt like a child’s imagination brought to life.
If you watch this franchise for the people, you are buying your ticket for the wrong reason. The point is to root for the dinosaurs, and in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, they are the real stars. Rexy needs to admit that she secretly has some human favorites that she adopted because she is always attacking dinosaurs that are hunting human beings then does not eat her conquests. Because she has to maintain her reputation, she scares her fave human beings just to keep them at arm’s length. I see you Rexy! You’re a big softy.
Rexy is no diva so she shares her spotlight with Blue, a velociraptor whom Chris Pratt’s character raised in the previous dinosaur franchise installment, Jurassic World. She is living her best life until her dad visits and takes awhile to see that she isn’t a little girl anymore. Of course, she gets into scrapes trying to save his dumb ass, but ultimately she saves her humans from their worst impulses and reasserts her autonomy by rejecting human control over her reproductive future. I also thought that it was hilarious that the evil scientist’s whole behavioral theory basically went down the drain. Womp womp.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom does feature a plucky breakout star, Stygimoloch, who is a fish out of water and largely plays for laughs until the villain, whom I won’t spoil, brings a certain Jean-Jacques Rousseau aphorism to life in the memorable denouement that shows the clash of man’s hubris with the reality that just because a man is at the top of the food chain, literally and figuratively, does not mean that he will always remain there. Those on top create the circumstances for their eventual demise.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom impressed me for bringing every childhood fantasy to life. I’m still into volcanoes, and I never watched the trailers for this film so I was pleasantly surprised by the natural pyrotechnics featured in the film. I completely geeked out, but also thought it was unlikely that while running for their lives, the dinosaurs would start attacking anyone. I was successfully emotionally manipulated at the final shot of the dock, but because it was nature versus nature, I was able to talk myself out of wailing like I did during a certain dragon scene in the most recent season of Game of Thrones. RIP Brachiosaurus. People always take for granted a solid supporting actor.
Even though it is not obvious until the second half of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the film is actually a gothic entry in the dinosaur film franchise. If you are really paying attention to how a certain character is conflated with the dinosaur exhibit, the ultimate twist is obvious, but I did not see it coming at the time even though my subconscious had already figured it out. If you want to know who the real villains are, check out the characters with too perfect teeth, i.e. caps. There is a mournful fairy tale like quality that made me wonder if Guillermo del Toro had a hand in the production, but instead I discovered that one of his mentees, J.A. Bayona directed it, which made complete sense.
The seeds of the big reveal are planted early on if you pay attention to the scene in which Bryce Dallas Howard meets Mills, played by Rafe Spall, whom despite his impressive acting lineage, felt like a poor man’s US version of Being Human’s werewolf, Sam Huntington. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom definitely gives us a sinister, more mercenary glimpse of what the hopeful past used to look like. The gothic setting really worked for me. It was a nice added touch to add a character with a veneer of niceness, but is actually evil though I mistakenly thought there were two and thought the dinosaurs had some scientific benefit to one of my two character suspects. Locking someone up in a largely, big empty mansion is an essential requirement in the genre. Aiming for complete isolation and committing an off-screen murder are the cherries on top, which are also essential if you don’t want to turn dinosaurs into villains for hunting down helpless, defenseless people. If Eli Roth directed this joint, he would have shown a dinosaur eating the dead body. Mashing up gothic with sci-fi CGI generated dinosaurs is brilliant.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has bookend Jeff Goldblum cameos, which I appreciated. There is an end credits scene so you should stay seated as if you were attending a Marvel movie. I liked the addition of Justice Smith and Daniella Pineda to the franchise, especially if it means more casual Star Trek references. I’m a big Ted Levine fan from The Bridge and Banshee Chapter so I was happy to see him make some money and shout out the movie’s political leanings. Chris Pratt did some great physical work, especially after waking up. No child will ever prefer Bryce Dallas Howard to Pratt in this franchise, but at least she isn’t wearing heels…eventually.
Sure Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has a message about the responsibility that man owes for creating scientific circumstances that would have never existed in nature without human intervention. I still think that pundits are going to spin it as scientific abomination wreaks havoc, and human beings will be cast as the victims, not the perpetrators. I can’t wait to see the next installment, but if it is just human beings killing dinosaurs willy nilly to insure the public’s safety, please warn me so I don’t see it because I don’t see these movies to cry.