Following on a few years from the events of Jurassic World, the Isla Nublar volcano has become active and the island is in peril. As there are still dinosaurs living on the island, Claire Deering (Howard) is now part of a dinosaur conservation group trying to lobby support to save the dinosaurs on the island. After the government chooses not to intervene in the dinosaurs fate, Claire receives a call from Eli Mills (Spall) who is over-seeing a mission to transport the dinosaurs to a secluded island to live out their days at the behest of Benjamin Lockwood (Cromwell) who helped with the original cloning experiments. However they have no chance of locating the one dinosaur that could be a link animal, that could change how these animals evolved – the Raptor called Blue. There is only one person that can track and find Blue – Owen Grady (Pratt). After your typical back and forth with Claire, Owen decides to go. As they travel to the island they find out that everything is not as it seems and there are more nefarious forces at work behind the scenes.

J.A Bayona can stage a goddamn spectacle! Plenty of outlandish set pieces are just fun to get swept up in. The effects are great, especially considering some of the scenes that are just wall to wall dinosaurs, humans and erupting volcanoes all look great despite so much going on screen. Bayona creates some good tension in some excellent close quarter human/dinosaur interaction. Some may find these interactions and indeed some of the action highly implausible and dumb… and it is BUT if you are looking for a highly realistic film about cloned dinosaurs and genetically modified intelligent dinosaurs then this is not the film for you. However, if you are willing to just go along and enjoy the ride then you’ll have a great time.

Now previous to what I just wrote, this film is pretty ballsy in its messaging for a blockbuster. There is a throw back to the themes of the previous film about keeping animals enclosed for humans entertainment. This film further expands on that, really pushing the animal exploitation angle but also animal preservation, especially in the 1st half of the film, there is a heartbreaking moment as the island implodes, which is strange to say given its a CG dinosaur but it was very affecting. The 2nd half of the film tends to go more toward an action (and action hero) style of film which didn’t really serve the film well, however it still had some pathos with humans realising that they created this and all the subsequent problems that come along with it.

Due to JW:FK’s rating and obvious box office legacy, it felt muted. It seemed to me that Bayona really wanted the film to be a bit more visceral than it could be, especially a satisfying villain kill inside a cage. The film has pretty flimsy bad guys, earnest good guys both human and dinosaur so you know what you are getting. The ending opens up the possibilities of the Jurassic universe and it is a wise move. The dinosaurs are off the island and are now in our world.

Ryan Morrissey-Smith