JURASSIC
WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM
As
the title above suggests, my biggest disappointment of 2018 was J.A.
Bayona's “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”. What surprised me the
most though was, by the time the film was released into cinemas, just
how much I was anticipating seeing it. While I was quite a large fan
of the previous film, “Jurassic World” which came out in 2015, I
I didn't think I was in love with it so much to make me drool in
anticipation of a sequel to it. Personally I think that “Jurassic
World” gets unfairly picked on by the film watching public because
it actually has a lot of great things in it. Firstly, both Chris
Pratt's and Bryce Dallas Howard's characters were a lot of fun and
the two actors had impressive chemistry together. Secondly is the
introduction to the raptor character of “Blue” who totally steals
the movie, and despite the fact that the film is often derided as
just a rehash of “Jurassic Park”, what “Jurassic World” does
so well is bring back the entertainment and wow factor of seeing
these giant creatures wrecking havoc on screen. No, the film is not
perfect (and the total use of CGI to create the dinosaurs was a
little disappointing) but it is a hell of a lot of fun.
When
J.A Bayona was first announced as director of the new film, I was
impressed and thought he was an inspired choice. The fact that it
was also announced that “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” was
going to lean more towards a horror film also whet my appetite
considerably. Once the trailers for the film started to roll out,
the film looked impressive and strangely even leaned towards Gothic
horror which is not the first thing you think of when discussing
dinosaurs. Bayona also promised to return to the use of practical
effects (if possible) when dealing with the creatures; another tick
for the film. Still, even with all this positive energy I had
surrounding the release of this film, I was unprepared for just how
excited I was going to get to actually see it! I remember that I had
to work on opening day, but thankfully Thursday is my short day, so I
was able to rush to see the second session straight from work. I was
pumped for it all morning, and to be honest, for the couple of days
prior. This was totally unlike me, as I very rarely get excited like
this even when I am anticipating something, so I was quite taken
aback when I realised the state I was in just before the film
started. However, a little over two hours later, that unbridled
excitement and passion I had for “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”
had changed to total crushing disappointment.
The
film just did not work for me at all. To be fair, it has some good
moments, but as a total product, I really disliked it. The highlight
of the film is the destruction of the original Jurassic Park island
and seeing those poor dinosaurs, who were unable to be saved, perish.
It is a brilliant, heartbreaking scene that fills you with genuine,
painful emotion as you listen to the terrified screams of the
brontosaurus as it awaits its fate. It is such a powerful scene, but
it is the only one in the film and it happens very early on. The
rest of the film just cannot live up to that moment. The other
element that works well (at least for me) is the character of Blue.
She again steals the film, but there is also a feeling of “we have
seen this before” with her interactions in the film. Aside from
this, pretty much the rest of the film just did not work. The scene
of the dinosaur creeping through the house (which looked so
impressive in the trailer) just came across as idiotic in the final
film with the new dinosaur's human-like features (eg. His long
arm/hand) feeling all wrong, even though it supplies horror images
that are suitably creepy. In fact, the new genetically enhanced
super dinosaur, the “Indominus Rex”, was a total disappointment.
He looks pathetic; like an angry raptor having a bad hair day and
just didn't carry any gravitas or wow factor like I was expecting.
An
aspect of the film that I thoroughly disliked (and is quite the
spoiler for those who have yet to see the film, so beware) was the
character of Maisie Lockwood, the granddaughter of Benjamin Lockwood,
who turns out to actually be a clone of his daughter and not his real
granddaughter at all. It is a reveal that goes totally against
everything we know about this character previous, and the thought of
human cloning being entered into this film really had an icky feeling
to it. It almost felt like desperation to add something new, because
they knew that the dinosaur's weren't enough this time around. The
biggest shock though in “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” is just
how little fun both Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard appear to be
having. Their performances are flat and their chemistry is gone, and
both of them look as if they are just going through the motions this
time around and not enjoying themselves at all. Even the comedy
between them feels forced here, whereas in the previous film it felt
so natural and light which made it more funny.
Like
the stars of the film itself, I came out of my screening of “Jurassic
World: Fallen Kingdom” feeling totally flat. Expecting to love the
film, I left the cinema feeling a sense of “meh” and I knew that
I was unlikely to be more disappointed by a film in 2018.
Interestingly, this is also the third consecutive film directed by
J.A. Bayona that I have disliked since his brilliant 2007 debut,
“The Orphanage” (although “The Impossible” does have some
great moments in it). Maybe he isn't as good a director that I keep
giving him credit for being (based on the strength of that debut).
Anyway, while I still want to revisit the film (this time without
expectations, to see if my opinion of it will increase), after my
initial viewing, there was no doubt that “Jurassic World: Fallen
Kingdom” was my biggest disappointment of 2018.
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