Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

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While I can say with all honesty that I enjoyed 'Jurassic World,' it's probably fair to say that the series starts to travel downhill after that. The original '93 movie will never even come close to being topped with anything new. On one hand, people come to thee to see some of their favourite dinosaurs in action, and that's fair. But how far do these have to go? This was where I found the series to jump the shark completely, and the catalyst for what has made me tired of this series.

This chapter is yet another look at how we humans can't seem to learn a damned thing about what it means to have power over nature and how nature will ultimately turn on them in the end, making it extremely predictable. At this point, it feels like we're going through the motions, and it's a simple matter of getting butts into seats, using that 'Jurassic' title. And hey, my butt ended up in one of those seats, and I can still remember when it was all over, almost feeling insulted by some of the stupid twists and turns the movie makes. 

This time around, we kick things off with Jeff Goldblum returning as Ian Malcolm very briefly. He's in a conference where they discuss the volcano on Isla Nublar about to erupt and kill off these dinosaurs. Malcom, being the only one with common sense, suggests letting it happen. Dinosaurs are not meant to be a part of our world, plain and simple. But of course, animal rights activists come into the picture, saying things like "our children shouldn't have to grow up without dinosaurs," just like everyone watching the movie did, using books and media to educate themselves so they could recognize the dinosaurs in this movie. But I digress.

Heading this department is Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) from the last film. She recruits Owen (Chris Pratt) and a team of minor characters to head to the island and try to get the dinosaurs off of it. However, the volcano erupts, and few are rescued, but by the wrong people and for the wrong reasons. I'll give you ONE GUESS what they wanna do with these dinosaurs - that's right, same as usual. Use their DNA to create new and unfamiliar creatures that wanna kill things. This time around, I won't spoil much, but they take it to a pretty ridiculous extreme.

While I can admit that there were a few neat ideas throughout the film, for the most part, this turns into an incredibly heavy-handed movie about animal rights, which I support, but more so for the creatures that these dinosaurs would ultimately destroy and drive to extinction. This isn't a species of creature that is endangered and about to go extinct that we should struggle to save. It's a species we lived without for centuries that poses a threat to our very existence. Hell, there's even a scene where Blue the Raptor is shown crying. Again, heavy-handed.

I would probably put this just a notch above 'JP III' as far as quality goes, but not very far. This wasn't without a decent thrill or two. Blue grows on you a bit more, and it's kinda neat to bring it all to the mainland to offer up a bigger threat in case something goes wrong and doing it without a T-Rex trying to be Godzilla. But then there's the ending that shows us how one little clone (don't ask) girl named Maisie (Isabella Sermon) performs a bit of a "playing God" act, herself, but for some reason it's supposed to be "okay," when in reality, this girl unleashes pure Hell on Earth.

I won't say anything much more than that about it, but if you've seen 'Dominion,' you already know what Maisie does at the end here. For me, it was one of the most ineffective ways to convey the importance of animal rights. The only thing I appreciated about it, however, is that it brings back a bit of that light horror vibe for the kids watching, which was what several of my peers and I experienced with the original '93 film. However, that's not enough to outweigh some of the sheer stupidity seen throughout this chapter, and it truly marks the "beginning of the end" for me when it comes to the quality of these movies.

2/5

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