Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom stormed into theaters this past summer and triumphed to the tune of $1 billion in box office revenue. Guess fans of the Jurassic films liked what they saw, and who can blame them. It took a lot of guts to do what filmmakers did in the latest installment of the film series that started with Steven Spielberg’s instant classic Jurassic Park.
Director J.A. Boyona and writers Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow (who helmed the first Jurassic World) took the safe haven that was Isla Nublar and basically blow it to bits!
It’s been three years since the events of Jurassic World destroyed the theme park and found Chris Pratt’s Owen and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire facing their worst fears as the dinosaurs turned on the tourists and the entire place got completely trashed. Since then, the place has been vacated, except for an army of scientists who are keeping an eye on the Jurassic residents.
Geologists have sounded the alarm. A volcano is going to explode at Isla Nublar and a team is being formed to help evacuate the dinosaurs from their habitat with the intention of transferring them to a remote island nearby. Claire solicits Owen’s help, because they need it, one, and two, she hooked him with his heart-based connection to the Velociraptor Blue… who he raised since a babe. As Owen says as they get ready to go, “What could go wrong?”
Seriously, Owen, it’s a Jurassic Park movie, it’s like that old theory if something could go wrong, it will. We should change the moniker of that from Murphy’s Law to Jurassic Law.
The pair get to the island, and notice an enormous military presence, said to “aide” in the most massive creature movement in the history of man. Turns out, another billionaire Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell)—like John Hammond before him, has seen his best intentions hijacked by nature and other people’s greed. This time, the dinosaurs are not being taken to a desolate island to live out their days and prosper. They are being brought to the mainland of America and auctioned off to the highest bidder as collector items at the best and weapons of war at the worst.
Needless to say, our heroes will swing into action and try their best to stop this nefarious plan.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is essentially two movies. It’s the Great Escape and then Bayona switches gears to make it a haunted house flick, where the ghosts are actually dinosaurs. It’s a bold move and for the large part, it totally pays off. Where this series goes from here is anyone’s guess and that is one reason why this currently film, the second in a new trilogy, is so compelling. Everything has been thrown into the wind. Dinosaurs and humans are about to mix and we’re not sure that’s going to work out well for us smaller folks on the food chain.
Pratt and Howard are dynamic yet again. Both were born to play these characters and they have been given a script that has evolved their characters and accounted—personality-wise—for some emotional growth in these two individuals. Like the story itself, the two characters truly swing into high gears when the action swifts to the mainland.
Past stars like Jeff Goldblum and BD Wong are here, and each provide a different purpose. Goldblum is essentially a human bookend to the story and it works extremely well to have him as the so-called moral compass of this endeavor. Wong’s character takes a different path. Dr. Wu goes down a path that may surprise some, but if you go back to the first Jurassic Park film and look deeply into a character study of Dr. Wu, what he does in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom should not surprise anyone.
For more on the film itself, check out our theatrical Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom review!
Bonus feature abound and add so much light to the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom experience, it’s hard to know where to begin. Given its revolutionary manner of literally destroying everything that came before, one must start with The Kingdom Evolves. For fans who have adored this series for decades, this featurette is a fascinating look at how Fallen Kingdom works within the new trilogy and features director Bayona view on the film itself and where he seeks to take Jurassic fans now that those dinos are off the island.
Speaking of Fallen Kingdom and its place in the Jurassic history, VFX Evolved is a wildly entertaining and enlightening piece that explores the creatures created in the past for the films and how the latest cinematic technology has pushed the envelope even further when it comes to how these millennia old beasts look better than ever.
Fallen Kingdom: The Conversation could not have a better quintet of folks talking about the world of Jurassic — Howard, Trevorrow, Pratt, Goldblum and Bayona delight us with this 10-minute featurette that is so fun, we only wish it were a tad longer!
In my opinion, an enormous reason why both Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has resonated with audiences has to do less with the mind-blowing VFX work on the dinosaurs. After all, since Spielberg delivered dinos that looked like nothing we have ever seen before, audiences have become spoiled with CG creations. Audiences have found a connection with the new trilogy’s two leads—Howard and Pratt. On Set with Chris & Bryce puts that cinematic chemistry on the front burner and illustrates my point through and through about the stars being the big draws here.
Chris Pratt’s Jurassic Journals chronicles the making of the movie from the point of view of the affable star. Through his video vignettes, we meet many of the folks behind-the-scenes that bring the movie magic to life. A couple of these were released in the promotional ramp-up to the theatrical release and it’s truly a nice touch to see all of these being able to be seen in one sitting.
Hawaii, where they now offer Jurassic Park tours where visitors can check out many of the iconic sites that serve as the playground for our beasts and characters, gets its own spotlight in Return to Hawaii and Island Action. The latter gives insight into how certain Hawaiian-set action scenes were made and the former is a too-quick look at the joys of shooting at the island state.
A new beast lives in Fallen Kingdom and Birth of the Indoraptor takes us behind the scenes of the creation of the latest and greatest baddie to inhabit this universe. Having that puppy (funny moniker for a beast bred for killing, no?) running loose in the enormous house that serves as our location for much of the third act turns this dinosaur tale into almost a haunted house flick. That aspect is expertly explored in Monster in a Mansion where he reveals his inspirations for this shift in locale, including a surprising one… think Vlad the Impaler! Rooftop Showdown takes us through the making of that top of the mansion mayhem that is equally fascinating as it is fear-inducing.
Who doesn’t love Jurassic Park’s Ian Malcolm. Having him back in the fold is one of the highlights of the film—even if we did wish they utilized him more. Malcolm’s Return delves deep into how filmmakers used this beloved and iconic character to bookend the film.
Film Grade: B
Bonus Features: B+