Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom

From the heart stopping intro scene to everything that came after it, this one is a worthy return to that poor cursed theme park that we all know and love. One again Chris Pratt is back being Chris Pratt. It's like Star Lord has a summer job back on Earth. I don't mind that because his steady charm and sense of humor reassures me that everything will be fine in the end. But that will only happen after a lot of running and hiding and more running and more hiding between all the last second saves.

This time the last of the dinosaurs are at risk due to an erupting volcanoe near the island where they live. People like Jeff Goldblum think it's a good idea for the creatures to all die out.

Bryce Dallas Howard is cute and capable and spunky with that amazing shade of red hair, just like she always is even though she is almost too earnest for words here. A lot of big eye reactions and screaming for her life while running around in a wet and dirty tank top. What was my point again?

Another comforting bit of casting even though she just might be playing the stupidest most naieve woman in the world. She is so blinded by her love for these dinosaurs that she can't see the bigger picture going on right in front of her. Of course you will see it all coming from a mile away. The best dinosaur movie is one that doesn't make you think to much. Good and evil are pretty easy to understand.

The playful flirting between the two leads is so sweet that I felt like I needed my diabetes medication. It's also nothing we haven't seen before. I feel the odor of Spielberg over this entire film. Not a bad thing but not a terribly interesting thing either. But why re-invent the wheel if the cart isn't broken in the first place. The rest of the cast is your standard collection of bad people and comedy relief. Oh look, spunky tween girl with faux British accent.

I also really like seeing Ted Levine as the evil poacher. He's always been a favorite of mine since Silence of the Lambs.

There are not that many ways to show people in danger from dinosaur attack but I thought this film came up with some pretty creative, heart stopping moments of terror. If I was ten my butt hole would have taken a week to unpucker. The lava escape was particularly original. But after awhile it all feels like every monster movie you have ever seen, only this time with dinosaurs.



The film proves once again that having a velociraptor on your team is always a great choice. If they don't turn on you they really can bring the shock and the awe when you need some wet work done. Blue does have a way of showing up JUST at the right time to save the good guys.

 

 

How many times do we need so see the scene with the brontasaurus walking past the actors to the strains of inspirational music.? Many scenes of dinosaurs posing to more strains of inspirational music feels like Speilberg showed up one day and inserted these parts. At little of that stuff goes a long way for me. You don't really need to keep hammering home the 'save the animals' message. This is a big budget Hollywood movie. What else would you expect? The poor mornful cries of the dinosaurs that had to be left behind to die on the island was also laying it on a bit thick.

 

I had fun with this one despite how frantic it can be at times. You know exactly what you are getting yourself into with one of these films and once again they deliver the goods and then some. The CGI is solid, especially the dinosaur stampede It's amazing how little the effects have improved since the first film. That only shows how amazing and groundbreaking they were in 1993.