Sometimes a movie gets so close to greatness you can taste it as strongly as the goopy spit dripping from the mouth of the dinosaur whose face is hovering directly above yours as you lie prone and helpless on the jungle floor. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a hell of a ride, an exciting, terrifying, and funny follow-up that will have you at full attention until it ultimately sags in its third act, drooping under the weight of promises it makes, but fails to follow through on. That`s what third movies are for, apparently.Fallen Kingdom`s basic plot has been somewhat unclear in some trailers, so I won`t spoil it. But the setup is that, following the new park`s destruction in the first Jurassic World, the now dinosaur-filled island has grown volcanically active. All the dinosaurs there are going to die in the impending eruption, effectively triggering a new extinction event, unless someone intervenes. Bryce Dallas Howard`s returning character Claire Dearing now works as an activist looking for any way to save the dinosaurs. And she`s wearing highly sensible shoes this time, as the movie deliberately conveys.There`s a note of satire in the early scenes, as Claire talks to members of Congress on the phone and Jeff Goldblum (in his one meager appearance in this movie) gives a grandiose speech about life finding a way without technically uttering those exact words. A news ticker underneath makes a vague joke about the president being an idiot. But the movie`s social commentary lacks any real bite--unlike its CG stars--which serves to tangibly blunt its impact later on.As Claire gets roped into a dubious rescue scheme, she of course can`t do it without on-again/off-again beau, the unstoppable `beefcake` (to borrow the movie`s own term) Chris Pratt as Owen Grady. Pratt continues to be utterly, inoffensively charming, while Grady is still a less funny version of Star-Lord. They`re both would-be white knights, too, although much like Gamora, Claire proves she`s plenty c ...
|
