Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) returns to the two main themes of earlier films in the series: the dangers of biogenetic engineering and the corporatization of science. As before, these are really thin justifications for a film about dinosaurs. Our location once again is Isla Nublar, whose massive volcano is threatening to explode in what scientists say will be an “extinction level event” for inhabitants of the island.  The two main characters from Jurassic World, played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, again team up to rescue the dinosaurs.  (Congress has voted not to fund the rescue). They’ve been hired by a wealthy manager of Mr. Hammond’s estate.  They are asked to oversee returning the dinosaurs to the estate so that they can be preserved and looked after it.  As it often turns out, things are not what they seem.  The overseer plans to sell the dinosaurs to nations that will use them as weapons.

This film has everything, exploding volcanoes, quarreling ex-lovers, rampaging dinosaurs, evil conniving capitalists, an evil scientist, a velociraptor that loves Chris Pratt, a twelve-year-old clone.  The most amazing thing the film offers is an old Victorian estate on the west coast.  This is where Mr. Hammond once lived, and it is where the dinosaurs will be kept.  It is also the scene of an overly long chase where a bioengineered and weaponized velociraptor (the “Endoraptor”) chases the good guys up and down the stairs, down the halls, through various rooms, on to the roof, and so on. 

The film doesn’t play on the relationship between Pratt and Howard.  It has apparently come to an end.  Why, we don’t know.  Why, we can guess.  It also doesn’t do much with the twelve-year-old clone girl, or with the governess who raised her, played by Geraldine Chaplain, looking quite old and out of place.  The evil scientist survives the film, so we can expect to see him and the dinosaurs and the cloned girl and her governess and undoubtedly Howard and Pratt at least once more.