Stubs - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018): Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, B. D. Wong Directed by J. A. Bayona. Screenplay by: Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly. Based on  Characters developed by Michael Crichton. Produced by Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley, Belén Atienza. Run Time: 128 minutes. United States. Science Fiction, Adventure, Sequel.

Seeing as its summer, the theaters are teeming with sequels. We've already had Avengers: Infinity Wars, Deadpool 2, Incredibles 2 and now Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the latest sequel in the Jurassic Park movie franchise requel, Jurassic World. It's too bad that somethings don't get better the second or fifth time around depending on your point of reference.

Jurassic World 2 finds the dinosaurs that survived the destruction of the Park abandoned on the Isla Nublar left to fend with an erupting volcano. There is a movement afoot to save the dinosaurs led by Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), who one has to imagine would have been sued from here to eternity. When  Sir Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), Hammond's former partner in developing the technology to clone dinosaurs, and making his first appearance in the franchise, promises to use his resources to move the dinosaurs to an isolated island, she's on board. But she needs Owen's (Chris Pratt) help to get Blue, his prized Velociraptor. It seems the live-happily-ever-after promised at the end of Jurassic World didn't happen. Add in Dr. Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda), a paleo veterinarian and Franklin Webb (Justice Smith), a systems analyst and hacker and you have a diverse and ready crew.

Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen (Chris Pratt)
meet Maisie Lockwood Portrayed by Isabella Sermon.

The best thing about the film is Chris Pratt as Owen. He seems to channel his Star-Lord character from Guardians of the Galaxy here in a wasted effort to save this film from utter stupidity. Bryce Dallas Howard is no longer the cold business bitch that she was in the Jurassic World. Now she's a bleeding heart for dinos and is all too easy to sucker into the dastardly plot that is at the heart of the story. Together on screen they have a certain irresistible chemistry sadly lacking anywhere else

Everyone you think is evil is and for the most part get their comeuppance, save for the evil Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong), who like the worst of the dinosaurs lives to see another day in what is already a planned for and an unneeded sequel three years from now. Too bad things don't promise to get any better the next time out, only dumber. And if the post-credits scene is any indication, watch out Las Vegas.

The only problem is that the whole premise of the movie is just about as dumb as the worst film noir, the type where the plot only moves forward with stupid decisions. In this case, the idea that dinosaurs that should have been extinct and have done nothing but eat people and cause destruction in every film are worth saving for future generations. No doubt the thinking is that dinosaurs will help cut down on world overpopulation, otherwise there seems to be no reason to save the carnivores on the island. And what a surprise if that's not what happens in this film, though I won't go into any details in case you've got cash that you don't know what to do with; either throw it on the ground or go see this movie. Perhaps throwing it on the ground isn't such a bad idea.