2015’s “Jurassic World” featured an irresistible premise: the failed dinosaur theme park promised in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original is finally realized, open and thriving. And the mega-popular, mega-profitable institution has become its own industrial complex fueling corporate greed, exploitation and the playing-with-fire dangers of genetic mutation. Though conceptually sound, the Colin Trevorrow-directed effort was a rather shabby effort at best, albeit one that surely pleased audience with its billion-dollar grosses.
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For the sequel, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” the direction has become exponentially better, thanks to some much-needed fresh blood, director J.A. Bayona (“The Impossible”), and there are times when the joy ride absolutely soars. However, similar to its predecessor, the same distinctions apply to narrative vs plot. ‘JWFK’ features strong notions and a compelling overarching story. The screenplay itself, however, by Trevorrow and co-screenwriter Derek Connolly, is leaden. For a movie that preaches the importance of dinosaur freedom, it’s hard to watch something so caged by its terrible plotting and predictability.
Promising a much better movie than it actually delivers, ‘JWFK’ begins just after the events of “Jurassic World” and in the cold open prologue, a small paramilitary-team are on a mission to harvest Dinosaur DNA (Quick catch-up: motivated by increasing profits and boosting visitors, the greedy corporation created an unholy abomination, it got loose, of course, and cause a system-wide breakdown, leading to the abandonment of the entire island). This mission, staged in inclement weather, does not go as planned, and it is gloriously staged, something out of classic “Jurassic Park.”
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The movie then begins in earnest, set three years later. Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), formerly the cold corporate shill in part responsible for the aforementioned disaster of the first movie, has transformed into a warmhearted dinosaur rights activist (a contrived character 180 seemingly designed to combat the criticism of how unlikeable she appeared in the first film). Trouble brews on Isla Nublar, where the dinosaurs roam free and unchecked. A volcano is about to erupt making the dinosaurs extinct once more. Working on legislation to save the creatures from the doomed island, the effort stall—thanks, in part, to some cautioning congressional testimony by Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm, repeated survivor of the dinosaur menace— Claire suddenly receives an alternate solution to saving the beasts.
Evidently, “Jurassic Park” owner and creator John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) had a silent partner, Sir Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), an eccentric, ailing industrialist who offers Claire unlimited funds to head an expedition to the island and save the animals, a perfect island sanctuary waiting in the wings. Claire just has to convince her former flame and expert dinosaur trainer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) to help her track down and save Blue, his beloved velociraptor bestie. But what starts as a rescue mission (of course) turns sinister, particularly when they get the creatures back to the mainland. You know, since that always goes so well.
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Compelling ideas are tucked in amongst the familiar, greatest hits plotting—being chased, escaping, new big bad creature, big bad escapes, karma comes back on the bad guy, etc. etc. At the very least ‘Fallen Kingdom’ comments on its own potential franchise fatigue, recognizing that if the series must escape extinction, it needs to drop a game-changing meteor on itself. ‘Fallen Kingdom’ runs with the idea of deconstructing its template, literally destroying what the entire series has been built upon (and that destruction is indeed spectacular) and starting towards something new, not unlike the way “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” burned down the past to make way for the future. ‘Fallen Kingdom’s’ audacious stroke is to let the genie out of the bottle thus alter the foundation of the series.
While it’s an idea introduced in the last film—when Owen began to bond and make emotional attachments with blue—another strong element of ‘Fallen Kingdom’ is the idea of the ethical treatment of dinosaurs; they too are living, feeling entities. Normally rendered as monsters, ‘Fallen Kingdom’ asks us to empathize with them. There’s a tenderness with which Bayona approaches the dinosaurs, asking us to look at them with wonder, not fear, particularly in a heartbreaking scene where a lonesome, long-necked dinosaur is engulfed in volcanic ash. It’s a genuinely moving moment, something that’s taken straight from the Steven Spielberg “E.T.” playbook. It’s moments like these, including the continued exploration of the bond between Owen and Blue when “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” nearly transcends its popcorn movie trappings.
Unfortunately, every time that the movie strives for greatness, it feels undercut by the terrible script, that falls back on thin characterizations, lazy call-backs, and a plot twist so WTF-worthy that it will undoubtedly be the toast of Twitter. Worse, the villains of the film are awful, one-note slimeballs with no dimension (Rafe Spall, Ted Levine are bad, but Toby Jones as an unctuous underground auctioneer really takes the overchewing-the-scene cake).
The MVP of the movie, without question, is the striking visual eye of Bayona, the talented Spanish director behind “The Orphanage” and the oddly overlooked “A Monster Calls.” It’s clear, from these opening frames he’s crafting a very different movie. Whereas “Jurassic World” was shot in bright sunlight, leading everything (including Chris Pratt and all those scurrying CGI dinosaurs) to look flat and rubbery, Bayona finds success in the dark with moody rain and hard shadows. His presence is immediately felt; Bayona filmmaker understands the complexity of building action sequences, emphasizing both escalation and complication, and he films things clearly and with flair (usual cinematographer, the great Oscar Faura, comes along for the ride).
The third act of the sequel contains the same familiar play-by-play beats but done so with a constrained scope and laser-sharp focus unlike you’ve seen before in this series. Bayona gleefully turns what was an expansive adventure into a claustrophobic bit of gothic horror. It’s exciting, elegantly staged stuff. By the last frames of the film, the entire concept of the film has exploded along with the island. For the first time in ages, the franchise feels actually dangerous.
Additionally, Michael Giacchino operatic score rivals John Williams‘ classics and the work of Industrial Light & Magic, partnered with a surprising amount of practical dinosaurs from Legacy Effects, is eye-popping as always.
Unfortunately, it’s never enough. While the movie strives for a kind of audience/animal empathy, it also (of course) introduces another genetic Frankenstein’s monster, this time based primarily on Blue’s DNA. Not only does this undo the entire “let’s engender sympathy for these dinosaurs” theme (oh, so now you want me to root for somebody to shoot the thing??), the new creature isn’t even that cool or scary; just a velociraptor with a new paint job. All of that said, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” isn’t a complete wash. Bayona directs with wit and grace, with a number of memorable set pieces that combine tension and thrills in the right, delicate balance. You just wish that all of that technical prowess and storytelling visual skill wasn’t served on the bedrock of a script as breakable as a tectonic plate. Like ‘Fallen Kingdom’ suggests in its most convincing moments, these dinosaurs deserve so much better. [C+]