What did YOU think of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom? (Spoilers included)

GeekyAustin wrote:

BarrytheOnyx wrote:

Since I first saw the trailers, I've been wanting to review Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and share it online, not exclusively here but on my blog and other websites. But truth be told, the mixed reaction and often excessively negative ones do make me not want to review it. Its stifling, and when you're being mocked, belittled or condescended for sharing your opinion it takes the fun out of it.

Hey, don't let anyone's opinions affect your interests in sharing your thoughts. If you ended up liking it, then tells us/others why. It's your opinion.

Yeah, today I'm gonna share also my full-spoiler review on my Twitter, and who cares if others spread the hate or don't agree with it. That's my chance, with this review, to show them why FK is actually great to me.

So don't let the others stop you from sharing your thoughts.

Here are my thoughts on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom:

I really do need to see the film again. As of this moment I've only seen it once, and I left the film feeling a little underwhelmed. However, after watching some of the clips again, I really do feel like I should give the film another watch on the big screen before I make a final judgement.

As of my third viewing, it’s really settled into feeling like a JP film for me. When I first saw it, it felt so fast. On the second viewing I felt like it was better but the middle felt a bit muddy to me. On the third, I felt more comfortable with everything, I still think the middle drags, but then I don’t any one of the JP sequels is perfect so it isn’t something that ruins the whole film. I think my final rating is a 7/10, I put it above World for the better CGI and animatronics alone, but it’s a slightly above average film with a lot that works for me, and some stuff that doesn’t.

I found it average, 6/10.

What irked me most though, was Goldblum getting all the limelight, and he's in it for less than 30 seconds. In fact, I may be wrong but it certainly felt like they cut some of his trailer lines in the final film. Did he ever say "Life finds a way" in the movie itself? Basically there was this massive cash-in on Jeff Goldblum's presence which amounted to very little at all. Kinda felt bad for Bryce and Pratt, the real stars, not that you would've known that from any of the promotional events etc.

I regret watching the trailers and that Thai trailer or whatever it was, because watching the film was basically experiencing the lead up to all the moments in the trailers. Felt like I had paid for the chaff (though was actually surprised at how cheap the cinema ticket was lol). Some YouTubers had made a convincing argument that they weren't sharing everything, but it turns out they pretty much did.

I did like the dude getting his arm ripped off, but when you think about it, we were supposed to see something similar in the first JP with Arnold, but a tropical storm prevented it from being shot. They also seem to pick and choose Rexy's traits. Sometimes, Rexy is heard, footsteps booming, coming closer for minutes on end, and other times, she is just there, un-noticed and chomping people out of nowhere. Honestly, I think the former works far better for a T-Rex. Coming through the trees in TLW, approaching the jeep in two distinct moments in the first, and even the "it's something bigger" (granted, Spino) if I remember rightly from JP3. So whilst it was a fun dino-chomping moment, that bit with the T-Rex at the end was still silly, and IMO the "crap" way to do T-Rex. That "out of nowhere" is so much better for raptors, faster smaller dinos.

And ofc, still no dilophosaurus. Though it was nice to see a number of other species... but dilo is so poorly underserved by this franchise nowadays...well, ever since JP1 really. And yet is one of the sneakiest, cheekiest (and frankly pretty scary) dinos of them all. The kid at the end "they are alive like me" was also vomit inducing. Give me smart kids, not super-woke kids.

Furthermore, the film took place in literally 2 locations and that's it. Isla Nublar is undeniably an interesting location, though scratch that one off the list. The Manor was IMO a pretty dull, boring location. They could've played up the smaller space claustrophobia aspect but kinda kept it locked in at 10%. Even JP: The Game achieved a higher level of claustrophobia (in my opinion).

Well, overall I don't think it was bad, just underwhelming. It didn't feel like an 'adventure' (you can find a bigger adventure in JP3). In fact, I don't really know what it felt like. The initial espionage thing had a good vibe, but that petered out immediately after that scene. The villain aspect was cliché and you could see it coming a mile off. The rescue stuff was ok but not at all like the dino-capturing of TLW. And the third act is somewhat unclassifiable, "corporate greed goes awry"... it may not be bad, it's just bleak. And I don't think I really enjoy "bleak" Jurassic Park.

I'd imagine it was fun and scary for kids though, so do respect that. That they do have to balance what's more appropriate and fun for kids than older people. And it seems a lot of people do like it, so if its works for others that's also good. For me though, it sits at position number 5, the lowest. I won't be paying money to see the next one, sorry Universal.

And after I saw the film, I bought JW:Evolution. And refunded that 1 hour later. So this time around, it's been pretty disappointing. I think this might be where my JP fandom comes to a close...but like I say, I hope it continues to appeal to younger audiences - they are afterall, who the JP franchise is ultimately aimed at. Still, if I disliked it that much I wouldn't give it a 6...so sure, there is definitely stuff to enjoy in and about Fallen Kingdom. It's taught me an important lesson about "hype" though. Companies ain't making money out of me over "hype" any more, that's for damn sure.

markymint wrote:

I found it average, 6/10.

What irked me most though, was Goldblum getting all the limelight, and he's in it for less than 30 seconds. In fact, I may be wrong but it certainly felt like they cut some of his trailer lines in the final film. Did he ever say "Life finds a way" in the movie itself? Basically there was this massive cash-in on Jeff Goldblum's presence which amounted to very little at all. Kinda felt bad for Bryce and Pratt, the real stars, not that you would've known that from any of the promotional events etc.

I regret watching the trailers and that Thai trailer or whatever it was, because watching the film was basically experiencing the lead up to all the moments in the trailers. Felt like I had paid for the chaff (though was actually surprised at how cheap the cinema ticket was lol). Some YouTubers had made a convincing argument that they weren't sharing everything, but it turns out they pretty much did.

I did like the dude getting his arm ripped off, but when you think about it, we were supposed to see something similar in the first JP with Arnold, but a tropical storm prevented it from being shot. They also seem to pick and choose Rexy's traits. Sometimes, Rexy is heard, footsteps booming, coming closer for minutes on end, and other times, she is just there, un-noticed and chomping people out of nowhere. Honestly, I think the former works far better for a T-Rex. Coming through the trees in TLW, approaching the jeep in two distinct moments in the first, and even the "it's something bigger" (granted, Spino) if I remember rightly from JP3. So whilst it was a fun dino-chomping moment, that bit with the T-Rex at the end was still silly, and IMO the "crap" way to do T-Rex. That "out of nowhere" is so much better for raptors, faster smaller dinos.

And ofc, still no dilophosaurus. Though it was nice to see a number of other species... but dilo is so poorly underserved by this franchise nowadays...well, ever since JP1 really. And yet is one of the sneakiest, cheekiest (and frankly pretty scary) dinos of them all. The kid at the end "they are alive like me" was also vomit inducing. Give me smart kids, not super-woke kids.

Furthermore, the film took place in literally 2 locations and that's it. Isla Nublar is undeniably an interesting location, though scratch that one off the list. The Manor was IMO a pretty dull, boring location. They could've played up the smaller space claustrophobia aspect but kinda kept it locked in at 10%. Even JP: The Game achieved a higher level of claustrophobia (in my opinion).

Well, overall I don't think it was bad, just underwhelming. It didn't feel like an 'adventure' (you can find a bigger adventure in JP3). In fact, I don't really know what it felt like. The initial espionage thing had a good vibe, but that petered out immediately after that scene. The villain aspect was cliché and you could see it coming a mile off. The rescue stuff was ok but not at all like the dino-capturing of TLW. And the third act is somewhat unclassifiable, "corporate greed goes awry"... it may not be bad, it's just bleak. And I don't think I really enjoy "bleak" Jurassic Park.

I'd imagine it was fun and scary for kids though, so do respect that. That they do have to balance what's more appropriate and fun for kids than older people. And it seems a lot of people do like it, so if its works for others that's also good. For me though, it sits at position number 5, the lowest. I won't be paying money to see the next one, sorry Universal.

And after I saw the film, I bought JW:Evolution. And refunded that 1 hour later. So this time around, it's been pretty disappointing. I think this might be where my JP fandom comes to a close...but like I say, I hope it continues to appeal to younger audiences - they are afterall, who the JP franchise is ultimately aimed at. Still, if I disliked it that much I wouldn't give it a 6...so sure, there is definitely stuff to enjoy in and about Fallen Kingdom. It's taught me an important lesson about "hype" though. Companies ain't making money out of me over "hype" any more, that's for damn sure.

I love both JW films and I'm 24 so they aren't just made for children.

Dr. Wu wrote:

I love both JW films and I'm 24 so they aren't just made for children.

Agreed. I had just finished The Lost World novel before seeing Fallen Kingdom, and the tone and style were as close to Crichton's novels as the first two JP films.

Hey there, Mainframe.

So, there I was, just going along, preserving my innocence, and minding my own business as usual. Then I hear whispers of a new Jurassic World film. It's Jurassic, and it's got the dinosaurs. Of course, I say, bring it on.

I went into Fallen Kingdom without much in the way of expectations. At the least, I was confident that it would be better than JW. But... is it?!

What did I think of Fallen Kingdom?


Thoughts of a very, very occasional film viewer, but a really big fan of my favorite franchise: Jurassic Park (because... dinosaurs):

I gotta say right off, I'm just not a fan of the direction that this series has gone in with the hybrids. I'm still stuck wanting to see animals that more closely resemble their real life counterparts (I'm aware that they are gmo's, and that we have freak Velociraptors, and freak Dilo's, etc.) without the hyped new big bad that the producers/Universal are trying so hard to sell. Simple things like animals being animals and displaying more grounded realistic behavioral traits fascinate me much more than the latest monster creation running loose. This film did throw a few new dinos at the screen, however, which is super cool. I appreciate those scenes a lot, as well as the beautiful work that went into bringing back animatronics! As for the hybrid threats, I felt that JW easily did it better with the Indominus, as silly as all of that was. The way that the Indoraptor was used in FK, to me, felt like the film was mostly just trying to stall and fill up the runtime (and sell that Indoraptor merch!). Like, I don't understand the point of its existence in the film, other than to be trademarked and appease Universals' shareholders and property owners -- it literally creeped around for a few minutes, after all of the build-up, and then... ? I don't know. But hey, $$$.

I thought the first 50-ish minutes was the better part of the film. The Lockwood Estate stuff and the auction subplot just didn't do anything for me. I would've most likely enjoyed the film more if it had mostly taken place on the island amongst a looming Mt. Sibo, with the volcanic eruption and departure happening near the end. And some more Malcolm speak (but the target audience don't care about that). These latest films are just wanting to do too much too quickly (a flaw, admittedly, that brings down the last thirty minutes of TLW). Why aren't the scenes in these latest films allowed to breathe anymore? I would just like to soak some of this stuff in. I don't mean to offend anyone that really likes this film (because it's really awesome that you do!), but it just seems to me that the base outline of the film and dino/character moments was imagined by Spielberg's 9-year-old grandchild, and then Trevorrow and others filled in whatever gaps. I'm no genius by any measure, especially when it comes to film, but there was a lot of silliness going on here, imo.

I had a tough time ranking Fallen Kingdom (having seen it three times now), with how it compares to the previous entries in the series... until I went back and re-watched Jurassic World again, followed by FK again. As much as I'm not so fond of JW (in the context of me comparing it to the first two films), I felt like I enjoyed it more as an overall piece of work, despite a lot of the cringe. I felt that FK did some stuff better (like that great soundtrack, for example, and more dinos!), but it was even more plot convenient and silly to me overall than its predecessor. I like Claire and Owen in these films, and really like how much Pratt and BDH seem to enjoy performing in those roles. I even mostly like Owen's relationship with the Raptors, particularly Blue. I like seeing dinos on the screen. The secondary characters are mostly alright as well, I feel. Yeah, even Franklin I'm alright with despite me not caring for token comic relief characters out of their element forcibly inserted into the plot.  It's so much lacking feel. And charm. And wonderment. And all of the things that JP and the majority of TLW nailed so well for me. We're in go, go, go, run, run, run mode all the time. There's no real tension, just hollow and mindless entertainment :/

So, most of the first half was... just ok. The second half I don't have much interest in. I like Maisie a lot, and the reveal of her being a clone doesn't bother me as much compared to other parts of the film, but that twist just felt unnecessary. By the time the reveal hit, I was just in "whatever" mode anyway.

The one scene that stands out to me in FK (that I liked), and my favorite part, is the cutting back between Blue being tended to and the footage of Owen with baby Blue. I thought that was done really well, especially with the score that accompanied it. The baby raptors somewhat reminded me of juvenile Macaws. Speaking of score, I thought the overall soundtrack was great in this one. Easily in the top 3 for the series.


Some observations/questions off of the top of my head:

Just like in JW, galloping ceratopsids, stegosaurs, and ankylosaurs. Why... are they galloping??? What is this, a Disney musical?

Wheatley going into the cage with the Indoraptor was insanely not-so-smart. But, PLOT!

Can anyone give me an idea how the Indoraptor escaped into the mansion after being locked down underground? The elevator -- which was no longer working -- was the only way in/out of there. :p

How did the Indoraptor get into the main hall before Owen's group did? It's as if the creature had psychic powers and the ability to teleport or whatever.

In that crazy huge estate, which appears to contain dozens of rooms on multiple levels, the Indoraptor found Maise in that one room almost instantly. Owen finding them in the room with his x-ray vision was convenient as well.  

Another thing -- the Stygimoloch. The feats involving that animal was cartoonishly absurd. I know the kids are going to love it (look how cute it was groggily stumbling around throwing people everywhere), and these films are going to make a billion dollars regardless, but I shook my head pretty good with the Stygi in this one. The supposed animals that were portrayed so well for the most part in the first two or three films, have become more like gimmicky characters than animals anymore under the World brand.

I'm going to skip over my thoughts on the T. rex. Why is it that no person - or animal - can no longer see or hear this massive beast coming onto the scene? When did she escape out of the mansion before chomping on Mills?

I liked Mills death, and the Carno trying to get the scraps from "Rexy" was kinda funny, albeit brutal.

The Mosasaur: How did it get loose into the ocean? In JW, its lagoon appeared to be completely landlocked. I don't follow supplemental materials or website exclusive explanations to learn the whens and the whys.

The ending: A dozen or so dinos escape into the wilderness, and Malcolm's accompanying dialogue, and the score, is so over-dramatic treating the situation as if an asteroid is on its way to assuredly crush Earth/Gaia. "Welcome to Jurassic World"... all of humanity is doomed! It was so unintentionally funny to me. After all that mankind has done to themselves and the planet they've inhabited throughout written history... a dozen or two dinos, most of them herbivorous (in one tiny region on one continent), are going to bring the downfall of everything in the near future... ?  

And yet, with all of the negativity that I just typed out, and as much dumb there is to be had here in FK, I'm of course going to watch it several more times and accept it into the series. This is unfortunately what the Jurassic franchise has drifted away into since the first two films, and it is what it is. If anything, it's beautifully shot, has some nice moments, and the work on the sound design and the music is quite impressive.... so, there's that. Oh yeah, and Compies!


Just for fun, I'm going to throw a number out there, and rate Fallen Kingdom 3 smirking Indoraptors out of 10 - on the JP scale. Which, hits the bottom of the series for me as it stands now... that's a bummer.


1. Jurassic Park
2. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (my favorite)


3. Jurassic Park /// and Jurassic World are tied.
4. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic Park /// (or, The Adventures of Dr. Grant made-for-TV spinoff) is still the most underwhelming of the series, imo, but I don't think that it really hit the lows or got as stupid (for lack of a better term) or over the top as JW and FK. The animals in that sequel were at least behaving as animals, and not characters. Well, sans the super-irritable-begrudger-of-field-mice Spino. There are countless much worse, distasteful, and offensive things out there in film & television land than Fallen Kingdom. It's a keeper in the grand scheme of all things.

And that's my overly lengthy, totally non-professional critique of a Jurassic Park/World film.

... yeah.

LostWorld Malcolm wasn't just talking about the escaped dinosaurs but mostly that "genetic power has been unleashed" which means the technology has gone open source. Colin has said JW3 will have dinosaurs spread around the world.

Dr. Wu wrote:

LostWorld Malcolm wasn't just talking about the escaped dinosaurs but mostly that "genetic power has been unleashed" which means the technology has gone open source. Colin has said JW3 will have dinosaurs spread around the world.

Good luck trying to explain to people why all the dinosaurs that escaped wouldn't get wiped out by the National Guard within 1-3 months. If it happened in South America or Africa, then that ending would fly. But not in the Continental U.S.A.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Dr. Wu wrote:

LostWorld Malcolm wasn't just talking about the escaped dinosaurs but mostly that "genetic power has been unleashed" which means the technology has gone open source. Colin has said JW3 will have dinosaurs spread around the world.

Good luck trying to explain to people why all the dinosaurs that escaped wouldn't get wiped out by the National Guard within 1-3 months. If it happened in South America or Africa, then that ending would fly. But not in the Continental U.S.A.

Well with many people now capable of making dinosaurs that can also still breed (that scene with baby Triceratops and it's mother made it clear) they can't contain them leading to more escaping and spreading around the world making a bad situation worse. So it won't be just the dinosaurs that escaped from the estate people have to worry about.

Dr. Wu wrote:

LostWorld Malcolm wasn't just talking about the escaped dinosaurs but mostly that "genetic power has been unleashed" which means the technology has gone open source. Colin has said JW3 will have dinosaurs spread around the world.

Apologies for the late response, Dr. Wu.

Yeah, I get what Malcolm's dialogue was going for at the end there. It makes sense considering that the buyers appeared to be from several regions of the world (Indonesia,etc.), and that that would hasten any potential spreading of dino's across the globe. But I would figure that the reverse engineering and unleashing of genetic power aspect would be under some form of control still, so it doesn't necessarily mean that the dino's would become full-on unleashed invasive animals in those countries. More advanced governments and their forces, I imagine, are still going to act as such and wouldn't allow the deliberate and irresponsible running loose of something so dangerous to the people (a lion or tiger would never be allowed to run loose in the U.S.). If we're talking about harmful chemicals or something, that's another story. I think that the execution with the open source idea fell a bit flat for me, as it felt really rushed and "on the move" within the film. However, I'm all up for reserving judgement about that whole idea until I see how it carries over into the next film, and seeing how Maisie and human cloning may play into the genetic power of it all that Malcolm's words were going for.

And I'm with Rhedosaurus about having FK leaving us in some Central American wilderness or disadvantaged village area or something where these animals very well may have the possibility of over-running the locals and establishing an actual "Jurassic World" there. That's definitely way more intriguing to me anyway than how FK actually ended, which was borderline apocalyptic. I've always wanted to see more latino influence in the JP films and the effect of having these animals around have on those people, and I'm reminded more of that when I think of the captain from TLW and his "stories of fishermen" and wanting to see more serious stories and lore in the JP franchise along those lines. It would make at least a billion dollars worldwide!