There are some franchises that motor on because of the success and quality of those films. See: 90% of Star Wars films, Rocky 1-4 as well as Balboa and Creed, Indiana Jones Trilogy, (I don’t acknowledge the 4th like no one recognizes the third Godfather), 75% of the James Bond films, and most of the Star Trek films/reboots. And there are some franchises that people feel obligated to stay with no matter how mediocre or films have become and they still make boku bucks, hence another sequel every 3 years. See: Fast and the Furious, Saw, Transformers, and Pirates of the Caribbean. What do some of these franchises have in common? The first one is fantastic. The second and third ones, meh. By 4, you barely keep up with them and skip over them when they pop up on cable (I know, I just made myself look old by still having cable). Sometimes, they manage to surprise the hell out of you by hiring new writers/director for the 4th or 5th and reinvigorate the franchise. Fast and the Furious 5 is a perfect example, it brought me back in because it was excellent. And then I sat through the next 2 oversized turds. Guess what? Now you’re hooked for at least 2 or 3 more films. And bang, you’re just like a vegan who came to their senses and started eating meat again.
Let’s review Jurassic Park. The first one, very solid but the book ending was MUCH better than the film ending but 8-9 times out of 10, that’s the case. JP2, not great except the scene where the dino hunters ran through the field of velociraptors and most of them ended up looking like Jenna Jamison’s b-hole when she retired from porn. JP3 was even worse, not even the pterodactyl scene saved this monstrosity. And next thing you know, the franchise was shelved.
But as Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum’s character in 2 and 1/10 films) says, “Life, ahhh finds a way.” As does Steven Spielberg to jump start a dead franchise. 3 years ago, Jurassic World came out and ran roughshod through the box office like a T-Rex that just ate a Mexican village and is now looking for a bathroom. What does that mean? Fire up the sequel machine!! JW recaptured the elements from JP and did it well with a bunch of cool nods to the first one. It worked, even though it was just a blatant reboot of the first one. But I dug it.
Of all the previews I saw of FK, not one of them made me go, “Hmm, I’m looking forward to playing hooky from work to see this.” But since I’m an (unpaid) film reviewer, I felt it was my civic responsibility to see this and comment. FK starts off with the dino island in deep stegosaurus poop; a volcano is exploding and the dinos face extinction, sigh, again. And of course, screenwriters Colin Trevorow and Derek Conolly, decide to make this one of the few social issues of the film. Do dino lives matter? According to Claire (one of the few attractive gingers, Bryce Dallas Howard), they certainly do. She gets little resistance from persuading Owen (newly single Chris Pratt and who will be bedding GOTG nerds and film extras galore) to come with her to help save the dinos. Financing the journey is Benjamin Lockwood (Jamie Cromwell) who apparently used to be partners with JP creator, John Hammond, until Hammond had the idea to make an amusement park with dinosaurs. Standing in the way is Lockwood’s assistant, Mills, who has plans of his own for the Cretaceous creatures.
Here are several problems with this film:
- What do people want to see? Dinosaurs killing humans in cool ways with a little bit of gore. Yes, I know that a ton of little kids go see this but it’s rated PG-13 which allows them to get away with more. When people get killed, it’s almost sanitary and really doesn’t scare you nor feel “real.”
- This film DRAAAAGS. The last 20-30 minutes should’ve been trimmed down, especially the scene you see in commercials where the dinosaur gets into the little girl’s bedroom. The running time is just over 2 hours but it felt as long as the math section did of the SATs.
- The plot fell into the same formulaic trap as some of the sequels did. You know who’s dying within 10 seconds of the introduction of characters. Asshole money- hungry assistant? Surprise, he dies. Overly aggressive and mean head of security? Auf Weiderzehen. Soldier who hits a woman? Appetizer for T-Rex. Just once, let’s see one or 2 of the good guys get picked off and not everyone making it home in time for dinner. Let’s have the computer nerd get picked off. Or the cute little girl.
- Do we need a bunch of social issues in a popcorn blockbuster film? I don’t think so. Do dino lives matter? Should we let them acclimate into our world? Is cloning humans acceptable? And the last reveal was just plain lazy which ties into the ending.
- You see 75% of Jeff Goldblum in the previews which obviously means he’s critically underutilized. That character was great in the first and second films. Maybe he didn’t want to do a full role but man, spread his scenes throughout the film.
- JW hatched (I’m a cutup, I know) a hybrid dinosaur to mix things up. So if it ain’t broke, Universal ain’t fixing it. Yes, there’s another hybrid dinosaur and I immediately thought, “Ok, back to the well with this idea.” 20 bucks said the next sequel has TWO hybrids and one of them will involve a pterodactyl that looks like Kathy Griffin.
I found myself over halfway through the film not really caring what happens next. I honestly got bored through the final encounter. I’m surprised I’m seeing more positive reviews than negative reviews for this one. The poster should’ve had Spielberg, BDH, and Pratt holding bags with the $ sign while riding on the back of a Brontosaurus. Because that’s exactly what this was, a vicious cash grab. This film opened 60 million less than JW did. But of course, it will be profitable and they’ll make another one. Good luck getting me to invest me any more time in this franchise, I’m out.
I give it a 4/10.
Kevin Gootee 