JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM
June 22, 2018
It seems like the special effects team really took the lack of animatronic dinosaurs "complaint" to heart, so now there are a lot more full size puppet and animatronic dinosaurs. As usual, they look fantastic.
I really love the variety of dinosaurs in Fallen Kingdom. I love me some T-Rex, Raptors and Triceratops but I also enjoy seeing newer/less talked about animals introduced like Baryonyx, Carnotaurus, Allosaurus, Stigymoloch and even some more recently discovered species like Sinoceratops.
But what I love most about Fallen Kingdom is the tone.
J.A. Bayona was brought in to direct and he brought in elements of gothic horror which are applied in spades during the third act in which our heroes are being pursued by the new hybrid dinosaur throughout a mansion. This is probably the darkest and most tense Jurassic movie of the series, the third act chase alone makes the raptors in the kitchen scene look tame.
Even composer Michael Giaccinno got in on that action by adding a choir during certain themes to enhance the horror elements. But even without the choir, his score is still pretty great.
But I can't talk about the film's horror elements without mentioning its number one source, the Indoraptor. This newest genetic hybrid dinosaur is basically what would happen if Freddy Kruger became a dinosaur, a creature designed only to kill and sometimes take pleasure in doing it. Many of his actions draw homages some several horror movie icons including roaring against the moon like the Wolf Man, crawling down a building to enter a room like Frank Langella's take on Dracula and stretching out his claws similar to Nosferatu. This thing is a monster and I love it!
I also have to mention something Bryce Dallas Howard said in one of the Blu-ray special features. She said that J.A. Bayona told her that he was a a film professor and taught an entire class on Jurassic Park and "There's something very, very poetic and cosmic about that."
I agree.
Admittedly, the ending is going to be polarizing to those who watch it and it caught me off guard at first. But it did make sense in some regards to the story as a whole and the message of genetic power being unleashed onto the world. This movie just took the next step and sets the groundwork for more steps to be taken. Remember a key theme of this series, actions always have consequences.
Personally, I think Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a great movie, maybe not a perfect movie but certainly not as bad as everyone else likes to make it out to be. I don't have time to sit here and debunk every dumb complaint that's been made about this movie, I'm just sick of hearing it and talking about it.
3 years after the incident at Jurassic World, Isla Nublar's long dormant volcano becomes active leading to an eruption that will destroy the island and kill all the dinosaurs living there. An operation to rescue them is underway, the people running it have more dastardly intentions toward the animals.
Yep, I'm redoing this one too.
After Jurassic World became the second highest grossing film of 2015, bringing in over $1.6 billion worldwide, a sequel was immediately in order.
Initially, I didn't think there would be a sequel but I was excited nonetheless and the first trailer had me hooked. I just wish the later trailers didn't show so much of the film in it, robbing me of several elements of surprise and cool moments.
Yep, I'm redoing this one too.
After Jurassic World became the second highest grossing film of 2015, bringing in over $1.6 billion worldwide, a sequel was immediately in order.
Initially, I didn't think there would be a sequel but I was excited nonetheless and the first trailer had me hooked. I just wish the later trailers didn't show so much of the film in it, robbing me of several elements of surprise and cool moments.
I did say in my original 'First Impressions' that I might do another review of Fallen Kingdom once it came out on Blu-ray and I have more time to really solidify my thoughts on it.
5 years is a long time and opinions can change dramatically.
But with that being said, Fallen Kingdom is still an enjoyable follow-up that raises the stakes and makes some very bold decisions effecting the future of the story. From destroying Isla Nublar to putting the surviving dinosaurs up for auction, the theme of actions having consequences continues in the Jurassic series.
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard reprise their roles as Owen and Claire and they are just as good as ever. I especially like Claire's arc of being someone who sees the dinosaurs as nothing but numbers on a spreadsheet to actual creatures and eventually spearheads an organization to save and protect the dinosaurs.
The new characters are fine on their own, but the standout character is Masie. For her first film role, Isabella Sermon does a fantastic job and is, my opinion, the best child character in the franchise.
Fallen Kingdom's antagonists were more villainous than previous films', and I couldn't wait to see them get their comeuppance. Cartoonish, greedy characters like Dennis Nedry, Peter Ludlow and Vic Hoskins didn't have the most noble motivations for their actions, but they never took it to the level of actual murder or leaving characters for dead like the hired guns in Fallen Kingdom
One returning character from the previous film is Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong), now working for our villains. But Wu is not entirely villainous, he's just obsessed with perfecting his work.
Jeff Goldbulm makes a triumphant return as Malcolm, who cameos in the beginning and the end of the film only to say how right he is about everything.
The new characters are fine on their own, but the standout character is Masie. For her first film role, Isabella Sermon does a fantastic job and is, my opinion, the best child character in the franchise.
Fallen Kingdom's antagonists were more villainous than previous films', and I couldn't wait to see them get their comeuppance. Cartoonish, greedy characters like Dennis Nedry, Peter Ludlow and Vic Hoskins didn't have the most noble motivations for their actions, but they never took it to the level of actual murder or leaving characters for dead like the hired guns in Fallen Kingdom
One returning character from the previous film is Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong), now working for our villains. But Wu is not entirely villainous, he's just obsessed with perfecting his work.
Jeff Goldbulm makes a triumphant return as Malcolm, who cameos in the beginning and the end of the film only to say how right he is about everything.
I really love the variety of dinosaurs in Fallen Kingdom. I love me some T-Rex, Raptors and Triceratops but I also enjoy seeing newer/less talked about animals introduced like Baryonyx, Carnotaurus, Allosaurus, Stigymoloch and even some more recently discovered species like Sinoceratops.
But what I love most about Fallen Kingdom is the tone.
J.A. Bayona was brought in to direct and he brought in elements of gothic horror which are applied in spades during the third act in which our heroes are being pursued by the new hybrid dinosaur throughout a mansion. This is probably the darkest and most tense Jurassic movie of the series, the third act chase alone makes the raptors in the kitchen scene look tame.
Even composer Michael Giaccinno got in on that action by adding a choir during certain themes to enhance the horror elements. But even without the choir, his score is still pretty great.
I also have to mention something Bryce Dallas Howard said in one of the Blu-ray special features. She said that J.A. Bayona told her that he was a a film professor and taught an entire class on Jurassic Park and "There's something very, very poetic and cosmic about that."
I agree.
Admittedly, the ending is going to be polarizing to those who watch it and it caught me off guard at first. But it did make sense in some regards to the story as a whole and the message of genetic power being unleashed onto the world. This movie just took the next step and sets the groundwork for more steps to be taken. Remember a key theme of this series, actions always have consequences.
Personally, I think Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a great movie, maybe not a perfect movie but certainly not as bad as everyone else likes to make it out to be. I don't have time to sit here and debunk every dumb complaint that's been made about this movie, I'm just sick of hearing it and talking about it.
Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and thank you for joining me here in my lair.
So long...
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