Avengers: Infinity War may be days away from cracking $2 billion but between the underperformance of Solo: A Star Wars Story and the critical reaction to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, it doesn't appear as if the summer blockbuster season is off to a particularly good start. Today, we have another wave of reviews for you and these are once again mixed but the majority are more negative than positive.
While we heard from the trades last night, these come from entertainment sites and British publications like Empire Magazine and newspapers like The Times, New York Post, and Independent.
That means there's wide array of opinions here and it definitely seems as if critics are ready to see this franchise die. Whether or not moviegoers will agree remains to be seen but Jurassic World 3 may be far from a lock at this stage. So, to check out these new reviews, click on the "View List" button below.
Life finds a way, and so do franchises that make ungodly amounts of money. “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” gets away with its unoriginality for the most part, but this franchise’s desperation is starting to show. It’s time to evolve or go extinct.
These movies often literally retread the same ground as their predecessors, encountering layers of detritus from those other movies in the process. (The original Jurassic Park cars are briefly rediscovered here, just as they were last time around.) The thematic work of Fallen Kingdom is scribbly and half-finished, a series of dopey riffs on what came before about humans living with the consequences of their scientific meddling. But as a lava-spewing, raptor-training, teeth-gnashing, monster-in-the-basement creature feature, it has a certain freshness. [B-]
SOURCE: AV Club
These movies will go on and on, but some of us are still waiting for them to evolve.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
The second half opens up the story in more surprising ways, though there’s still the lingering feeling of a ‘Jurassic Park’ greatest hits medley playing out as an array of dinosaurs, new and old, are let loose afresh against a backdrop of corporate villainy. One of them can even open doors, a terrifying new trait that will take some topping in the next movie. A dinosaur that can disconnect your wifi, perhaps? [3/5]
Universal Pictures will claw the box office to shreds with Fallen Kingdom. I was not a fan of Jurassic World, and was pleasantly surprised by my reaction here. J.A. Bayona adds a Guillermo Del Toro, horror touch to the film. It's a much needed, fresh perspective to the blockbuster formula. Stick around after the credits; the dinosaurs aren't through with you yet.
SOURCE: Movie Web
Regardless, it’s nice to see the series back on track. For 20 years it reduced itself to lunkheaded horror and Tea Leoni shrieking to the sky at the expense of its most essential element — the wonderment of seeing a living, breathing dinosaur. In making even the most vicious creatures more than just hungry, hungry dinos, the aging franchise has rediscovered its inner child. And ours.
When the Jurassic Park franchise began, back in 1993, it was seen by its director, Steven Spielberg, as “a good sequel to Jaws. On land.” Since then there have been three sequels, more than $3.6 billion at the global box office and a wearisome sense that the series has been defined by deadening repetition and narrative inertia. Put people on island with dinosaurs. Dinosaurs rampage. People survive. Repeat. Cash cheque. [4/5]
The series continues to move away from the depth, realism and magic of the original, but as a diehard fan of the franchise, Fallen Kingdom still offers up a satisfying ride set in this franchise. [7/10]
SOURCE:
Collider
Exactly why would anyone visit a dinosaur-infested island for a fifth time, when all four previous excursions had ended in limb-gobbling pandemonium? Well, when a hit-and-hope franchise revival like Jurassic World becomes the fifth most lucrative film ever made, with global takings in the region of $1.6 billion, you can be sure that Hollywood, like life, will find a way. [2/5]
We’re introduced to the Indoraptor, a smart and lethal hybrid dinosaur. But it’s not the only predator around, with greed bringing out the worst nature of humans. The dinosaurs become a coded warning for man-made climate change, making it a fresh, funny bite of popcorn entertainment. [4/5]
SOURCE: The Mirror
The end results are unsatisfying to say the least, muddled at best and egregious at worst, especially as it tries to circle back around to the ethics and animal rights questions at the end. By the time the credits roll, it feels like Fallen Kingdom has really no idea what it wanted to say or what it wanted to prove — it just wanted to terrorize some action heroes with a monster in a mansion for an hour or so, which winds up being a lot more boring than it sounds.
SOURCE: CBR
It’s a shame this be the case, and given the entire narrative is built around the notion of extinction, and whether or not we should let the dinosaurs live or die – you find this film taps into our more discreditable traits, for we can’t help but opt for the latter, simply because it means this franchise can come to an end once and for all. Oh, and if you’re thinking of seeing this movie for the return of Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm, then reconsider your plans, for he’s in this film for about as long as he’s in the bloody trailer. [2/5]
SOURCE: HeyUGuys
The cruellest, most violent creatures here are the humans. The film ends on a graceful note, teeing affairs up nicely for what promises to be an even more apocalyptic next instalment.
SOURCE: Independent
Maybe what Claire said in the first Jurassic World is right. Maybe we’ve just become so desensitized to seeing dinosaurs running around and eating people that we need something new and bigger to impress us. Unfortunately, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom isn’t that. A few cool moments and good ideas aside, it feels minor in the overall scheme of things. There’s no “Wow” to it—which makes me glad it never truly uses John Williams’ score. If it had, it would have undercut what this franchise can be, and may still be, but isn’t this time around.
SOURCE: io9
There are some reasonably entertaining scenes and set pieces, but the whole concept feels tired and contrived, and crucially the dinosaurs themselves are starting to look samey, without inspiring much of the awe or terror they used to. It could be that a meteor of tedium is heading towards these CGI creatures, despatching them to extinction.
The fear factor is back. This is a Jurassic sequel that plays it both adrenaline-pumpingly huge and thrillingly small. A summer ride that will drive kids out of their minds, and maybe even give the parents nightmares. [4/5]
SOURCE:
Empire Online
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the Jurassic Park sequel that I have been waiting 25 years to see. This is a refreshing sequel that isn’t afraid to break formula and try new things. Director J.A. Bayona has done remarkable work with this film and making this world his own. I cannot wait to see where the story goes from here and can only hope that Bayona will direct the next installment. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is hands down, the best entry in the Jurassic Park franchise since the 1993 original. [9/10]
SOURCE:
We Live Entertainment
If anything the whole uninteresting affair seems to be setting up Jurassic World 3, a film with Colin Trevorrow back in the director’s chair, announced for 2021. Let’s just hope he can bring back the spark of his original, perhaps getting Goldblum, Sam Neill and Laura Dern back for a reunion. Something certainly has to be done to stop this franchise from going extinct. [2/5]