The $5 billion Jurassic Park franchise about a theme park featuring cloned dinosaurs originated in the late 1980s when author Michael Crichton began writing first the screenplay and later the book. The rights to the novel were purchased by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment before the book was even published.
The first two films were based on Crichton’s novels, were directed by Steven Spielberg, and were released in theaters in 1993 and 1997. Jurassic Park became a benchmark of computer-generated representation in the film industry. Though Spielberg remained on the project as executive producer, Jurassic Park III, released in 2001, was the first film of the franchise not to be directed by Spielberg or to be based on one of Crichton’s novels.
Fast forward to 2015 as a new trilogy begins and a new park is reborn, raised up from the ashes of the original park on Isla Nublar 22 years later. This time, a luxurious resort was the center of the genetically-engineered dinosaur habitat off the coast of Costa Rica and was named Jurassic World. This beautiful film (that is one of Elaine’s favorites) broke all box-office records by generating more than $500 million worldwide during its opening weekend alone. It is the highest-grossing film of the franchise so far, was the second highest-grossing movie of 2015, and is still among the top five highest-grossing films of all time.
That brings us to the recently released Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom with a reprise performance from Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard (oh, and Jeff Goldblum … can’t leave him out of this historic occasion!). Three years have passed since the catastrophic events at the Jurassic World Resort. Turns out, there is an active volcano on Isla Nublar that could destroy all those dinosaurs left behind (so, I guess the resort was doomed no matter how you slice it). Howard’s character and previous operations manager of the deserted park, Claire Dearing, founded an activist group called the Dinosaur Protection Group in an attempt to save the animals from yet another extinction.
When the government refuses to intervene, as always, a wealthy mystery man comes to the rescue. As it turns out, John Hammond (the original character in the original series who is the founder and owner of Jurassic Park) had a partner who had parted ways with him after a disagreement about human cloning. Sir Benjamin Lockwood (portrayed by James Cromwell) has everything figured out, has a private island for relocating the animals where they can live in peace, has all the funds to put this massive operation into motion, and approached Dearing the day before the volcano erupts. With his financial advisor, Eli Mills, doing all the legwork, Lockwood sends Dearing on a Noah’s Ark journey that will change the world.
Aaron: The Jurassic Park series has been a great franchise over the years. I’ve loved … some of them. I remember seeing the first one and how amazing it was. Not just in terms of special effects, but in terms of it being an original story. The special effects are getting better, and this one is simply incredible!
Elaine: Yeah, I remember finding the first trilogy entertaining, but I really loved the 2015 Jurassic World. It was an incredible movie. However, Fallen Kingdom left me feeling slightly disappointed. It wasn’t a bad movie, and there are parts that are so beautiful and cinematic that I am very grateful I saw them in a theater rather than waiting for only a TV screen. It’s just that it really felt like a filler or a transition movie, like its whole purpose was to set us up for the third and final Jurassic World movie.
A: We saw this over a week ago so my mind may be slipping, but I don’t remember the main characters much. It seemed like there was so much going on in the last half of the movie that they weren’t main players.
E: That’s another reason I was disappointed. I really love Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, both as individual actors and their onscreen chemistry in this series. They did not have as big of a part in this film as I had expected, and that made me sad.
I also felt frustrated over some of the new characters. I don’t feel there was enough character development. Sir Benjamin Lockwood, Maisie (Lockwood’s granddaughter) and Eli Mills (Lockwood’s aid) were, in my mind, presented in such a way that I felt like I should have already known who they were as if they had been in the first three movies but I’d forgotten them. I felt a little confused, like I had missed something. I understand that the mystery of Maisie and her past was intentional (and maybe the only unexpected part of the plot), but Lockwood, the live-in-nanny, and Mills really threw me off.
A: I agree. Too much attention paid to the dinosaurs and their plight rather than the people trying to save them.
E: I really love science fiction and I am easily entertained, not usually overly critical of unbelievable worlds and settings. It doesn’t take much for me to accept and embrace the worlds that are created. BUT, if a show takes place on planet Earth, I expect the basic laws of physics and general laws of nature to be followed or else it mentally pulls me out of the world they’ve created and it’s no longer believable to me.
What I mean by this is that I can accept and embrace the presence of dinosaurs, but I become annoyed when a dinosaur chasing the main characters can’t fit in a tunnel until they are safe, and then all of a sudden the creature can easily bust through. Or how conveniently these dinosaurs have evolved in a way that their taste for human blood is exclusive to “bad guys” who are the only ones eaten (I say with tongue in cheek).
A: I got tired of the “escaped-by-the-skin-of-their-teeth” scenes. It started with the guy running from the T-Rex or whatever and the helicopter and just kept going from there. I think there were at least seven different scenarios set up just for that. It’s fake suspense, and I don’t care for it.
E: I think the other disappointment for me was that even with all the advancements in technology and computer animation (there were some stunning scenes!) and top-notch acting, if the plot and screenplay are painfully predictable, you just sit there shaking your head. It’s always the financial advisor to the wealthy philanthropist who has his own corrupt agenda. Of course, the IT guy can hack the entire security system in under five minutes, but the inept mercenary working for the corrupt financial advisor can lock the main characters into a deathtrap with the same security system he couldn’t operate five minutes prior. And, of course, no one ever listens to Dr. Henry Wu, who has been the biotechnologist and geneticist since the first novel and film! Like he knows what he’s talking about when he says the prototype is too dangerous!
A: Don’t get me started. As a programmer, nothing takes me out of a story faster than the young IT kid who can master any system in an instant. It doesn’t work that way. Is the system Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Unix? And you need special software to even compile the code … just stop insulting me already. LOL.
E: Ultimately, yes, if you are into this series, you have got to see the film. There are relevant political themes paralleling issues we’re dealing with today. The acting is good. There are some exciting and breathtaking scenes. It just isn’t one I will purchase and watch over and over; probably just a rental once more before the next one is released to refresh my memory.
Like I said earlier, this movie felt like its whole purpose was to set the stage for the Neo-Jurassic Age where humans and dinosaurs have to learn to coexist in Jurassic World III, and I am definitely looking forward to that one. Director and writer Colin Trevorrow has had a plan since 2013 on how this story would begin and end with the intention to make this trilogy more of an arc rather than an episodic experience like the first trilogy. So, I am hopeful that in 2021, the final Jurassic World will knock my socks off.
