Bryce Dallas Howard – Movies of the Soul

What is the movie about? :: A few years have passed after the events of the earlier movie, and the Jurassic World theme park on Isla Nublar has been abandoned since the evacuation. As dinosaurs roamed freely on the island, a mercenary team which arrives on the island makes an attempt to retrieve DNA from the remains of the cloned hybrid dinosaur Indominus rex, which was killed by a Mosasaurus. They successfully deliver the sample even though the team is attacked by a Mosasaurus and a Tyrannosaurus. The aim of the mercenaries is unknown, but at the same time, there is wide protest in the United States of America and other parts of the world in favour of saving the dinosaurs as the species, even though cloned, faces extinction again while facing a huge volcanic eruption, with the exception of Mosasaurus which escaped from the island through water.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: Jurassic World’s former manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) who is now part of a dinosaur protection group gets a call from Sir Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell). The man, along with Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) confirm that they are planning to move these dinosaurs to a place where they will be safe. There will be no human contact, and without men to bother them, the creatures could thrive in their own world – this would cause no alarm for any other species. For locating Blue, the last living Velociraptor and smarter one among the dinosaurs, Claire recruits Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Jurassic World’s former Velociraptor trainer, to join the mission to save the species facing extinction. They are joined by Franklin Webb (Justice Smith) and Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda) as they travel to the island.

And what is follow with the tale? :: The leader of the hired soldiers at the island, Ken Wheatley (Ted Levine) is in charge of resue operations at Isla Nublar. He enjoys stealing the teeth of dinosaurs and making sure that they stay in the cages in one way or the other. Sooner or later, a few dinosaurs won’t be the biggest of their problems. There is Gunnar Eversol (Toby Jones) who comes into play, as he hopes to sell these dinosaurs through auction, while making them perfectly suitable for becoming war machines – as animals have always been used as weapons by humans throughout history. In between all of this, time is running out for dinosaurs, as the whole island gets ready to be destroyed by volcanic erruption. Can at least some of them including Blue be saved by the team, as the chances for extinction is once again so high?

The defence of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom :: The movie begins nicely as it introduces its two best pre-historic creatures, Mosasaurus and Tyrannosaurus very early, displaying moments of glory that this franchise has to offer us. There is no shortage of such moments, with the dinosaurs trying to escape the island, and the lava taking over, as well as the final battle with another hybrid dinosaur. There is the fear factor being utilized really well, and the dinosaur nostalgia taken to the next level. We are all left in need of another movie in the franchise, and there seems to be certainty in the same. The idea here more or less like that of a Frankenstein story, about humans trying to play God by giving life using science, and finding it extremely difficult to control their creations. The dinosaurs are all good here, and so is the world – there is more to see with both as we keep looking on.

The Claws of flaw :: There is always more expected from a dinosaur movie, and anything with the name Jurassic needs to do more each and every time. The second Jurassic World doesn’t add much to the franchise, and won’t bring anything that is special – it is more or less the same thing that we have been watching since the first one, Jurassic Park. There is no real attempt to move beyond the safe mode, and the focus is not really on the story – well, the big dinosaurs on the screen was always going to work in one way or the other, and that is the one thing were all the focus goes. The questions about the necessity of saving a species are not touched that much as one would expect. Do humans have the responsibility to save those other species which are as much part of this world as we are all are? Well, that is one question that humanity will find difficult to answer, and even coming close to trying for the same is out of question for many.

The performers of the soul :: Chris Pratt who comes right out the Star-Lord shoes in Avengers: Infinity War and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has this one in full control. One has time to remember that Passengers was a lovely movie too, as he keeps things going well, following Jurassic World which brought the dinosaurs back to us. Bryce Dallas Howard gets some nice job to do here again, and this time, the character gets stronger on ideology. We can be sure that we need to see her as well as Christ Pratt in the next possible movie too, the team looks strong with the two around. We do miss Irrfan Khan this time, as his character had to die in that earlier movie. Daniella Pineda and Justice Smith support well, with something extra added here and there. Rafe Spall brings one ambitious and unpredictable character to fine strength. Isabella Sermon does a nice job here too, rising to the occasion.

How it finishes :: We have been in love with this franchise ever since the first move released in 1993 by the name Jurassic Park. The science fiction novel written by Michael Crichton did form the core, but with two more films, this movie franchise had the advantage and became another name for anything related to dinosaurs. In 2015, Jurassic World brought it back with nostalgia written all over it, and now, we have Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom which decided to get an early release in India before it released in the United States of America. Well, we can see only filled seats in the theatres more than one week after its release in the country. It is one big entertainer with big creatures, and it is to be seen about how much of a threat it possesses to Avengers: Infinity War which is still running in the theatres, and how much challenge it faces from the strong monsoons.

Release date: 22nd June 2018 (USA); 7th June 2018 (India)
Running time: 128 minutes
Directed by: JA Bayona
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Daniella Pineda, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, BD Wong, Isabella Sermon, Geraldine Chaplin, Jeff Goldblum

<— Click here to go to the previous review, and before that.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl: Are you sure that the dinosaurs haven’t ever allied with werewolves and were not the enemies of the Old Vampire World?

Vampire Bat: Yes. It says right here in the Grand Vampire History and Encyclopedia. Dinosaurs were a neutral group of creatures who preceded the Draconian Reptile Order, but has no direct relation with any of the magical species of the present world.

Vampire Owl: Lets watch the movie then.

[Gets the tickets].

✠ This was recently posted by me at Kiagia.com where I handle the Hollywood movie reviews division: http://www.kiagia.com/index.php/current-film-releases-movie/867-jurassic-world-movie-review.html

A long time has passed since our last adventures in a park of dinosaurs. It took the makers quite a long time after that 1993 movie which had a big place in our childhood and also spawned two sequels which made a much lesser impact even when taken together. The aim for this third sequel seems to be simple – as they understand that sequels and remakes are doing wonderful work these days at the box-office. It is not easy to match up to a movie which had become the highest grossing movie, breaking all records, until Titanic came up to claim the status of the highest grosser of all time – but Jurassic World was going to give it a try.

A new dinosaur theme park is open with live dinosaurs, twenty two years after the incidents which were featured in the first Jurassic Park. Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) is the park operations manager, and her nephews, Zach Mitchell (Nick Robinson) and Gray Mitchell (Ty Simpkins) arrives at the park for having some family time together along with enjoying the special features of the place. The park had become a favourite destination for the tourists and had grown a lot with its environment and the new varieties of dinosaurs. Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) is a trainer of Velociraptors, who is asked by Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), the owner of the Jurassic World to check for safety at the enclosure set for a new genetically modified dinosaur which they call the Indominus Rex.

The dinosaur turns out to be smarter than they thought, as the creature manages to get out of the enclosure while pretending to have already escaped, and Owen just manages to get away at the last minute. The rest of the movie is about the destruction that the creature causes and how the team at the Jurassic World led by Owen and Claire manages to finish it off, as the hybrid dinosaur unleashes chaos, taking out the tracking implant from its own body and asserting its supremacy over all other creatures. At the same time, they also have to find the missing brothers who were on a ride which was cancelled with the declaration of emergency throughout the park.

As most of the fans might have expected, Jurassic World is nowhere near the original Jurassic Park. But among the sequels of the original movie, this one manages to be the best so far. The movie is full of entertainment even with those occasional moments of slight drag. There are some nice attractions and good design of dinosaurs with fine use of the CGI and the special effects. The new park which has its last name replaced is a joy to watch with its design and visuals. The creatures look better as you would expect, and the battles have also gone bigger with those better dinosaurs and people armed with better weapons. But there was the need to show and explain more of the new park, establishing it as a genuine wonder for the tourists.

Chris Pratt doesn’t go on like in Guardians of the Galaxy – he is not even the central character here despite the fact that he might be the one who goes through the maximum action sequences. It is a different kind of character from that space action movie, and he manages it very well. The scene with him riding on a bike surrounded by the raptors is a very nice one, and he is the one real action hero of this movie. The main character is played by Bryce Dallas Howard, and she is like the least interested character who manages to get forced into the action and she works that out very well. There is also more humour when she is around, and she contributes to saving the day as much as Chris Pratt and sometimes even more.

Irrfan Khan is a fine reason for the Indian audience to watch the movie. If you remember seeing him in The Amazing Spider-Man, this is a similar role, but lasts longer and actually he does more in this movie – another millionaire, ambitious, but not really villainous this time. But there is surely limited scope for performances in a movie ruled by dinosaurs who remain the true performers just like they have been throughout the franchise. This is the same reason why the smartness of the dinosaur should have been better used instead of its size and strength – may be it could have been shown to hunt more by using its intelligence causing the humans to come up with stranger ideas to bring it down. That would have meant scope for more stylish, and yet intelligent action.

Jurassic World is a movie that brings you some dinosaur nostalgia as the memories of your childhood’s most awesome movies come back to life. There are moments which remind us of the first movie of the franchise. There is no other creature which sells like the dinosaur in a movie, and it was evident with the rush at the theatre. The specialty of this one is that the whole thing connects better even to people with a wide variety of preferences. This could have used more wonder and tension, but this still manages to be your fine entertainer with scope of becoming a nice blockbuster, and may be even go on to become the third highest grossing movie of the year with half of 2015 gone, after Fast and Furious 7 and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Release date: 11th June 2015 (India); 12th June 2015 (USA)
Running time: 130 minutes
Directed by: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, B. D. Wong, Irrfan Khan, Jake Johnson, Brian Tee, Lauren Lapkus, Katie McGrath, Judy Greer, Andy Buckley, James DuMont, Jimmy Fallon