June 2018

If you were a 80s or 90s kid, your favourite dinosaur movie has got to be JURASSIC PARK. The one very distinctive scene that you would remember vividly, would be the one where you watch how that vibrating cup of water in the car instilled fear in the main characters, when the T-Rex was seeking them out.

We have never forgotten how Jurassic Park used to thrill us. Decades passed and we had the Jurassic World back in 2015.

It’s good to see Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallads Howard reprising their roles in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. I was hoping to see a little more on their love line since they parted ways where Jurassic World ended. However, there wasn’t really much development.

They would brave dangers together once again in this seemingly “darker” theme “Fallen Kingdom”.

It was akin to a Kingdom, or a very majestic zoo/safari, back in the 1st part of this trilogy. Now, all we see are ruins and chaos as all the surviving dinosaurs fending for themselves on a deserted island.

This sequel is a little “darker” not just in its literal terms that the dinosaurs were jailed in dungeons, how the park looks like after being abandoned and how the dinosaurs had to die or to be sold before the volcano erupt, but also how it made you feel.

Most importantly, it’s about the co-existence between human beings and dinosaurs.

Humans seem to be the “monsters” as compared to these once-extinct creatures, with their evil agendas.

– Was it the fault of these natural predators that such irreversible impact was caused?
– Or the mankind who tried to revive them, by cloning them and genetically altering them?
– Now that they have caused harm to mankind, should we leave them to die or have them protected in a sanctuary?
– Is there a way to co-exist or the best way is for human beings to just leave them alone?
– Who are the real “monsters”?

These are some questions that the director, script writers might wish you would ponder about.

It’s sad to see these magnificent and majestic creatures that roam the earth way before mankind, to be locked up in cages, shackled, wounded, removed of their teeth, etc, just like endangered animals that poachers hunt down.

Nonetheless, the attempt to move things out of the theme park and now you see dinosaurs ramping in the dungeons and corridors of Lockwood’s castle-like home, is a daring move and good effort, though the attempt had somewhat caused a little downside for this movie.

You can’t but help applaud Bayona for instilling the fear factor and super intense moments of suspense and horror at the same time. You probably would recall the breath-taking moments when Indoraptor was tapping its claw, which seeking out the hiding of its victims.

The more heart-warming treat of this deal is, the special bond between Owen and “Blue”. Blue is a velociraptor which would tear her prey up, except that she recognises Owen, her trainer and would save him in times of danger and protect him.

It reminds us of the bonding that most pet owners would have with their pets. They would turn ferocious to protect their masters but would be like a little “kid” when they wanted to seek some affection. If a cold-dinosaur could be more empathetic and feeling than human beings, what does it make us out to be?

Even in the world of dinosaurs, there is segregation by “classes” – those that are worth more would be saved, while the rest would be left to die on their own.
Isn’t it so apt to this term that we always hear about “Survival of the Fittest”?

This pretty much resonates with how animal poachers kill or sell endangered animals for their body parts that are consistently in pretty high demand in a “black market”.

Here, we are talking about “ Dinosaurs Trafficking”. You would be an instant millionaire, if not, Billionaire.

Was it out of human greed, monetary gains, fame, or the fact that mankind wishes to revive a group of creatures that existed long before our time?

The world of dinosaurs may just be far-fetched fantasy, but what the director and scriptwriters are trying to send across to us, is way more in-depth.

Are audience prepared to be set thinking about the deeper implications that such acts would ensue, or are they more likely to engage in a visually enjoyable and intense “dinosaur” chasing movie?

This 2nd part of the trilogy, already sets its pave to what might come in the 3rd franchise.

There was much direction thrown towards the moral implications of genetic cloning.

It sets you thinking, though mankind is responsible for cloning them, does it give you a right to take away their lives?

It seems that the fools of this movie, is still mankind afterall.

Human beings are intelligent enough to bring these extinct dinosaurs back to life, harness their potential due to their greed, yet is still nothing but a helpless prey when left face to face with the dinosaurs.

While there are several issues that may set you thinking, the generic fear factor that we have for these majestic creatures are still instilled with us, in all the very intense, terrifying and seat-gripping, heart-pounding scenes, something just seems to be lacking in a manner.

Perhaps, we can have lesser of the sinister “agenda” behind all these genetic engineering, but to have a more functional way that we all enjoy of the “Jurassic Park” instalments that we used to love.

It’s good to move with the times, and also try to take a twist away from the functional state of such movies, but it probably needs to consider more about how to keep the audience leaving the cinema, with some very iconic or heartfelt scenes, that we would remember, for a longer time.

If you always have been a Jurassic series fan, yes of course, you should watch this. If you aren’t but are gamed for some excitement, it is still thrilling in its ways, just don’t keep up too many hopes on it bringing you many out of the extra-ordinary moments.Read More →