- Actors: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda
- Director: J.A. Bayona
- Writers: Derek Connolly, Colin Trevorrow
- Producers: Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley, Belen Atienza, Steven Spielberg
- Disc Format: 4K
- Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
- Subtitles: French, Spanish, English
- Region: Region A/1
- Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
- Rated: PG-13
- Studio: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
- Release Date: September 18, 2018
- Run Time: 129 minutes
If nothing else,
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom finally advances the narrative of the Jurassic
Park franchise beyond the usual creature feature thrills. Before the film’s halfway
mark, gone is the amusement park, destroyed by lava and forcing the story in a
new direction. Even the revival of the franchise with Jurassic World simply felt
like a derivative rehash of the original premise, but the latest sequel has
added an interesting moral question to the story. While the first film utilized
knowledge about cutting edge science to image the possibilities of cloning dinosaurs,
it is only with the latest film that these ideas have been advanced to the next
natural step.
The intelligence
of the latest sequel comes at a price, however, and the escapist elements have
been decreased in order to make room for deeper discussion. There are still
plenty of dinosaur dangers, along with the extremely exciting aforementioned active
volcano sequence, but it is not as mindless or as mean-spirited as Jurassic
World. Unfortunately, much of the charm is also gone, and the banter between
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard is often more irritating than endearing. Claire
(Howard) tracks down Owen (Pratt) to help save some of the dinosaurs from the
extinction that an active volcano on the island will ensure, if they aren’t
helped. Because of Owen’s deep connection to Blue, one of the velociraptors that
he trained, he agrees to help.
As is always the
case with a mission leading to an island of dinosaurs, everything goes wrong.
This is the one constant throughout every one of the films, so it is no
surprise that Fallen Kingdom offers the same, even if it is the humans who are
more untrustworthy this time around. That is a shift that began with Jurassic
World, which began to see some of the dinosaurs as good guys, while others
became even more horrifying villains. The worst of the dinosaur villains has
been replaced with villainous humans, though the good dinosaurs only become
more ridiculously heroic in this sequel.
In a lot of ways
this film feels as though its greatest purpose is simply to set up the evolution
of the franchise. By the end of the movie, a majority of the content begins to
feel like filler that is anticipating the next installment more than it is
taking advantage of the narrative within the current one. Still, I would choose
this over the mindless rehash that was Jurassic World, at least for the attempt
at something more thought provoking.
The 4K Ultra HD
presentation of the film is best appreciated during the volcano eruption sequence.
This is the film’s high point, despite taking place in the first half. The only
criticism to be made is that it is possible that the colors of the lava are too
vibrant in 4K (nearly to the point of being cartoonish), although I remember thinking
the same of the visuals in the theater, so it is likely more of a CGI issue
than it is one of the film’s presentation.
The 4K package
also comes with a Blu-ray and a digital copy of the film. The special features
are included on both the 4K disc and the Blu-ray, and there are a lot of them.
There are a series of on-set video journals created by Pratt (about 12 minutes
worth), as well as a seemingly endless stream of featurettes, even if most are
simple promotional ones about a few minutes each. There is a featurette about
the chemistry between the stars, ones about the filming location of Hawaii, the
addition of new dinosaurs, and the continuation of the narrative, and more.
There is no shortage of content, even though little of it digs beneath the
surface.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6.5/10
Special Features: 7/10
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