Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Review

"Do these animals deserve the same protection given to other species? or should they just be left to die?"


Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was directed by J.A.Bayona and is the latest and fifth entry into Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise. The film stars the likes of Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Zia Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Rafe Spall, Toby Jones, Isabella Sermon, BD Wong and Jeff Goldblum. The film follows Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) as they mount a campaign to return to the island to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from an extinction level event in the form of the islands no longer dormant volcano.

Back in 2015 the release of Jurassic World kick started and brought fresh life back into the original franchise, and introduced a brand new generation to the spectacle of seeing dinosaurs being brought back from extinction and living in modern times. Jurassic World was a fun and exciting film which finally showed a fully functioning theme park with dinosaurs (of course!) and was definitely up there with the likes of the original Jurassic Park film.... so the important question is does Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom live up to its predecessors or is this another case of a sequel that can't match the heights of the original film?... well I am happy to say that Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a worthy sequel to Jurassic World, and is definitely up there with some of the best entries in the franchise (of course it beats Jurassic Park: The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3!).

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a fun filled adrenaline filled adventure film with some truly intense and often scary sequences, thanks to Bayonas film making style which truly adds a lot of intensity to many of the films many set pieces (especially that truly intense opening sequence!). The cast of the film also give solid performances with returning characters Owen (Pratt) and Claire (Dallas Howard) building on their solid performances from Jurassic World, but it is the new character Franklin portrayed by Justice Smith (what a name!) who truly steals many of the scenes he is in, with his nervous paranoid character who will truly leave a lot of audiences laughing in their seats. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom main stars are of course the dinosaurs themselves, and the film truly has the most different species of dinosaur than any other Jurassic Park/World film. The CGI is truly exceptional and the dinosaurs look extremely realistic. Whilst the film uses a lot of CGI to bring the dinosaurs to life, but the film also users a lot of animatronics and puppets that really help to bring the dinosaurs to life, and adds the extra level of authenticity to the dinosaurs, when the actors are acting along there co stars.

Whilst Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is certainly a fun filled, exciting and intense experience, there are a couple of little issues that I had with the film. The film itself actual feels like two different films, with the first half of the film focusing on a rescue operation, and the second half of the film focusing on the breakout of the Indoraptor (the films new terrifying hybrid dinosaur). These two different halves have two very different styles that seem to clash around the halfway point of the film. The first half is more brighter in terms of colour, and follows the previous entries into the franchise with an intense adventure experience, but the second half feels more like a horror film, with intense chases, moments of silence and some truly dark and intense action set pieces. Whilst the film works overall, its just becomes a bit jarring and I wish that there could of been a bit of a smoother transition between these two styles of the film. My other problem resides within the final act of the film, where a major revelation happens that has major ramifications for future instalments in the franchise. Whilst this is a huge revelation (I won't spoil it for you on here!) the film seems to rush over that moment, and barely reference it at all, apart from a throwaway line in the closing moments of the film, whether or not this is just a tease for what's to come in the next film or not, but as it's that important they really should of explored it more without rushing over such a key revelation.

Overall Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a fun filled, intense and often scary adventure, and is certainly worthy to be considered up there with some of the best entries into the Jurassic Park / Jurassic World franchise and whilst there are a couple of hiccups along the way, it is still a great adventure film that fans of the franchise will love. Bring on the next entry into the franchise in a couple of years time.

Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars