Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a film about a small team at an NGO called the dinosaur protection group, centred around former Jurassic Park Operations manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), they are given the opportunity to travel to Jurassic Park to try save key species from a second extinction as a Volcano on the island is set to erupt and wipe out all life that inhabits it.
After landing on the island they work with a team of professional poachers and animal traffickers to capture and load the creatures on to a large ship and escape moments before disaster strikes. With their mission complete, the creatures are en route for their new sanctuary island that has been specifically prepared for them, but not all is as it seems.
Similar to the last Jurassic World film, It is a Hollywood blockbuster, a largely formulaic action film replete with tense scenes of near misses and close calls, it grows tiring after a while and it all seem a little too far fetched. Though it is set to entertain and make big dollars, the film seeks to stay relevant and includes a small portion of social commentary in the form of depicting the military intelligence community and the world of big business in what is a generally poor light.
The efforts of the biologists and naturalists in preserving various species for posterity is counterposed against the perversion and corruption of their scientific achievements for potential military application and the continued self enrichment of the ultra wealthy top 1% of society. Around this point in the film, there is a character who has a remarkable likeness to Donald Trump, down to the trademark hairstyle. He plays an essential role in the proceedings wherein the transformation of the creatures to vehicles of profit and war are discussed.
Secondly there is a monologue at the opening and closing of the film, wherein Dr Ian Malcolm (a recurring character in this series of films played by Jeff Goldblum), speaks to a senate committee hearing about the park, speaking at length about the interplay between mankind and the natural world to the detriment of the later.
“Were causing our own extinction, too many red lines have been crossed. Our home has in fundamental ways been polluted by avarice and political megalomania.”
Despite its social aspect, I wouldn’t get too excited about it. The characters are poorly developed and only come across as crude caricatures in an infantile dichotomy of good vs evil, relying more on fast action scenes with heavy special effects, than the import of character development, dialogue etc.
The last word on this film can only be given by this excellent summation of the last film in the series provided on the World Socialist Website:
“Of course, all of this, as sincere as it may be, has to be taken with a large grain of salt. The mild criticisms occur in a film that is very much an integral part of the Hollywood blockbuster phenomenon, which largely obstructs reflecting seriously on anything.. ..All in all, unfortunately, Jurassic World does what it was designed to do: entertain without demanding too much of the audience.” (1)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Universal Studios
128 mins
Rated: M
Released in Au: 22 June
Reference
1. Jurassic World, Summer Blockbuster; WSWS, 23 June 2015
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/06/23/jura-j23.html
