JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (2018) ***

I think even Universal was surprised by just how much money Jurassic World made at the box office.  No one was surprised when they immediately greenlit this sequel though.  If you liked the last one, it’s pretty safe to say you’ll enjoy this one.  While it never approaches the greatness of the original, Fallen Kingdom is nevertheless a fun popcorn movie with only a slight drop in quality from Jurassic World.  

This time out, the genetically-engineered dinosaurs become endangered when the volcano on the island becomes active.  Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) enlists the help of the reluctant Owen (Chris Pratt) to save the remaining dinosaurs and transplant them off the island.  It sounds silly, but director J.A. (The Orphanage) Bayona does just enough to ground the scenario to make it plausible, or at the very least, fifth-installment-of-a-billion-dollar-movie-franchise plausible.

Bayona also cannily steals a few plays from the Steven Spielberg handbook.  He gives us all the scenes of characters looking at a Brontosaurus in awe, a T. Rex saving a human in the nick of time, focusing the camera on the terror in a child's eyes when she sees dinosaur, and gratuitous lens flares as you can imagine.  What makes it all work is the fact that he is able to throw in a couple of nifty moments of his own.  There’s a scene involving a ladder that is both suspenseful and funny.  I also liked the logistics that went into extracting a blood sample from T. Rex.  Bayona gives us at least one standout death, but (probably owing to internet outcry) there’s nothing here that’s on par with the assistant’s death by pterodactyls in the previous installment.

The best moment though has nothing to do with dinosaurs.  It involves Pratt getting shot with a tranquilizer gun and trying desperately to regain movement in his limbs as a stream of lava slowly creeps closer and closer to him.  Imagine the Quaalude scene from The Wolf of Wall Street meets an Indiana Jones movie, and that should give you an idea of how great it is. 

The film shifts gears abruptly in the second half as it goes from being an island adventure to pseudo-prison break movie.  Although the first half is admittedly more fun that the second, I’ll admit the ending is genuinely touching and thought-provoking.  The implications of the last scene are fascinating and makes me anxious to see the direction the franchise will go.