Film Review - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (12A)

A rescue op, save the dinosaurs from an island that's about to explode. What could go wrong?

Let's state it up front - 1993's Jurassic Park was a milestone in popular cinema, the excitement of which can never be recaptured by any sequel. Remember how you felt, watching it that first time... 'Look, there are actual freaking dinosaurs on the screen! Massive, lumbering, rampaging beasts from sixty-five million years ago - chasing down a jeep, stalking kids through a kitchen, eating that guy on the toilet! Aaaaargh!' No - never can that sense of wonder be replicated. That said, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is probably as entertaining as any subsequent film in the dino-franchise is going to get. And that's still pretty damn entertaining.

Our latest chapter follows on from the 2015 Jurassic World reboot, in which all of the original island had been successfully turned into the massive theme park of John Hammond's dreams. (Successful that is, until all visitor-chomping hell was unleashed once more.) Chris Pratt returns in Fallen Kingdom as raptor-whisperer Owen Grady, as does Bryce Dallas Howard, her control-freak park manager having been transformed into a fervent dinosaur-rights activist. 

This time around the island's dormant volcano has turned implacably active, so that all its prehistoric inhabitants face annihilation. Let nature take its course, advises Jeff Goldblum in a welcome cameo reappearance as Dr Ian Malcolm. But will all the right people listen? Of course they won't. Both Claire and Owen are enlisted by a team intent on dinosaur rescue/relocation and off they head once more for the deadly Costa Rica location. Problem is, some of those connected with the project - and you never saw this coming because you haven't seen any films before - are harbouring dark ulterior motives that will threaten everyone's safety. 

The thing to accept from the opening is that everyone, whether out of altruism or greed, is basing their actions on some arguably ludicrous choices. Once you swallow that, it's fun all the way. A rainswept opening sequence reestablishes the primeval critters as an satisfyingly scary threat. Then ten minutes' plot exposition later our leads are desperately trying to survive a monster/disaster-movie mash-up, as humans and dinos get threatened alike by the self-destructing Isla Nublar. It makes for a literally and figuratively explosive first half, before the movie undergoes a radical transformation into Gothic horror. Bombast gives way to creepiness - a delicious turnaround that gives the movie its second wind.

That everything looks so beautiful and flows so smoothly is much to do with director J. A. Bayona, who brought us environmental mayhem in tsunami drama The Impossible and dark children's fantasy with A Monster Calls. His artist's eye provides the island's final moments with an awesome beauty, then later he conjures memories of silent-era vampire Nosferatu with a scene involving a particularly nasty taloned beastie. He handles the action well too, the typically splendid Jurassic effects enhanced by sharp visual storytelling. It makes for one exhilarating sequence after another. 

The central couple have sparkier chemistry second time around, partly due to a wittier script that balances their relationship. Pratt is at his most likeably self-deprecating, whether reconnecting with his raptor-pal Blue or having a lava-related close shave. Howard meanwhile is out of high-heels and emotionally beefed up, a transformation from the irritating corporate cliche she played last time around. Together they're clearly having a blast. Plus they're ably supported by new cinema faces Daniella Pineda and Justice Smith - respectively a dinosaur vet with no actual hands-on experience and a terrified tech genius. Oh, and there's lots of scene-chewing villainy by the likes of Toby Jones. (Any film improves the instant he appears on screen.) 

With its evolving eco subtext Fallen Kingdom is a significantly smarter film than its monster competitor Rampage - but it's still not going to snag any Nobel science awards. It exists to elicit some of the rush we felt watching its Nineties predecessor, while establishing enough personality of its own to make the experience worthwhile. Well, consider the job done.    

Gut Reaction: Low expectations work their magic again. T's that old familiar sense of awe, with quite a lot of laughter for good measure.

Where Are the Women?: Howard is a heroine to root for properly this time, and Pineda is gutsy from the get-go. Young Isabella Sermon is feisty (and only occasionally annoying) as the inevitable kid-in-peril.

Ed's Verdict: 7.5/10. Fallen Kingdom is smartly structured and made with verve plus a bit of visual flair. It's the Jurassic movie fans deserved - and in my book the best since the original. Have fun.