June 10
As a longtime fan of dinosaurs and the Jurassic franchise since my childhood, I wanted this series to end with a bang following the lackluster Fallen Kingdom, but instead of fireworks, it ends with sparklers. Let’s start with the positives because there are quite a lot of bright spots here as this movie finally intertwines the original Jurassic Park characters with the new Jurassic World characters. Bringing back Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum make the uneven plot a whole lot more tolerable. When the original trio has interaction scenes with the new characters, it works. When there are dinosaurs on screen doing dinosaur things, it works. When raptors are hunting down Chris Pratt in a chaotic motorcycle chase scene, it works. When big dinosaur fights other big dinosaur, it WORKS (BUT THERE IS NOT ENOUGH OF IT!). The real issue that bogs down this movie is the overcomplicated, convoluted, and preposterous narrative which seems to care more about subplots regarding non-Dino related locusts than having a story driven by dinosaurs as a primary focal point. I might sound as if I’m coming off negative here, but I really can’t hate this or any of the Jurassic movies. There is so much love and care put into the animatronics and VFX in this film with the dinosaurs, that despite the film’s underwhelming nature, I still felt a sense of wonder and appreciation for just how impressive and 99% photorealistic these prehistoric creatures look. Colin Trevorrow does a fine job directing the movie, and I can’t lie that he pulled off some very suspenseful and badass dino encounters in the third act, which is by far the most exciting part. For a movie that is marketing itself as the grand finale of the Jurassic Park saga, it never quite feels like the “Return of the King” EPIC that it should be, due to its lack of commitment to focusing on a clear and concise story, and forfeiting it for confused, disjointed, and somewhat entertaining Jurassic Park fan fiction. I should be raving about this movie like Endgame, the finale event that closes off a nostalgic franchise in a satisfying way, but instead, I’m left rather empty.
GRADE: C
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