Director: J.A. Bayona
Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Isabella Sermon, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, B.D. Wong, Geraldine Chaplin, Jeff Goldblum
Rating: ***1/2
'Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom', is the fifth instalment of the Jurassic Park series and the second of a prospective Jurassic World trilogy. Helmed by Director J.A. Bayona, the film promises a lot when it comes to presenting concepts and characters, but at the time of developing the story, it falls into the same sin as Jurassic World.
Just as Jurassic World was remade on a larger scale from Spielberg's Jurassic Park for consumption by the younger generations, 'The fallen Kingdom' too, seems to aspire for the same with the continuation of the lost world.
Here you see more reptiles, close and upfront, in all their glory and action. The action-sequences are intense but at times appear deliberate and dumb, just to stimulate heartbeats.
The actual story begins with some exposition about the end of the first Jurassic World. The theme park on Isla Nublar off Central America's Pacific Coast is destroyed and the dinosaurs roam freely on the island for three years.
While the Former Jurassic World Operations Manager, now an animal-rights activists - Claire Dearing (Bryce Howard) is working to save the dinosaurs, we then see Jeff Goldblum, reprising his role from the first two films, addressing a committee. He tells them that he thinks the dinosaurs, "should be eliminated by the volcano" that threatens the island, and Goldblum works hard to give this plot exposition some urgency.
Claire is joined by her ex-boyfriend Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), a former dinosaur trainer when she teams up with Benjamin Lockwood, to bring the creatures to a sanctuary in America. But soon she and Owen are betrayed and mayhem follows. There is also a helpless little girl Maisie (Isabella Sermon) who elevates the emotional quotient.
Chris Pratt is a charismatic, good-looking and funny guy. He returns as the leading man and everything he utters tends to sound like a double entendre. "If I don't make it back, remember, you are the one who made me come," he tells Howard at one point and pauses just enough to generate a laugh.
Also when Howard is on top of a dinosaur and needs to sedate it with a syringe, Pratt matter-of-factly states, "You are going to have to jam it in there!"
The plot hinges, as so many large studio films do, on the evil of villainous capitalists who have no shame or moral scruples. These villains are poaching the dinosaurs to make their millions and also to use them for warfare.
The director unfolds so comfortably with this material that one ends up scrutinizing the frames, wondering if any of the reptilian offspring that appear on screen will end up looking clumsy.
But instead, the CGI is spot on and the visuals are aesthetically mounted. Director of Photography, Oscar Faura's live-action frames mesh smoothly with the CGI and together, you experience some enchanting images.
Overall, this edition is much better than its predecessor.