Grab Some Popcorn, 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Escapes the Park!

Dinosaurs are a thing of the past, literally. But thanks to Steven Spielberg, it continues to live on. It's been 25 years since Jurassic Park and it's still one of the best blockbusters ever. Whether you're a curious child or a mere adult, Spielberg made dinosaurs even more interesting as they are. And now, it's a franchise and on its fifth installment.

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Three years after Jurassic World was wrecked by unleashed dinosaurs, and of course, greedy human beings, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas-Howard) are back to save the same dinosaurs that made them miserable from Isla Nublar's roaring volcano, Mount Sibo. Owen wants to save his raptor Blue, and Claire made it a mission to protect them.

Dinosaurs plus raging Mother Nature plus humanity's selfishness, it's a recipe for a popcorn-grabbing disaster. Helmed by J.A. Bayona, I knew this would be in good hands. He's not a freshman when it comes to disaster films as his The Impossible is one of the greats and not to mention, it's very emotional. Bayona knows how to make great action sequences that puts you on the edge of your seat. Fallen Kingdom has a lot of them, and it's hectic, stimulating, and nerve-wracking.

Once they got out of the island, Bayona finds more ways to make this even more interesting and unfortunately for haters, fuels the franchise's longevity. Like The Lost World, the dinosaurs and the heroes find themselves out of containment. This time, they were held captive in a hidden facility in a grand mansion ala monsters and horrors in Cabin in the Woods, for sale. It's interesting stuff and the exhilarating chase scenes continue to excite and terrify.

Bryce Dallas-Howard as Claire Dearing in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
 Photo Credits: Universal Pictures

The duo of Owen and Claire are compelling to boot. Their side hidden-desire-for-each-other love story isn't overblown, and the humor is always present yet reserved. But even as individuals, they deliver. Introduced via her running stilettos, Bryce Dallas-Howard's Claire Dearing (who btw made my top 25 of 2015's Best Movie Characters) is as appealing as ever. It's as if they didn't expect her to be a big deal in Jurassic World that they made it up for her in this film by giving her more material to be cute and badass. Jeff Goldblum also makes an appearance as Dr. Ian Malcolm preaching the ignorance of humanity for letting dinosaurs live further and emphasizing they they don't need our protection, rather they need our absence.

Overall, this is one of my favorites in the franchise. Heck, Jurassic World 3, the franchise's worst reviewed film is my favorite so take that as you may. One thing's for sure, this one will have you sipping on your drinks at the movies, and that's what matters to me when it comes to dinosaurs. It will never be as smart and as epic and as classic as Jurassic Park, it may even be forgettable (who knows?), but it sure as hell is entertaining.