The Action Thriller ARGYLLE

 

Jeri Jacquin

Currently streaming on Apple TV+ from director Matthew Vaughn and Apple Original Films is the story of a writer and a chase for ARGYLLE.

Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a cat lady who is about to finish her fifth successful book. Running into problems finishing the book, she calls Mom Ruth (Catherine O’Hara) who agrees to come help with ideas, even her imaginary hero Argylle (Henry Cavill) wants to know what is next. Elly decides she’d rather pack it up and go visit Mom and dad Barry (Bryan Cranston).

On the train, she is met with a real spy Aidan Wilde (Sam Rockwell) who tells her that a group known as The Division want her because the books that are too close to the truth of things. Aidan wants Elly to write the next chapter so he can figure out a way to stop The Division. Elly makes it clear she doesn’t work that way.

When Wilde lets her know that there is a Masterkey to everything, she decides that she wants more answers after meeting Alfie (Samuel L. Jackson). There is something else that Wilde isn’t telling her but only time will tell if Elly, like her novels, discovers the mystery all on her own

Howard as Elly is so much fun to watch as her character comes out of her shell, as it were, yet manages to do it all while toting a cat! Not sure my cat would be happy with that kind of adventure. Watching Howard turn it out was nice to see and, I don’t think I’ll ever look at ice skating the same again. She gave her character so much in the way of action and adventure that I absolutely loved it.

Rockwell as Wilde gives such a casual character from start to finish. Nothing seems to phase him much as he takes Elly on the ride of her life – until it’s his life that comes into play. Rockwell also bring the dry humor and I would expect no less from him. It looks like he is just having fun playing the character of Wilde and why shouldn’t he, it all should be as much fun for him as it was for me.

Cavill as Argylle is smooth, suave, handsome, agile and sharp with one-liners. I can only hope that, when looking for a new Bond, they see what everyone else sees – he would be an amazing Bond. Okay, now, I’m not a fan of remakes but I have to say that his announcement at CinemaCon that he is working on HIGHLANDER gave me chills. He’s just amazing and that’s it.

O’Hara as Ruth is a mom who wants to help her daughter with her writer’s block and whatever else she is going through. I just love O’Hara so she could have just stood silent in the film and I’d be thrilled. Cranston as dad Barry is also someone else that Elly should watch out for. The thing about Cranston is he can be good as good can be but he can also be as bad as he wants to be.

Shout out to John Cena for being a Bond-ish sidekick and Jackson making vineyard living while spying look good.

Other cast include Rob Delaney as Deputy Powell, Richard E. Grant as Fowler, Louis Patridge as young Argylle, Sofia Boutella as Saba Al-Badr, Jua Lipa as LaGrange, and Ariana DeBose as Keira.

Apple+ is a video on demand web television that debuted in 2019. Viewable through Apple’s TV app, CEO Tim Cook wanted original content calling it “a great opportunity for us from a creation point of view”. From THE MORNING SHOW to TRYING and THE BANKER and Jason Momoa in SEE, there is plenty of choices for everyone. Plenty of genres? That is exactly what they are bringing to viewers and to see more of what they have to offer please visit www.apple.com/tv/.

ARGYLLE has, and I have to say it, a bit of the 1984 film ROMANCING THE STONE with Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito. Yes, I realize I’ve just aged myself and also realize most people don’t remember this film. Perhaps that’s what ARGYLLE is counting on.

Now, that being said, it is a fun film full of twists, turns and surprises. Because of all of those things, I can honestly say I had a wonderful time watching it (being a cat person and all). The constant clues, jumping from place to place, never knowing who to trust and revelations makes ARGYLLE a good time to be had by all.

It’s travel, adventure and a bit of mystery in every frame of the film. There is a nice surprise at the end and I’m going to leave it at that!

In the end – once you know the secret, don’t let the cat out of the bag!

JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION Stomps Its Way Home

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming this week to Bluray, DVD and Digital from writer/director Colin Trevorrow and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the next chapter in the story of JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION.

The dinosaurs are now living among everyone in the world but up in the snowy mountains, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) is living the dino-cowboy-roundup life with girlfriend Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and the mysterious young girl Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon). Also living in the woods is Owen’s raptor Blue who has managed to become a parent of young Beta.

The reasons for keeping Maisie away from prying eyes is a mystery but one that others are very interested in. Seeing Owen and Claire as parental figures, that means she is also going to rebel against them a little. That is until she and Beta are kidnapped sending her parents on a journey to rescue her. Owen is keeping his promise to Blue and, with Claire, going after their girl!

In a local corn field, Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) discovers huge locust that have been modified and are on the move to destroy every crop in their path, every crop except the one seeded by Dr. Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott), CEO of Biosyn Genetics. Realizing she needs help; Dr. Sattler turns to the one person she can trust Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill).

With an invite to Biosyn from Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), that is there in to find a way to turn around the giant destroyers. On their way to Italy also is Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise), a pilot who sees the young Maisie being escorted to Biosyn. She soon runs into Owen and Claire learning that they are looking for the girl and agrees to help them.

At Biosyn, Sattler and Grant are met by Ramsay Cole (Mamoudou Athie) who introduces them to Dr. Dodgson and takes them to see Malcolm. After pleasantries, Malcolm makes it clear he wants to help the two find what they are looking for to stop the madness. Maisie is taken to see Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong) who has much to tell the teen about her past and what makes her so special.

What they all do not know is that they are mere steps from coming together to do the one thing that should have been done years ago but life always finds a way!

Pratt is back as Owen giving us dino-cowboy vibes who wants to protect them, Claire and mysterious Maisie. Pratt goes straight for the action with his motorcycle chase, and it is fast paced, but then again, his character is being chased by raptors. Howard as Claire is trying to connect with Maisie but the “you’re not my mom” card gets played. That does not stop Claire from doing whatever she must to rescue the girl.

Sermon as Maisie is full of mystery but once it is revealed, personally not sure what it really has to do with dinosaurs or anything else for that matter. She does make a connection with Blue’s kid Beta but Sermon seems to be in the film for being a kid for kids sake. Reverting a bit to the original JURASSIC PARK, this character tries to get us to go back to something that supposedly happened but I’m not getting it.

Athie as Ramsay is a twitchy character that is taken in by Dr.’s Dodgson and Dr. Malcolm. Believing he is part of something good, it becomes clear (as it usually does with people of conscience) that bad things are being done just because they can be. Wong as Dr. Wu is something else, every time he is on the screen, he looks like he is about to either have a nervous breakdown or a good cry. Trying to change his character’s persona is a big stretch as the narrative becomes “I just want to make it right”, yea.

Wise as Kayla is a fast and furious airplane pilot that wants to collect her money and stay out of other people’s business. When it comes to meeting Claire and realizing what part Maisie plays in this, her tune changes and she becomes a super heroine of sorts. Scott as Dr. Dodgson is a little weird, a bit creepy and just not your average looking bad guy. That makes it funny to watch how his mind works.

Let’s talk Dern as Dr. Sattler, she returns and reconnects with her 1993 friends. Without missing a beat, Dern takes back her role as the excited doctor with a cause and this time it is one that could destroy the planet. Neill as Dr. Grant is still digging up the past and when he sees Sattler again, he is willing to get back out in the world and go on this crazy journey to find answers. Neill reaches in and gives us a still cagey character who seems to have an issue still with Malcolm.

Speaking of Malcolm, I am thrilled to see Jeff Goldblum back on the screen in this role. He delivers everything that I was hoping for. His character makes total sense in the way he feels and dang if he didn’t bring the laughs along with him. One-liners, observations and gestures are what make Dr. Malcolm the character that he is. I swear I spit soda through my nose when I saw the scene with the unbuttoned shirt – absolutely hilarious!

Other cast include Omar Sy as Barry Sembene, Justice smith as Franklin Webb, Scott Haze as Rainn Delacourt, Dichen Lachman as Soyona Santos, Daniella Pineda as Dr. Zia Rodriguez, Kristoffer Polaha as Wyatt Huntley, Elva Trill as Charlotte Lockwood, and Varada Sethu as Shira.

Bonus Features include A 14 Minute Extended Version, Battle At Big Rock, A New Breed of VFX, Dinosaurs Among Us: Inside JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION, Together for the First Time, Underground Dino Market, Mayhem in Malta, Scary Real, and Final Night.

There are chase scenes with raptors and the introduction of a new scarier dinosaur making the T-Rex appear to be tame by comparison. Dern, Neill and Goldblum made JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION a success. They are almost just as I remember, and it is very nostalgic to see them again. Seeing Pratt and Blue on screen together was so dang sweet.

Remembering the first time my family saw JURASSIC PARK in theatres, it was thrilling to be there again in any guise. Characters like Sattler, Malcolm, Grant, started our love for the franchise so it makes sense to bring them to join Owen and Claire to see it through. The rest is Jurassic dressing with dino-slight-of-hand.

In the end – it did not start here but it certainly should end here!

JURASSIC WORLD: Dominion

 Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres this week from writer/director Colin Trevorrow and Universal Pictures is the next chapter in the story of JURASSIC WORLD: Dominion.

The dinosaurs are now living among everyone in the world but up in the snowy mountains, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) is living the dino-cowboy-roundup life with girlfriend Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and the mysterious young girl Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon). Also living in the woods is Owen’s raptor Blue who has managed to become a parent of young Beta.

The reasons for keeping Maisie away from prying eyes is a mystery but one that others are very interested in. Seeing Owen and Claire as parental figures, that means she is also going to rebel against them a little. That is until she and Beta are kidnapped sending her parents on a journey to rescue her. Owen is keeping his promise to Blue and, with Claire, going after their girl!

In a local corn field, Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) discovers huge locust that have been modified and are on the move to destroy every crop in their path, every crop except the one seeded by Dr. Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott), CEO of Biosyn Genetics. Realizing she needs help; Dr. Sattler turns to the one person she can trust Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill).

With an invite to Biosyn from Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), that is there in to find a way to turn around the giant destroyers. On their way to Italy also is Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise), a pilot who sees the young Maisie being escorted to Biosyn. She soon runs into Owen and Claire learning that they are looking for the girl and agrees to help them.

At Biosyn, Sattler and Grant are met by Ramsay Cole (Mamoudou Athie) who introduces them to Dr. Dodgson and takes them to see Malcolm. After pleasantries, Malcolm makes it clear he wants to help the two find what they are looking for to stop the madness. Maisie is taken to see Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong) who has much to tell the teen about her past and what makes her so special.

What they all do not know is that they are mere steps from coming together to do the one thing that should have been done years ago but life always finds a way!

Pratt is back as Owen giving us dino-cowboy vibes who wants to protect them, Claire and mysterious Maisie. Pratt goes straight for the action with his motorcycle chase and it is fast paced, but then again, his character is being chased by raptors. Howard as Claire is trying to connect with Maisie but the “you’re not my mom” card gets played. That does not stop Claire from doing whatever she must to rescue the girl.

Sermon as Maisie is full of mystery but once it is revealed, personally not sure what it really has to do with dinosaurs or anything else for that matter. She does make a connection with Blue’s kid Beta but Sermon seems to be in the film for being a kid for kids sake. Reverting a bit to the original JURASSIC PARK, this character tries to get us to go back to something that supposedly happened but I’m not getting it. Athie as Ramsay is a twitchy character that is taken in by Dr.’s Dodgson and Dr. Malcolm. 

Believing he is part of something good, it becomes clear (as it usually does with people of conscience) that bad things are being done just because they can be. Wong as Dr. Wu is something else, every time he is on the screen, he looks like he is about to either have a nervous breakdown or a good cry. Trying to change his character’s persona is a big stretch as the narrative becomes “I just want to make it right”, yea.

Wise as Kayla is a fast and furious airplane pilot that wants to collect her money and stay out of other people’s business. When it comes to meeting Claire and realizing what part Maisie plays in this, her tune changes and she becomes a super heroine of sorts. Scott as Dr. Dodgson is a little weird, a bit creepy and just not your average looking bad guy. That makes it funny to watch how his mind works.

Let’s talk Dern as Dr. Sattler, she returns and reconnects with her 1993 friends. Without missing a beat, Dern takes back her role as the excited doctor with a cause and this time it is one that could destroy the planet. Neill as Dr. Grant is still digging up the past and when he sees Sattler again, he is willing to get back out in the world and go on this crazy journey to find answers. Neill reaches in and gives us a still cagey character who seems to have an issue still with Malcolm.

Speaking of Malcolm, I am thrilled to see Jeff Goldblum back on the screen in this role. He delivers everything that I was hoping for. His character makes total sense in the way he feels and dang if he didn’t bring the laughs along with him. One-liners, observations and gestures are what make Dr. Malcolm the character that he is. I swear I spit soda through my nose when I saw the scene with the unbuttoned shirt – absolutely hilarious!

Other cast include Omar Sy as Barry Sembene, Justice smith as Franklin Webb, Scott Haze as Rainn Delacourt, Dichen Lachman as Soyona Santos, Daniella Pineda as Dr. Zia Rodriguez, Kristoffer Polaha as Wyatt Huntley, Elva Trill as Charlotte Lockwood, and Varada Sethu as Shira.

JURASSIC WORLD: Dominion – <insert sigh here> - I want to say I was blow away but sadly, I was not. The cinematography started out grainy and old looking so I was not sure what that was all about. The storyline is really muddled and I just gave up trying to figure it out. I mean let’s be real, the film runs two hours and twenty-six minutes which means getting to understand anything, well, just cannot happen.

There are chase scenes with raptors and the introduction of a new scarier dinosaur making the T-Rex appear to be tame by comparison. The characters are in the Italian mountains I guess and they run in the complex, then they escape the complex, then they run back in the complex only to escape the complex. I was getting whiplash.

I am not sure that writer/director Trevorrow was up to the task of doing this film but if it were not for Dern, Neill and Goldblum, JURASSIC WORLD: Dominion would be a total bust. They are almost just as I remember and it is very nostalgic to see them again. I appreciated Pratt and Howard rescuing the girl but the story of the girl is, to me, ridiculous. Seeing Pratt and Blue on screen together was so dang sweet. 

So, just a thought here but maybe because you can do a thing does not mean you should do a thing – and the thing is JURASSIC WORLD: Dominion had the opportunity to be frakken amazing but instead feels like a throw together mushy story to collect dino-bucks from thirsty movie goers. Is it the worse thing I have ever seen? Hardly. It is just disappointing.

But, no worries, the film will make tons of money because it has the word Jurassic in it and because there are those that long for characters like Sattler, Malcolm, Grant, which is why Owen and Claire succeeded in being awesome characters. The rest is Jurassic dressing with dino-slight-of-hand.

In the end – it did not start here but it certainly should end here!

ROCKETMAN Takes Off into the Stratosphere

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from director Dexter Fletcher and Paramount Pictures comes a ride lead by a ROCKETMAN.

Reginald Dwight is a young music prodigy who lives with a father Stanley (Steven Mackintosh) who has no heart for the boy and mother Sheila (Bryce Dallas Howard) who only has a heart for herself. Supporting him is Grandmother Ivy (Gemma Jones) who sees musical potential in the boy.

From a music conservatory to playing at the local bar, Reggie (Taron Egerton) is still trying to figure out this thing called life. Then he meets Ray (Charlie Rowe) who introduces him to songwriter Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell) and magic happens.

Ray and music man Dick James (Stephen Graham) send the newly renamed Elton John out on the road including a show at the Troubadour in California. Bernie is thrilled with their windfall but Elton is still trying to figure it all out.

Help comes in the presence of John Reid (Richard Madden) who sweeps Elton off his feet. Reid also ingratiated himself into the performers life and home which doesn't sit well with everyone.

In the meantime the world has become his oyster with sold out performances that allow him to be as wild as he wants. Then, success turns sour as Elton finds himself in the world of drugs, alcohol and the past turn him inside out.

There comes a time when you either ignore the world crashing around you or change the direction of life.

Egerton as Elton John is absolutely stunning. He is in it from beginning to end and by that I mean playing the life of a legend that, for the most part, isn't pretty. Whether by his own hand or the craziness that comes with fame, Edgerton portrays the naïve, sensitive, longing and angry side of Elton John. He is mesmerizing to watch and cements his talent as an actor as well as a singer.

Bell as Taupin is thrilled to be working with Elton and takes off along side his friend with the sparkle and thrill of a kid. It doesn't take long for Taupin realizes that he, and the man he considers a brother, is headed for disaster. Bell gives his performance everything filled with friendship, loyalty and a bit of tough love. I truly enjoyed Bell's performance as it was truly heartfelt and strong.

Mackintosh as father Stanley seems to have an almost distain for his son and it is the young Reginald who feels every piece of that. Even as the young Reginald grows up, the shadow of that relationship is with him daily. Howard as Sheila is a woman who clearly isn't happy in marriage or motherhood. When there are moments of motherly love and Reginald grabs onto it, he is almost instantly swatted away with added pain.

Madden as Reid is a piece of work for sure. He gives Elton hope that he deserves to be loved but it comes at such a high and debilitating cost. Jones as Ivy is the sole hope for young Reginald, she is strong, compassionate and keenly aware of the situation with Reginald's parents.

Other cast include: Jason Pennycooke as Wilson, Jimmy Vee as Arthur, Rachel Muldoon as Kiki Dee, Celinde Schoenmaker as Renate Blauel and Tate Donovan as Doug Weston.

ROCKETMAN is a film that is to be experienced on so many levels. Yes, it is filled with Elton John's music and the placement of each memorable song is perfection. The choreography is thrilling to watch and the moments in the story where his life is seen through song and dance is toe tapping and engaging.

I also have to say that there were moments that kleenex is needed. Lets be honest, John's life as we are shown is only moments of heartbreak that are hidden with music, flashy outfits and smiles induced by drugs and alcohol. Believing the worst in himself by the stinging comments of those who profess to love him, if your heart doesn't feel it on the screen then might I suggest hanging out with Sheila and Stanley!

It must also be said that Egerton's outrageous and colorful performance is everything for this film. He had the audience laughing at times, sniffling a lot, and toe tapping if not trying to sing out loud to the songs we all know so well.

This is a film that brings us everything, tells us the tale of an icon and how thoroughly lucky that he went beyond the yellow brick road to stay with us. Elton John is someone in my own life who seemed to sing the words filled with emotion that floated around in my own head. Taupin didn't hesitate to bring the words that we have been singing for the past twenty-five plus years.

From Sacrifice, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, Your Song, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, I'm Still Standing, Candle in the Wind, Daniel, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and my favorite, I Want Love.

For those of us who love Elton John, ROCKETMAN is the film that embraces the reasons why and lets us all into a life that explains so very much.

                                                                                                

In the end - the only way to tell his story is to live his fantasy!

Get your Dino Fix with JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom

        

Jeri Jacquin

On Bluray/DVD and Digital from director J.A. Bayona and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the next chapter in the world of dinosaur’s with JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom.

After the 2015 disaster of the dinosaur park, a new disaster is on the horizon. The island’s volcano is about to destroy what is left of any living creature. A committee in the U.S. debates whether to help them or let the volcano handle it is being watched by Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard).

She receives a telephone call from Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) who wants to help. Working for Lockwood is Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) who explains that they have another island for the animals to go to where they will be safe. The problem is locating them all and they need Claire’s help.

The location system on the island is shut down and Mills needs her to go back and start it up as well as find Blue. Claire knows there is only one person that can help with that part of the trip – Owen Grady (Chris Pratt). Finding him is easy but convincing him to come help Blue is trickier.

Loading up for the trip, Claire takes computer wizard Franklin (Justice Smith) and dino-vet Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda). Also with them is back up Ken Wheatley (Ted Levine) and his band of gun toting men. Owen realizes he needs to help and off they go to the island.

It doesn’t take long before the group realizes they’ve been duped and Blue gets hurt. Wheatley only used the group to get their hands on Blue leaving them for dead. It becomes clear that Mills is actually only interested in selling the animals to the highest bidder. It is Lockwood’s granddaughter Maisie (Isabella Sermon) who catches on and tries to alert her grandfather.

Owen and Claire make their way to the caravan to discover that Mills is not only responsible for everything that is happening, but that underneath the Lockwood mansion lies another world that is about to be torn apart by something new and far more dangerous.

Because once again the dinosaurs prove life will find a way!

Pratt as Grady jumps in once again because who can resist a lovely raptor creature named Blue. Of course he isn’t about to let Claire go into the fray alone and it doesn’t take long before he is running through an island for his very life. From start to finish Pratt is go-go-go and trying to put a stop to those who seemed destined to bring destruction – and I don’t mean the islands previous inhabitants.

Howard as Claire wants to save the dinosaurs so badly that she’ll take any opportunity to get help. Believing in Lockwood’s plan, she is also back to the island were running is a foregone conclusion – only this time she isn’t wearing heels! After she and Owen find out where Mills has taken the creatures, she eventually will have to make a decision about their fate.

Smith as Webb is clearly not happy with visiting an island full of creatures that want to eat him but he hangs in for the long haul. Pineda as Zia is the reason we still have Blue on our side! Spall as Mills is a total douche bag and I didn’t need five minutes to figure that out. Once again it seems that the millionaires put their bucks and trust into the wrong people.

Jones as Eversol gets what he deserves and so does Levine as Wheatley – I mean seriously guys, you can’t crack a whip at a creature with large teeth and not expect something bad to happen right? Wong as Dr. Wu makes an appearance and I still can’t stand him – Dr. Wu that is.

Much love to Geraldine Chaplin as Iris because she is a woman I’ve absolutely adored since seeing her face in the 1965 brilliant film DR. ZHIVAGO. She always brings a gentle nature and in this film it returns with beauty.

Of course I can not let another line go by without saying how thrilled I am that Jeff Goldblum, the man, the myth, the Jurassic Park legend came back to give us a little more of Ian Malcolm.

Other cast includes Toby Jones as Mr. Eversol, BD Wong as Dr. Wu, Peter Jason as Senator Sherwood, the lovely Geraldine Chaplin as Iris and the incomparable Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us all to experience and re-experience in our own home theatres. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

The Bonus Features include Chris Pratt’s Jurassic Journals, On Set with Chris & Bryce, Start the Bidding!, The Kingdom Evolves, Death by Dino, Birth of the Indoraptor, Malcolm’s Return, Rooftop Showdown, Monster in a Mansion and Much More!

You can also Play With Blue with an interactive experience inside the Bluray. JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom includes a Digital Movie from Movies Anywhere so you can enjoy films with the Anywhere App through download or streaming.

JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom is furious, a tad predictable, full of dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes, bad men coming out of the woodwork and a few surprises. I think we can let the dinosaur’s rest for a bit while Maisie grows up to take over the sprint to catch those that got away.

I had a good time and am still very vocal during the film with ‘oh no!’, ‘did you see that?’, ‘oh my gawd’, ‘whoa!’ and other words not meant for print. That’s what makes the JURASSIC PARK films so much fun to see over and over again from the very first – it is a collective experience for dinosaur lovers everywhere. I mean come on, you have to admit that we actually root for them to get their pound or two of man-flesh!

There are genres of films that we all love to watch – scary movies, zombie movies and a good dinosaur movie. JURASSIC PARK: Fallen Kingdom is added to the Jurassic series making one heck of an iconic set of films for anyone’s home entertainment library.

The film is what summer blockbusters are all about and JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom is just that in every sense of the word. So gather up the family (might want to let the smaller kids hang out with grandma and grandpa for this one) and prepare for the next chapter in the Jurassic saga. It calls for a big screen, a sound bar and feet up off the floor.

In the end – the park is gone!

Get your Dino Fix with JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom

Jeri Jacquin

In theatres from director J.A. Bayona and Universal Pictures is the next chapter in the world of dinosaur’s with JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom.

After the 2015 disaster of the dinosaur park, a new disaster is on the horizon. The island’s volcano is about to destroy what is left of any living creature. A committee in the U.S. debates whether to help them or let the volcano handle it is being watched by Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard).

She receives a telephone call from Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) who wants to help. Working for Lockwood is Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) who explains that they have another island for the animals to go to where they will be safe. The problem is locating them all and they need Claire’s help.

The location system on the island is shut down and Mills needs her to go back and start it up as well as find Blue. Claire knows there is only one person that can help with that part of the trip – Owen Grady (Chris Pratt). Finding him is easy but convincing him to come help Blue is trickier.

Loading up for the trip, Claire takes computer wizard Franklin (Justice Smith) and dino-vet Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda). Also with them is back up Ken Wheatley (Ted Levine) and his band of gun toting men. Owen realizes he needs to help and off they go to the island.

It doesn’t take long before the group realizes they’ve been duped and Blue gets hurt. Wheatley only used the group to get their hands on Blue leaving them for dead. It becomes clear that Mills is actually only interested in selling the animals to the highest bidder. It is Lockwood’s granddaughter Maisie (Isabella Sermon) who catches on and tries to alert her grandfather.

Owen and Claire make their way to the caravan to discover that Mills is not only responsible for everything that is happening, but that underneath the Lockwood mansion lies another world that is about to be torn apart by something new and far more dangerous.

Because once again the dinosaurs prove life will find a way!

Pratt as Grady jumps in once again because who can resist a lovely raptor creature named Blue. Of course he isn’t about to let Claire go into the fray alone and it doesn’t take long before he is running through an island for his very life. From start to finish Pratt is go-go-go and trying to put a stop to those who seemed destined to bring destruction – and I don’t mean the islands previous inhabitants.

Howard as Claire wants to save the dinosaurs so badly that she’ll take any opportunity to get help. Believing in Lockwood’s plan, she is also back to the island were running is a foregone conclusion – only this time she isn’t wearing heels! After she and Owen find out where Mills has taken the creatures, she eventually will have to make a decision about their fate.

Smith as Webb is clearly not happy with visiting an island full of creatures that want to eat him but he hangs in for the long haul. Pineda as Zia is the reason we still have Blue on our side! Spall as Mills is a total douche bag and I didn’t need five minutes to figure that out. Once again it seems that the millionaires put their bucks and trust into the wrong people.

Jones as Eversol gets what he deserves and so does Levine as Wheatley – I mean seriously guys, you can’t crack a whip at a creature with large teeth and not expect something bad to happen right? Wong as Dr. Wu makes an appearance and I still can’t stand him – Dr. Wu that is.

Much love to Geraldine Chaplin as Iris because she is a woman I’ve absolutely adored since seeing her face in the 1965 brilliant film DR. ZHIVAGO. She always brings a gentle nature and in this film it returns with beauty.

Of course I can not let another line go by without saying how thrilled I am that Jeff Goldblum, the man, the myth, the Jurassic Park legend came back to give us a little more of Ian Malcolm.

Other cast includes Toby Jones as Mr. Eversol, BD Wong as Dr. Wu, Peter Jason as Senator Sherwood, the lovely Geraldine Chaplin as Iris and the incomparable Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm.

JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom is furious, a tad predictable, full of dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes, bad men coming out of the woodwork and a few surprises. I think we can let the dinosaur’s rest for a bit while Maisie grows up to take over the sprint to catch those that got away.

Everyone in the theatre had a good time and were very vocal during the film with ‘oh no!’, ‘did you see that?’, ‘oh my gawd’, ‘whoa!’ and other words not meant for print. That’s what makes the JURASSIC PARK films so much fun in a theatre – it is a collective experience for dinosaur lovers everywhere. I mean come on, you have to admit that we actually root for them to get their pound or two of man-flesh!

The film is what summer blockbusters are all about and JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom is just that in every sense of the word. So gather up the family (might want to let the smaller kids hang out with grandma and grandpa for this one) and prepare for the next chapter in the Jurassic saga.

In the end – the park is gone!