This month, Universal and J.A. Bayona brought us the fifth instalment in the mighty Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The new dino-romp has pulled down a whopping $150m in foreign box office sales in its opening weekend, with domestic numbers still to be released. With a budget of just $170m in comparison, it’s already on a B-line towards global success.
The story takes us back to Isla Nublar, the setting of the film’s 2015 predecessor as well as the classic first instalment back in ’93. The de-extinct prehistoric populous is under threat from a deadly volcano, spelling imminent doom for the island until our crooked friends at Ingen arrive to capture the dinosaurs as part of a savage plot to sell them off to the highest bidder back in the States.
This time around, we’re given some new deadly dinosaurs never before see in the franchise, a closer look at Owen Grady’s research with the adorable baby velociraptors and a brand shiny new genetic hybrid coined the “Indo-Raptor”, as well as the return of our favourite friendly neighbourhood Tyrannosaurus Rex and Grady’s beloved pet beta Velociraptor, “Blue”.
Fans of interesting filming locations are in for a treat with Fallen Kingdom! With the majority of the filming taking place either in Hawaii or England and Scotland (codenamed under the working title Ancient Futures), the scenery on location is really something quite spectacular to behold. Rolling hills, mountain ranges and dense forest provide a beautiful setting for the film, mirroring the ancient world of prehistory from which the dinosaurs first evolved, coupled with some strikingly dramatic CGI during the volcano eruption scenes.
As per usual, the franchise’s fanbase remain selectively blind to the continuity errors, scientific inaccuracies and a convenient lack of common sense on behalf of the characters to further the plot… Ignorance is bliss! The films are (and have always been) a bit silly but we can let it slide for the sake of quality cinema and a feel-good franchise that just keeps on giving!
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard did not disappoint in the slightest, returning in the second round alongside B.D. Wong as the smooth, double-crossing mad scientist, Dr. Henry Wu. New faces Justice Smith and Daniella Pineda as computer hacker, Franklin, and wise cracking paleoveterinarian, Zia (respectively) make a formidable new back-up team for our heroes with some great snappy dialogue, although their characters are clearly a cringe-worthy dig at typical millennials that some viewers born after 1983 may feel the need to tweet about furiously.
Other fresh faces include Rafe Spall (Hot Fuzz), Ted Levine (Shutter Island), James Cromwell (Spider-Man 3) and the truly terrifying “face you just want to hit repeatedly” Toby Jones whom you’ll likely recognise as Sherlock serial killer Culverton Smith as well as roles in Captain America, and The Hunger Games.
Last but not least, the new instalment handed us a cameo and loose commentary from none other than the amazing Jeff Goldblum returning to his role for the first time since 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is out in cinemas now and is currently ranked the fourth-fastest-grossing film worldwide.
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