The idea of “Spoiled Cinema” is that movies, whether classic or horrible, never die. Each Spoiled Cinema entry will have updated entries on the top and the bottom half of the post. Today’s entry is a spoiler-filled look at Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Is this movie even worth your gosh darn time?
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Jurassic Word: Fallen Kingdom was worth the movie ticket and its meaty 128 minute run time. I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 review based on its sheer cheesiness and loosey goosey approach to its narrative.
So why the 3.5 rating? The action and pacing was solid enough – and I never felt bored during the entire flick. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are a great screen couple (although their banter seemed a bit more forced this time around), and Jurassic Park newbies Daniella Pineda (dino expert Zia Rodriguez), Justice Smith (tech geek Franklin Webb), and newcomer Isabella Sermon (Maisie, aka the lated kid in “Jurassic” danger) were all welcome additions to the universe.
Its lapses in logic are forgivable due to its fantastical nature, but as you will see in the spoiler section below, there is a couple of reasons why this, in my opinion, isn’t a four star flick.
****This is the Spoilers Section So, If You Haven’t Seen The Flick, Proceed W/ Caution*****
1. The Movie Buries The Freaking Lead!!!
I know the dinosaurs are the main attraction in any Jurassic Park/World installment, but the most interesting aspect of Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom centered on Maisie Lockwood’s (Isabella Sermon) realization that she’s a freaking clone!!
This “shock me” moment was actually undercut because she never had that big moment with her grandfather (Dinosaur mogul Benjamin Lockwood, played by James Cromwell). Benjamin’s pillow suffocation under the hands of money grubbing baddie Eli (Rafe Spall) may have been necessary on a plot level, but some kind of tense family standoff between the dying man and his granddaughter would have been great.
Maisie also has one of the film’s most evocative moment, as she witnesses a video of Owen (Chris Pratt) bonding with a younger Blue. This is obviously why she forms a deeper bond with Owen over Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), and while it’s understandable this aspect gets shoved under the rug, this dynamic would be interesting to explore (if Isabella isn’t written out) in the next Jurassic World flick.
Maisie Lockwood’s personal arc was obviously a secondary arc behind the bigger picture, but considering the clone reveal was such a WTF moment (plus, she pushes the Red Button to released the dying dinosaurs!!), it would behoove the filmmakers to keep her on the next film.
