THE ORPHNAGE fame J.A. Bayona in the fifth ‘Jurassic’ movie creates a pacy & reliable template which pays homage to those classic creature/disaster movies but allows the CGI ( the hungry dino’s in all sizes) beat the humans in providing the thrills.
Its been 25 years since Spielberg’s JURRASIC PARK introduced the mighty dinosaurs in 1993, ironically after the 1997 sequel, we have seen a steady decline and the amazing creatures had turned scary and victims of human greed.
The awe factor and the human sweep that was found missing, get redeemed to an extant in the Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona’s latest ‘Jurrasic’ version. The director known for his atmospheric horrors does a good enough job in keeping the pulse of the loyal fans riding high and manages to infuse a pleasant déjà vu. When one of the characters screams “I want to see this!” climbing out of a jeep to have a glimpse of the Brachiosaurus and when Brachiosaurus is left alone in the island of Isla Nubar, your heart bleeds but rest is a ‘safely’ designed template based on the creature/disaster movie format with a tribute to KING KONG (the auction scene) along with an ode to the classic creature/disaster movies as said earlier.
Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly screenplay may lack the overwhelming human sweep but it’s a definite pulse riser. It’s been three years since theme park and luxury resort Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment. Isla Nublar now sits abandoned by humans while the surviving dinosaurs fend for themselves in the jungles. When the island’s dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event. Owen is driven to find Blue, his lead raptor who’s still missing in the wild, and Claire has grown a respect for these creatures she now makes her mission. Arriving on the unstable island as lava begins raining down, their expedition uncovers a conspiracy a debate is shaping whether the dinosaurs deserve the same protection as other endangered species or what would happen if they are left alone?. Dr. Ian Malcolm (the good old Jeff Goldblum) puts his point forward. What happens next cannot be disclosed.
Well, majority of the action takes place out of the park and the thrill quotient is intact throughout. What is missing is the psychological and emotional depth in the debate of ‘survival’ that applies both to the greedy humans and the endangered species. Here the reptiles are caged, sedated, wounded, and betrayed from their homes struggling to find a way out.
Well, we don’t know whether the coming addition to this ‘Jurrasic’ series will take the story further from where JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM ends, the mind-blowing CGI and that poignant moments with Brachiosaurus mentioned earlier and the one when Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) says ‘Isn’t she beautiful’, are enough for the loyal fans to cheer.
