Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) Dir: J. A. Bayona
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Having recently reviewed the other two films in this legacy sequel trilogy, it seemed only right that I should complete the set with this; the middle film of the three. Director J. A. Bayona has some fairly good films on his resume, but this is not one of them. I didn't like this film at all the first, and until now only, time I watched this, and I was not expecting that to change upon revisiting it.
I think one of the most frustrating things about this film is that, in isolation, there are some very good and visually striking scenes, including what has to be one of the most heartbreaking shots in modern cinema; the dinosaur on the pier. From a purely visual perspective, this is actually a good film. The problem comes when one analyses everything else underneath that.
The narrative is ridiculously poor, and the biggest weakness of the film by some distance. It's full of annoyingly incoherent storyline decisions, terribly written and shallow characters, and inconsistent dialogue. Part of me wants to praise the bold decisions made to bring the dinosaurs closer to home, literally and figuratively, but they just didn't work.
Chris Pratt gave a similar performance to that of the first film, which is to say, fairly good, but not exceptionally so. He was fine, but he simply does not have the presence or personality that either Sam Neill or even Jeff Goldblum. I personally find his co-star far more compelling as a character and a performer.
Speaking of whom, Bryce Dallas Howard was once again the strongest performer in the film. She threw herself into this film, much like in the previous one. She's the one person in these later films that I have actually enjoyed watching on a consistent basis. I wish her character had more development, but at least her acting was decent.
I actually rate Rafe Spall's acting ability fairly highly, but his character was so bland and uninspired that I just didn't care about anything he did. It all felt so predictable and dull. Spall's acting was fine, it wasn't the problem at all, but his character was lazily composed and uninteresting.
Isabella Sermon didn't feature anywhere near as much as she should've, considering that she was honestly the only new character that had any serious potential. Sermon's acting was fairly good too, but she only really got to show that in the last quarter of the film, which is a real shame.
Justice Smith and Daniella Pineda played a couple of characters with absolutely nothing to them beyond a couple of very basic and boring traits. Neither their writing or their acting gave me any reason to care about either of them even remotely. They felt so unnecessary. I appreciate the attempt to introduce new characters, but they have to have some substance to them.
There were also some fairly notable, if decidedly average appearances from the likes of James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, Jeff Goldblum, BD Wong, and Geraldine Chaplin, in the varying supporting roles. None of them were particularly exceptional, though both Jones and Goldblum had the best of it, compared to the others named.
Overall, if I could sum up this film in just one word, it would be frustrating. And part of the reason that this was such a poor and disappointing film is that it really could've been good. If it was better written, this may have been the best film in the franchise since the original, but instead it lingers near the bottom of the list.
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