Saturday, June 30, 2018

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - 2 1/2 smiles

The less you think about the preposterous script for "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," the more you'll enjoy it. After all, this movie is essentially summer pop corn fare - fluffy, mindless entertainment. The movie opens on Isla Nublar, where all hell broke loose three summers ago. A volcano threatens to destroy life on the island and the powers on Capitol Hill debate whether the dinos deserve to be protected as endangered species or if they should be left to die out. Meanwhile, Clare (Bryce Dallas Howard) gets her chance to save the creatures when Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), partner of the late John Hammond, sends her with a reluctant Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) to transport the dinos to a nearby preserve. As Grady says, 'what can go wrong with that?' Along with a  paleo-veterinarian and a computer nerd (Daniella Pineda and Justice Smith), they find themselves working with heavily armed mercenaries led by Ted Levine. Obviously, something suspicious is going on.

Idealism buts heads with greed as our protagonists encounter double crosses, a child put in danger and a menagerie of CG raptors and rexes on the loose. Pratt flexes his brand of heroism mixed with deadpan sarcasm as the screenwriters push absurdity to its breaking point, especially in the final half hour. "Fallen Kingdom" is two pictures in one" an old-fashioned monster movie and a more sophisticated look at what happens when man plays at being God. These two aspects are poorly integrated, resulting in jerky shifts of tone throughout. The brief clip (after some of the credits) promises another sequel, which, depending on your viewpoint, could be a good thing because that would mean the trilogy is finished.

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