By Chris Kavan - 06/21/18 at 07:59 AM CT
It's another blockbuster weekend where there is only one new film being released as every other film cowers in terror. This time around we have Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, followup to the monster hit Jurassic World that made over $650 million domestic and $1.6 billion worldwide when it lit up the box office back in 2015. Sequels, by their nature, rarely match the success of their predecessors and I'm thinking Fallen Kingdom will probably not reach the heights set by Jurassic World. Still, it's going to be another monster hit - but we'll see if it can match Disney's current stranglehold at the box office.
JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM Jurassic World, much like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, relied a lot on nostalgia to drive both the young, and their parents, to the theater. There were plenty of nods and references to the original Jurassic Park films and with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard (and her heels) leading the way, it was a fun, action-packed ride back to the park. For the longest time I wasn't even sure what Fallen Kingdom was really about - early trailers just showed people and dinosaurs trying to escape a volcanic eruption. It turns out that's only part of the story. Once these animals are saved, it turns out the rich and powerful have nefarious plans to weaponize them and sell them to the highest bidder. Of course, things don't go according to plan and the enhanced dinosaurs get loose to terrorize modern society. An interesting concept and the core cast is back - Pratt, Howard, BD Wong and Jeff Goldblum all reprise their roles while Rafe Spall, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, Justice Smith and Daniella Pineda all join the cast. I will say that it's going to be tough to match the excitement of the original and if early critical reviews are any indication, it doesn't. Critics are being much tougher on this now that the nostalgia factor has worn off. While the thrills are still there, along with humor and a bit of drama, it just can't keep up and falls short - some are even throwing around the "boring" description. Still, audiences are going to eat this up - but it remains to be seen if it can sustain itself over many weeks or if this is going to burn out a bit faster.
The weekend is going to be dominated by Fallen Kingdom. With no other films opening, only The Incredibles 2 is likely to present much of a challenge. We'll see how this stacks up compared to the other films in the franchise come Sunday.
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