Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

2015’s Jurassic World doesn’t hold up quite as well on repeat viewings, thanks largely to the fact that it was the first Jurassic Park film in over 14 years and anticipation for a new entry in the franchise was at an all time high, but nonetheless I still find it to be an entertaining film. The sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, however, is dead on arrival. It’s a film in which I wished the active volcano on the island of Isla Nublar would have taken out not just the dinosaurs but all the people as well so it would be over by the first act instead of dragging on for another hour and 15 minutes. Fallen Kingdom shows just how far the franchise has fallen.

Following the events of Jurassic World, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) has now become a dinosaur activist who is trying to save the dinosaurs remaining on Isla Nublar from an impending volcanic eruption. Lacking the necessary funds or government approval, she is approached by Sir Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), John Hammond's former partner, who has a plan and the money to capture and transport the dinosaurs to a new sustainable island where they can roam freely without any tourists or cages. With the help of Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Claire returns to the former park to help, but Lockwood’s assistant and right-hand man, Eli Mills (Rafe Spall), has other more nefarious plans in store for the dinosaurs.

The whole premise behind Fallen Kingdom is absurd right from the start and makes you question not only the film but the entire franchise. Like, why would they build a theme park on an island with an active (or even dormant) volcano in the first place? Eli’s master plan is even more idiotic; he wants to capture the dinosaurs so he can sell them to the highest bidder. Furthermore, he wants to use Blue’s DNA along with every other dinosaurs’ in the creation of a hybrid called the Indoraptor, a weaponized killing machine that will obey every command given to it. They’ve already perfected cloning so why they need to travel to an active volcano to capture these dinosaurs is a complete mystery. At one point one of the characters even questions Eli’s motives, asking why he’s selling off the Indoraptor “prototype,” and he responds that they can just make more of them. What’s the point of the whole movie then if that’s the case!? Everything they do is far too much work for what amounts to a couple million dollars of profit. Fallen Kingdom is just filled with more of these ridiculous plot holes that simply make it difficult to enjoy.

I could ignore them if the film was at least entertaining on some degree but even that ends up being lackluster. The script is atrocious and far too dull to maintain any kind of interest. I how it feels necessary to inject humor into every aspect of the film, which breaks any tension or horror it might be trying to draw out. I would be fine with it if the film fully committed to the idea, but Fallen Kingdom attempts to create this terrifying atmosphere with the Indoraptor that doesn’t work. There are some beautiful set pieces that look great on their own, but fall apart when they become part of the bigger picture. Dinosaurs running amok can and should be scary, not laughable.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a pointless sequel that ignores everything that preceded it, and a film that gets more and more ridiculous as it goes on. There are a couple of enjoyable throwbacks to the previous films, and the relationship between Owen and Blue can be heartwarming at times, but they’re not worth everything else that follows. When it comes to the fight between humanity and dinosaurs, I pick the volcano to wipe them both out.