Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

As a matter of fact, the little children were those who enjoyed it the most in the cinema. And they are probably the only viewers who appreciate the film. First and foremost, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a lazily written story. The screenplay is blatantly gearing towards a third part, which heavily conditions the plot and as a result, on many occasions, it is downright stupid. At one point, there is a sudden digression about some sort of family drama related to clones, which is supposed to act as a moral justification for the fatal behaviour of one of the characters at the end. However, it does not work at all and turns out as utterly useless nonsense. In another part of the film, we learn that surviving a volcanic eruption first-hand is even easier than surviving a nuclear explosion, provided that you hide inside a fridge (wink wink). The most recently made dinosaur designed for military purposes is said to have a highly developed sense of smell, but when chasing the main characters, it doesn’t really seem so. Anytime anyone’s life is seriously threatened, he or she is always saved by a last-minute intervention (preferably by a T-Rex or a raptor, even though these two species had caused the highest number of deaths in the previous films). Basically, whenever the screenwriters came up with something that proved handy, logic was put aside. There is no suspense whatsoever. The promises of horror tendencies remain unfulfilled. The weakest aspect of the whole flick is to be found in its slanted unsubtle characters. There are the ‘bad’ ones and the ‘good’ ones. Nothing in between. The bad ones die, the good ones survive. Nobody surprises us. Some characters suddenly disappear from the story while others are completely useless throughout the film (like the embarrassingly unfunny neurotic IT geek). This is definitely not enough to satisfy me anymore. (06/21/2018)

Technically a first-rate American blockbuster, but it lost the soul of the original and unfortunately also the script of at least the previous one. It must have taken quite a lot of effort to glue together such a sequel, but insulting the intelligence of the audience wasn't exactly necessary. Otherwise, Pratt never disappoints and Ted Levine delivers his best performance since American Gangster. Very mediocre, I think we’ve had plenty of those dinosaurs already. The problem is that this film has earned more than a billion. (09/09/2018)

When you write something so perfectly stupid, you do it either out of incompetence or with creative intent. I give precedence to the second option because Bayona knows where his horror roots lie and thus deftly guides the camera and the special effects, and the actors declaiming like hell and notching clichés into the seat in front of you will stop entertaining you after an hour. However, the slight genre detour with the slamming of the ferry doors works in its favor, and while there are no surprises, it is at times as suspenseful and bloody as its rating will allow. The rain ropes have been passé for a while now, and I would have left 20 minutes on the cutting room floor, but the feeling of a high-octane ride where both lava bombing and sneaking around in the dark work, and which still finishes decently enough a couple of hours after leaving the movie theater, eventually washes it away. (06/27/2018)

In its magnificent moments, this is a tremendous experience, and in the surprisingly intimate finale, a flawless combination of an homage to the classic Jurassic Park while at the same time rectifying everything that did not work at the time in Jurassic Park: The Lost World. This seemingly impossible combination ultimately results in the second-best installment of the entire saga, confidently stepping towards a trilogy and solidifying Chris Pratt's position as the darling of the masses. 90% (08/10/2018)

Bayona filmed a kid’s nightmare. A dinosaur in the bedroom! I’m pleasantly surprised that this sequel wasn’t conceived just as a cash grab and that they cooked up a story that fairly original to the extent possible. Though it's full of illogical actions and human stupidity, it's also entertaining (both the opening with the volcano and the chase around the Victorian house). The ending offers an interesting promise for the future. I’m already looking forward to part 3. (09/07/2018)