Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Three years after the events of Jurassic World (2015), the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar face a new and rather inconveniently timed threat: the island's volcano has decided to wake up. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, released in June 2018 by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, picks up with Owen Grady and Claire Dearing mounting a rescue mission to evacuate as many animals as possible before the island is consumed. It is the second film in the Jurassic World trilogy and the fifth entry in the broader franchise that began with Steven Spielberg's original Jurassic Park way back in 1993. The tagline "The park is gone" sets the tone fairly efficiently: this is a film trying to pivot the series away from its theme-park-disaster roots and into something a little different, for better or worse.

Behind the camera is Spanish director J. A. Bayona, best known at that point for the quietly devastating A Monster Calls (2016) and the disaster drama The Impossible (2012). His appointment raised genuine expectations that the sequel might carry some emotional weight alongside the spectacle. The screenplay came from Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow, who had written the previous instalment. At 129 minutes, the film is a polished but unremarkable studio production in terms of scale and craft, carrying the full backing of Universal and Amblin's considerable resources. It performed well commercially on release, though critical reception was noticeably more mixed than its predecessor's.

Chris Pratt returns as Owen, a role he plays with the same easy, laddish charm he brought to his earlier work, including the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise (see, for instance, Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2). Bryce Dallas Howard reprises Claire, and the supporting cast includes Rafe Spall as the film's primary antagonist, alongside Justice Smith and Daniella Pineda as a pair of younger additions to the ensemble. The dinosaurs themselves, particularly the returning Velociraptor Blue, are once again given a prominent emotional role in the story, a creative decision that divides opinion fairly sharply. For a sense of where the story goes from here, there is also Jurassic World Dominion, the trilogy's conclusion, which also stars Pratt.

Volcano eruption? Really? That’s the big idea? This film feels like it was written by a 12-year-old who just wanted more explosions and more dinosaurs doing things dinosaurs absolutely wouldn’t do. Blue the friendly raptor is basically a loyal puppy at this point, it’s laughable. The plot is nonsense, the characters are bland, and the entire second half turns into some weird gothic horror mansion escape thing? It’s all over the place. Trashy, overblown, and just a mess from start to finish. The franchise should’ve stayed extinct.

I think that about covers it, honestly. There is a version of this film, with Bayona at the helm, that could have been genuinely tense and a bit more considered, but the screenplay simply does not give him the material to work with. The tonal lurch into something resembling a gothic horror picture in the back half is the kind of swing that might have been interesting if the foundations were solid, but by that point any goodwill had long since evaporated. If you want a franchise that at least keeps the chaos moving with some self-awareness, something like Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw knows exactly what it is, which is more than can be said here. Sometimes a series really does outstay its welcome.

Rating: ★½  | Year: 2018  | Watched: 2025-04-14

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Trailer

▶ Watch the official trailer for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) on YouTube

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