Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Sometimes movie critics are idiots. This movie earned some negative reviews and an underated 51% from Rotten Tomato. Critics said there was more dino chasing and poor character development. This is the fifth movie of this franchise; the audience has a pretty good idea of what to expect. Critics need to manage their expectations. This is not a great movie but for the genre it is still entertaining. There is action, rampaging dinosaurs, villains, lingering romance and comic relief.  A common element of these movies is duplicity; some seemingly good guy with ulterior motives . From an evolutionary perspective these films are about what can go wrong will go wrong. This perspective takes over the movie and causes mayhem. It is an old formula but it works.

On one level this is a simple movie. You have a good idea which bad guys are going to be dino chow. Their anticipated demise keeps your attention. You also have a pretty good guess which dinosaur is the good or bad.

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard have good chemistry and are nicer to each other in this film. There are some funny scenes mostly from a new character played by Justice Smith. His character  shrieks a lot as do the others. Another hallmark of these movies are kids. Isabella Sermon plays Maisie, the granddaughter of Sir Benjamin Lockwood (former partner of John Hammond). Aside from running away from dinosaurs and shrieking, there is a subplot regarding her which comes in a bit late and is a throwaway. A greyer Jeff Goldblum has  brief appearances in the beginning and ending of the movie, mumbling his dour predictions. Geraldine Chaplin has a small roll as Maisie’s nanny. The woman is ageless, she still looks 100 years old.

For fans of this franchise this is a fun movie. Critics need to lighten up This film is not aiming for the Oscars, rather its target is the box office. The film cost $170m to produce and has an international box office north of $1b. With this type of revenue sequels are hard to resist. What will be cloned next, cavemen?

Jurassic World

Jurassic World

This is movie is predictable and formulaic. There are the munch and crunch dinosaurs, herbivores who invariably become appetizers, lost kids in peril and a super designed dino’s, Indominus.  Inodminus dominates the movie terrorizing the park. The other non-human stars are the four Velociraptors. In this film they are domesticated (sort of) by Chris Pratt. Frankly I prefer the vicious cunning flesh ripping raptors of the first film rather than these semi-tamed hunting dogs.

Chris Pratt plays a He-man like character with gun in hand, knife in his belt and a shirt he should have changed a week age. He is the alpha male, unless the dinosaurs tell him otherwise. He plays the role too straight which is unfortunate since the movie could have used his well-honed humor (big mistake).

Bryce Dallas Howard, plays Claire Dearing, with her porcelain looks and Cleopatra haircut. She is the park’s CEO. She does the whole movie wearing six inch heels, even running in the jungle. Her character starts out a cool in control executive and deteriorates in to panicked screaming wreck.  Taking a serious actress and reducing her to a screaming wretch seems like a waste of money and talent.

Claire’s two nephews visit the park. They are wholesome non-descript kids from anywhere America. The Jurassic franchise uses kids as a barometer to gauge fear with their eyes popping out and lips cracked from screaming. No different here.

In this type of movie acting is tertiary. No one’s performance can be criticized because they are part of a spectacle. Actors could be interchangeable. All the director wants is a marquee name to boost box office.   

This movie is like a beloved amusement park ride. You know what to expect with highs between the lows. You have been on the ride before and you will again. If you are a paleontologist or still enchanted with your childhood plastic dinosaurs, this is your movie. But if you resist the urge to see the film, consider saving your money for another flick, perhaps the Grey series (NEVER!!!).