<Review by: Sailesh Ghelani>

Directed by J.A. Bayona. Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Toby Jones, James Cromwell, Ted Levine, B.D. Wong, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, Jeff Goldblum

Running time: 2 hours 9 minutes

In yet another spin-off for the Jurassic Park franchise, the world of dinosaurs and humans gets even darker and more terrifying, not because of the prehistoric beasts but because of the inhumanity of people.

While Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) tells a Congressional Committee the dinosaurs on the island of Jurassic World should be allowed to die – due to an erupting volcano – a small group of activists rally to save them. Lead by Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) with some help from billionaire Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) and Owen (Christ Pratt), they once again reach the island to find that nature is not the only destructive force on the planet. (It’s interesting and disheartening to note that actor Chris Pratt has said he likes hunting!)

Fallen Kingdom once again speaks to the greed of humans, but it goes several leaps ahead from the child-like gluttony of the first few films where a successful theme park would suffice. Now, dinosaurs are being rounded up to sell to the highest bidder in the war games market to create super soldiers. There is no joy, hope or sparkle left in the eyes of our heroes who must kill their foes with the help of some dinos to save the world and maybe even their souls.

The avarice of human beings and the callous nature they can display is evident in the world today. Fallen Kingdom merely shows us how we’re willing to exploit the planet and how the term ‘animals’ would be more appropriate for many humans. More than fun, the film is disturbing. I was horrified at the way the dinosaurs were treated – a far cry from the awe they were viewed with in the first Jurassic Park films. Now, they’re mere cattle, fodder for the humans who would kill them, or worse, torture them, for profit. I didn’t feel well after watching this film.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a comment on the state of the world. In that sense, it has achieved something if it makes people realise the atrocities afflicted upon the animals – fast going extinct – and nature (like the wanton depletion of forests for palm oil) to satisfy human ‘needs’.

I sincerely hope that the makers will one day reunite the original cast for a film that will bring back some hope and that it will mirror the real world. Or will humanity be dead by then?

PS: Read this article from vulture.com ‘There Was An Exclusively Gay Moment in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, But It Got Cut’