“…wasn’t really a disappointment becasue I didn’t expect much.”

Fallen Kingdom: Jurassic World, oops I mean Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the second movie in the Jurassic World franchise and oh boy does it show. The movie takes place three years after the last movie, and the dinosaurs are in trouble. A volcano that was apparently there the entire time threatens the lives of these animals whose lives were already threatened millions of years ago. But this time our heroes have to encounter the scariest dinosaur of all: poachers. It’s a wild ride, and one that will certainly make you go: “meh.”

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has a lot in common with the Jurassic Park sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park; and when I say a lot, I mean a lot. First of all, the plots of both films can be compared pretty easily. They both feature dinosaurs in trouble, then people in trouble when dinosaurs reach the mainland. You could also say that both movies are similar in the fact that they both feature plots that are pretty generic. There’s not a lot in this movie that directly ties into Jurassic World, just like there wasn’t much that tied into Jurassic Park in the other movie. But really the biggest similarity that these films share is just how mediocre they are. I’m not going to say that Jurassic World is as good as Jurassic Park, but for argument’s sake let’s just say they shared a lot of qualities. They (re)introduced the world to the concept of a dinosaur theme park, and sparked that imagination and wonder in countless people. Then the sequels had to come along and gentrify everything and make it as bland as possible.

We can see this flaw throughout the entire movie starting with the plot featuring an even more dangerous custom dinosaur. I will admit that the story had some weird, out of left field elements included, but they were too unfounded to win me back. Instead they just pushed me further away. And even the characters, who we already know, were changed to conform to these new, two-dimensional roles. The character of Claire for some reason becomes an animal rights activist, and the character of Owen is just kind of there. I will concede that the new characters there for comic relief were alright, but honestly they were nothing to write home about. And even the villains in this movie blend in so well to the background that I didn’t even know who the villains were until the final act. I kept hearing these musical cues signifying huge plot reveals as if I should be understanding what was going on, but I was completely lost. Also Jeff Goldblum is in the movie for like two minutes.

Overall Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom wasn’t really a disappointment becasue I didn’t expect much. It was however not a movie I would call good. At best it was fine, not good not bad. It was however very similar to The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which I found weirdly coincidental.

I give Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom a C