You’ll get what you want, but not what you expect with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opens on June 22. They say that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” So, you would expect the follow-up to the fourth highest grossing movie of all time to use the same roaring, action-packed formula of its predecessor. And to a point, we’re told it will. Jurassic World brought in […]

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opens on June 22.

They say that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” So, you would expect the follow-up to the fourth highest grossing movie of all time to use the same roaring, action-packed formula of its predecessor. And to a point, we’re told it will.

Jurassic World brought in a massive $1.67 billion worldwide, putting it fourth behind Avatar ($2.78 billion), Titanic ($2.18 billion) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.06 billion). That said, by the time you read this, Avengers: Infinity War may well have knocked it down a spot after a record-breaking $630 million opening weekend.

If the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom trailers are anything to go by, it has all the essential Jurassic Park franchise ingredients, with nasty little fast dinosaurs and nastier, faster and bigger dinosaurs, fighting each other as they pursue the human population that created them. As ever, the worst element of all is the large corporations out to make a quick buck from the whole idea. Director J.A. Bayona says that the film begins with a James Bond style “massive action piece” and continues with explosive action for the first 50 minutes.

The action begins four years from the disaster of Jurassic World, with the Isla Nublar abandoned and the dinosaurs left to roam free. Unfortunately, the island’s volcano is about to erupt, threatening a second extinction of the prehistoric population. Some species can’t catch a break, can they? Enter our heroine, Bryce Dallas Howard, who has left behind her famously impractical, internet-melting high heels to become a pro-dino activist. To save the day, and the dinosaurs, she has to recruit her former boyfriend, Pratt, to come with her on a rescue mission. “A rescue op to save dinosaurs from an island that’s about to explode? What could go wrong?” as Pratt says ironically in the trailer.

Chris Pratt ready to kick some dino butt.

But that is only half the story with this sequel, prompting Pratt’s quote at the top of this preview. A film of two halves, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has a Hitchcockian second act that takes it into a place that writer Colin Trevorrow (director of Jurassic World) describes as “very contained, tight and suspenseful.” A real contrast to the sweeping island vistas we are used to seeing in these films.

It seems that, just like in The Lost World, there are other agendas at work when it comes to rescuing the dinosaurs, with governments and corporations out to weaponize, and thereby profit from, the ancient creatures. But that is where the comparisons to the original sequel end, according to Trevorrow. “This is much more suspenseful and scary,” he explains. “It is very much not like The Lost World.”

Described by Trevorrow as “a parable for the treatment animals receive today,” the second half includes a court hearing, including a memorable I-told-you-so appearance from Jeff Goldblum, reprising his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm from the original trilogy.

Much of the change of tone is down to Trevorrow handing over the directorial reigns to Bayona, a devotee of Oscar-winning creature feature director Guillermo del Toro. With films such as the tsunami epic The Impossible on his CV, Bayona knows how to mix terror with more subtle tensions to bring depth and emotional engagement to a movie. “Jurassic World feels like it was directed by a 12-year-old,” Trevorrow admitted to Total Film about his first part of the trilogy.

The beasts are back and they’re better than ever.

Part of Bayona’s approach was to use more animatronics on set instead of the ubiquitous tennis balls on sticks and motion capture suits. Not only did this make filming more realistic for the cast but it also gave Bayona the opportunity to surprise and scare them with unexpected snaps and bites, producing real reactions. It is the same technique used by Hitchcock in films such as The Birds where poor old Tippi Hedren had no idea what was in store as the cameras rolled.

Now in its fifth movie adaptation, and featuring everything from iconic T-shirts to Jurassic Park-themed games to Spielberg’s latest outing, Ready Player One, Michael Crichton’s dino-epic is one of the most enduring and profitable franchises of all time. And with more dinosaurs than any of the previous films, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom looks to continue as a cash cow. Yet at the same time, it is refreshing to see the creators exploring new approaches to the films rather than reaching for the safety of the repeat button like many other blockbuster franchises. The “if it ain’t broke, fix it anyway” approach may bring us something surprising from this well-worn monster franchise that gives us what Chris Pratt promises.