Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a very mixed bag. On one hand, the movie is well shot, full of great action, and nicely paced. On the other hand, there is never any getting around the fact it's Jurassic Park 5, no matter how cool a title the filmmakers slap on the film. While slickly and professionally put together, there is absolutely nothing new here that audiences haven't seen in the previous for Jurassic Park entries.
From a plot standpoint, 'Fallen Kingdom' is structurally the same as The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which would be fine if there was any kind of character progression that made the whole thing a bit deeper. Protagonists Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen (Chris Pratt) remain the same personality-wise as they were in Jurassic World, with no real growth or development as characters. Pratt even seems toned down here. He gets a few good one-liners in during his first few scenes, but afterwards he just ends up to reacting to the CGI chaos around him the rest of the running time. The biggest change in Claire is that she no longer is wearing heels, a complaint against Jurassic World which was always ridiculous nit-picking from the online community. Howard isn't give any more to do than Pratt but, to the credit of both, they give the best performances possible with the material they are given.
There is some good material in 'Fallen Kingdom', although much of the best stuff is reminiscent of scenes from elsewhere in the franchise. The greatest addition is Ted Levine as one of the key villains. Best known as Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs, Levine excels at playing a bad guy, and he gives one of his greatest bad guy performances here. Like every other character in the film, he could have been given more depth, but Levine still manages to be the best Jurassic Park antagonist since The Lost World. Returning for the first time since that 1997 film is Jeff Goldblum. Goldblum merely has a cameo, and although his screentime is disappointing, his performance is not. Goldblum's Ian Malcom remains the highlight of the entire franchise.
Goldblum's closing lines in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom guarantee a sequel. Unsurprisingly, yet another installment is scheduled for 2021. 'Fallen Kingdom' is by no means a disaster, even if it is by far the least memorable Jurassic Park entry. It demonstrates just how badly the franchise needs new life. If the filmmakers can find a way to not tell the same story over again for the 6th time and Goldblum is brought back, there's a chance it can be something more worthwhile than what 'Fallen Kingdom' offers. The movie is a fun enough watch, just not particularly memorable. 6/10.
From a plot standpoint, 'Fallen Kingdom' is structurally the same as The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which would be fine if there was any kind of character progression that made the whole thing a bit deeper. Protagonists Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen (Chris Pratt) remain the same personality-wise as they were in Jurassic World, with no real growth or development as characters. Pratt even seems toned down here. He gets a few good one-liners in during his first few scenes, but afterwards he just ends up to reacting to the CGI chaos around him the rest of the running time. The biggest change in Claire is that she no longer is wearing heels, a complaint against Jurassic World which was always ridiculous nit-picking from the online community. Howard isn't give any more to do than Pratt but, to the credit of both, they give the best performances possible with the material they are given.
There is some good material in 'Fallen Kingdom', although much of the best stuff is reminiscent of scenes from elsewhere in the franchise. The greatest addition is Ted Levine as one of the key villains. Best known as Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs, Levine excels at playing a bad guy, and he gives one of his greatest bad guy performances here. Like every other character in the film, he could have been given more depth, but Levine still manages to be the best Jurassic Park antagonist since The Lost World. Returning for the first time since that 1997 film is Jeff Goldblum. Goldblum merely has a cameo, and although his screentime is disappointing, his performance is not. Goldblum's Ian Malcom remains the highlight of the entire franchise.
Goldblum's closing lines in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom guarantee a sequel. Unsurprisingly, yet another installment is scheduled for 2021. 'Fallen Kingdom' is by no means a disaster, even if it is by far the least memorable Jurassic Park entry. It demonstrates just how badly the franchise needs new life. If the filmmakers can find a way to not tell the same story over again for the 6th time and Goldblum is brought back, there's a chance it can be something more worthwhile than what 'Fallen Kingdom' offers. The movie is a fun enough watch, just not particularly memorable. 6/10.