While 2015's Jurassic World was a massive hit – taking in more than $1 billion worldwide – its reception among critics and a certain segment of the audience was mixed-to-negative. (I thought it was never more or less than fine.) So the sequel, Fallen Kingdom, hasn't had quite the same anticipation level. But this trailer should change all that.
While previous trailers just showed attempts to rescue dinosaurs from the island where the park from the last film stood, we now know that's just the first part of the movie. The rescue effort is really a front for some shady businessmen, led by Rafe Spall and Toby Jones, to capture the best specimens for their own nefarious experiments and schemes.
The trailer also focuses a lot on dinosaurs stalking and hunting people, bringing back memories of the few things the sequels succeeded at. But this one has a secret weapon those didn't: Spanish director J.A. Bayona, who made his feature debut with supremely spooky The Orphanage, and has gradually directed bigger budget movies, including A Monster Calls and the Oscar-nominated The Impossible.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opens Friday, June 22.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
