Review: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

As much as Jurassic Park is important to me from my childhood, my expectations for this latest installment was pretty low.
Now while I thought Jurassic World was pretty decent, the stuff I was hearing about its sequels in terms of the choice of story just sounded like it could very well be a disaster.

So surely, with my hype being almost non-existent, this was going to be better than expected?

Well, it kind of was in the end. The first two-thirds pretty much moves along as I expected it to be. The set-pieces were either fine or ordinary, there was little or no character development whatsoever and there was no minor character that was really annoying me.
Thankfully, the final act actually felt like solid entertainment and I was surprised to see them making it scary for the most part. So fair play to director J.A Bayona and his team for giving us that, as I think most of that final act will scare many younger viewers. But not in a bad way.

There is not that much to be said about the performances. Chris Pratt had enough charm to keep the film moving as the B-grade Indiana Jones-type. Bryce Dallas Howard was probably the best part. She continues to show good strength in her character from the previous one.
Rafe Spall did an ok job as the villain, as most of his career has involved playing creepy or slimy characters. It was nice to see Ted Levine be involved, as the last time I saw him was probably Shutter Island back in 2010.
For nostalgia, it was nice seeing Jeff Goldblum back. However, as for involvement, it was very little.

As for the newbies. Daniella Pineda showed a lot of promise as this strong-willed character and I felt confidence in her coping with tense situations. As for Justice Smith, I was aware he was the comedic relief. However, his character just came off as either annoying or incompetent and never funny. He seems like a talented actor. But it just did not work in this one.

I don't often mention this aspect, but I was impressed with some of the choices in lighting, as it intensified and elevated some of the scarier moments. The visual effects were slightly better, as I noticed they weren't to go in close on some of the dinosaurs and I therefore noticed the strong detail.
Michael Giacchino is back with another score, and there was a nice mix of original pieces mixing in with some classic pieces from the 1993 original.

As for the negatives, I have plenty. But they're all small ones. The biggest problem I had was the very little character development. Having that just can't get you invested in the people involved and lose a lot of your enjoyment level for the film as a whole. It is a common problem that most mainstream blockbusters have.
The other problems I had with it was that the story as expected was not that interesting, and for something involving dinosaurs, there was very little spectacle, awe and wonder. It did have some magic towards the end which was thankfully its saving grace. But most of the film just gave me little content to care for, and it just made me want to watch Jurassic Park again. I know it might be a bit unfair to say that. But the evidence is there of how great of a film you can make with this concept. Every one of it sequels has not come anywhere close to matching that level of enjoyment. But at least The Lost World and even Jurassic Park III has some parts that are worth watching again. Speaking of The Lost World, I could summarise Fallen Kingdom as an elongated version of the first two acts of The Lost World. So that for me is just lazy story-telling.
This Jurassic World phase for me has had a constant sub-standard summer blockbuster feel to it. It doesn't always make it a terrible film. It just gives little reason for me to want to either own a copy, or even watch it again.

Those previous sentences pretty describes why I went in with very low expectations. If it wasn't for its final act, they would have been met. But sadly the more I think about, the more I felt frustrated with it. It just misses out on a pass sadly.
The action is solid, I admired the desire to make this scary and it did manged to intrigue me as to how the next one would pan out. But the poor development in the characters left very little to get drawn into.

If I had to rank this within the rest of the franchise. I would place it fourth. Ahead of Jurassic Park III and behind Jurassic World.

Rating: 6/10

Nostalgia Review: Jurassic Park Franchise

25 years since the first Jurassic film, and already I feel old. The first time I and many others saw Jurassic Park, our eyes were opened and our jaws was dropped so far in awe and wonder. Since then, they have not come anywhere close to that level of the 1993 blockbuster hit.

So the franchise as a whole could relate well to the Jaws franchises. But unlike the Jaws sequels, the Jurassic future installments are at least solid or fun viewing. It is hard to call this franchise a strong one, as they still rely so much on the first one.
With the next film coming on, general audiences will most likely call it "the new Jurassic Park" film. That comment alone should show us where the franchise is.

I honestly can't see this franchise even matching the success Jurassic Park took. But for now, we can still have fun with its sequels, and there have been enough that we can still enjoy on multiple viewings.

Jurassic Park - There's not much else to say that hasn't been said about this action-adventure classic directed by Steven Spielberg.

On it's release in 1993, it broke all sorts of records and became a timeless classic.

It has all the right ingredients for an ultimate summer blockbuster. It has a fun concept that all ages can get something out of, has rich character development and has perfect pacing that includes many memorable set-pieces. It certainly opened the doors for other films to show us things on the screen that people never thought would be possible.

It also began the love for dinosaurs for many kids that were brought up in the 90's, including myself. This one of the my most watched films as a kid, and is in my top 100 films of all-time list.

Also, at a time when visual effects was in its infancy, the CGI in this not only holds up, but is seen by many as still the best in the franchise.

Rating: 9/10

The Lost World: Jurassic Park - Four years after the first Jurassic Park, the hype for the sequel was sky high.

It is clearly inferior to its predecessor. But it is still a perfectly decent watch. Over time, I have come to terms with my initial expectations and if you go into this knowing that it will never top the quality of the first one, there is enough to enjoy in this. My enjoyment for this honestly gets bigger the more times I watch it.

The story moves along nicely, it still looks great, there are some fun set-pieces and there is a great performance by the late great Pete Postlethwaite that steals the show.

It is also easy to forget that Vince Vaughn is in this, as he began his career doing more dramatic roles before he came the comedic actor that pretty much everyone associates him with.

Rating: 7/10

Jurassic Park III - I remember seeing this in the cinemas, and I recall enjoying it. Nowadays, I do still like watching it. But it is more of a guilty pleasure than anything else, even though I am aware of how silly it is.

There are so many flaws in its story that you eventually lose count. But bringing back Sam Niell's character was a good move as his moments kept the film just about moving along.

Plus, there are some fun set-pieces including one involving a birdcage and the practical effects are still as strong as ever.

Rating: 6/10

Jurassic World - The beginning of the franchises current age, and I felt it did a decent job.

The hype was huge going into this as the trailers were pretty strong, and while it may rely a lot on the nostalgia of the first Jurassic film, the new stuff did a good job of making this fun viewing.

Chris Pratt has a great screen presence and Bryce Dallas Howard has good chemistry with Pratt.

It gave us some new set-pieces that were executed well. But weirdly, the visual effects are probably the worst in the franchise.

Rating: 7/10

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Despite fearing the worst, it was surprisingly solid in the end. But that was only thanks to its final act.

There is some decent action in this, and some genuinely scary parts towards the end. But I think the non-existant character development and loss of fun prevented from being anything apart from just about passable.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Revenge

Despite not hearing universally positive reviews for this from the film festivals late last year, the look and style I got from seeing the trailers just had me wanting to see this on the big screen.
It certainly looked like this would be a treat for the eyes, and I was right.

There is a grindhouse vibe about it with the look and colour palette of Mad Max: Fury Road, which is always a good thing. As for the story, there are similarities to Kill Bill. But it certainly doesn't match the quality of Quentin Tarantino.

The plot may be generic, predictable and nothing much to be said about its themes. But the journey getting there was fun, violent, stylish and tense at times.
Speaking of violence, They really go for it in this and hold nothing back. There are many gory and brutal sequences that could rival The Raid films. But what makes the violence fun to watch is the entertaining vibe the director gives to these sequences.

There are also some cool dream sequences that portray the wonderful turning point our main character experiences, that sets us up for a pretty thrilling final act.

All the performances fitted the tone of the film well. They all felt purposely over-the-top and were more seen as gimmicks rather than characters we can relate to. So props to Matilda Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe and Guillaume Bouchede for their work.

The only problems I had with it were some of the decisions characters made in the film that just felt illogical, even for a film this outrageous and silly. There were a few moments like this that just momentarily took me out of film, and feeling like that could have been executed a lot better and that it would still fit with the tone.

But to get the best enjoyment out of this, it's probably best to not take this film too seriously, as there are a few moments that you just have to go with. This is a film that you're supposed to have fun with, and not make it a deep-thinking piece.
Director Coralie Fargaet and her team do a great job and giving blood-spattered entertainment with a strong experimental style that needs to be seen on a big screen.

Rating: 7/10