Warning! MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!
After 2015's surprisingly good Jurassic World, I was pretty excited for Fallen Kingdom. With J. A. Bayona in the director's seat and Jeff Goldblum returning as Dr. Ian Malcolm, it seems to be a sure hit, and for the most part, it does. Though the film was bogged down with stereotypical villains, uninteresting side characters, and rehashed plotline, it's still a good movie nonetheless
Pros:
Everyone is amazing in this movie (well, except one). Star Lor- I mean Chris Pratt is great as Owen Grady. Bryce Dallas Howard is also great as Claire Dearing. I also really liked Daniella Pineda as Zia Rodriguez. My favorite of the bunch is Isabella Sermon as Maisie. She really shines in this movie. Her screams are a bit annoying of course, but she's a great character that I hope will be explored in the future. B. D. Wong returns for brief performance as the "still mysterious" Henry Wu, and he did a good job. Rafe Spall and Tobey Jones were great as Eli and Gunnar, but I'll talk about them later. James Cromwell is amazing as Benjamin Lockwood, and lastly, Jeff Goldblum has a brief but great performance as Ian Malcolm.
This is, hands down, one of the most well shot movie I've seen all year. Seriously, kudos to whoever shot this movie. The cinematography here is spectacular. I notice that there's no shakey cams in this movie (at least what I saw), which is a breath of fresh air.
There are a brief moments of bad CGI, but for the most part, it looks incredible. The fact that they use a mix of animatronics and CGI instead of full CGI for the dinosaurs, deserves a praise.
I love the dinosaurs in this movie. Blue the Raptor is back, and I love how he's essentially, a main character, and I love it. Rexy the T-rex is also back, and although he's taking the backseat in this movie, I can't help but smile whenever he's on screen. The Indoraptor is, however, the true star of the show. He's menacing, he's dangerous and for the most part, he's freaking scary! Oh, did I mention that some of these dinosaurs were unexpectedly cute and adorable?
J. A. Bayona surely knows how to make a good movie. The movie, though opens with slow, and uninteresting first act, quickly changes once it enters the second act and from there it just keeps going. From simply dumb fun, to actually intense and scary movie, to some really sad moments. I just love the change of pace in this movie and I love in particular, how they embrace the horror aspects in the movie and amplified it to 11. I jumped out of my seat several times because how surprising it is. Overall, it's fun, it's scary, it's funny, it's intense, and it's sad, all in one movie.
Michael Giacchino, you've done it again! The music is intense, eargasmic and just epic. The music during the third act is just amazing, and surely does help in making intense scenes even more intense.
Cons:
The villain, Rafe Spall as Eli Mills, like many Hollywood movies before, stereotypical money-hungry baddie. You'll saw him being the bad guy from a mile away, and although he did his best, that doesn't mean he's a compelling villain. Toby Jones as Gunnar Eversol is also not a good villain, in fact I think Toby Jones is wasted in this movie. Ted Levine as Ken Wheatley, though a bit more interesting, doesn't mean he's a good villain. Like Tobey, he could have done so much more. The Indoraptor is also admittedly, not as menacing as it's predecessor, Indominus Rex.
Justice Smith as Franklin Webb is, by far, the worst character in this movie. Totally uninteresting, useless in most part, and honestly, very annoying. He's screams like a girl, which though it's a natural response when you're face to face with a dinosaur trying to kill you, but c'mon, can't you just stop screaming and complain? Granted he did something useful in the end of the movie, but honestly, it's too late to redeem his character.
There are some plot points that were left unresolved, and that's disappointing. *MILD SPOILER* There's this one character who just disappears without a trace although the movie clearly seems to indicate that this character would return for someone else, but no, they just leave it unresolved. *END OF SPOILER*
Conclusion:
Overall, this movie is a must watch for fans and average moviegoers. It's fun, it's exciting, it's intense, and overall, a great movie. Though, after you read my review, you'll probably thinking: that's this is essentially The Lost World all over again. I'll admit: It's a rehash of The Lost World, but I recommend you to go watch this movie with a open mind, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the ride. Oh, and try not to watch the trailers, because that kinda gives away most of the plot (lucky me, I guess?)
