The World can’t survive without the Park. It’s as simple as that. The newest Spielberg movie, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom hit theaters on June 22nd, and immediately grossed $150 million in the US. I wasn’t surprised; with star Chris Pratt being one of the most popular actors in the world. He was accompanied by the world’s (second) most profitable and certainly the most popular director of all time, Steven Spielberg as executive producer. It seemed like a perfect storm of movies. But, alas, it was not. Yes, it was a good movie, certainly not the best, but not the worst either. Something was just…off. It took some time, but I think I’ve figured it out. The actors were great, the directing was sensational, and the writing was perfect. The problem was, they didn’t mix. Chris Pratt, is an actor known for his part in the comedy series Parks and Recreation, his role as the joke-cracking hero Star Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy, and his hilarious voice acting job in The Lego Movie. The director, J.A. Bayona, is known for his horror and disaster movies, a perfect fit for Jurassic World, but not for Chris Pratt. Chris, you are fantastic, but stick to what you do best: comedy. The acting in this heavy film was just, and I feel badly saying this, was just weak. The other lead, Bryce Dallas Howard, was hard to watch. Her performance just felt fake, and her presentation of the dialogue was poor. I was not impressed at all, and would’ve re-cast her if she wasn’t in the first movie. I might’ve even taken her character out, as it had almost no place in the script. Her only job was to enter passwords and fingerprints on the island, which easily could’ve been written out. The movie was great, it just felt like water and oil trying to mix; it doesn’t work.

Okay, fine. It’s another one of those movies that the critics hate and the fans love. 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 90% on Google. Whatever. I’m here to give you my opinion, which is a mixture of both. The movie was good. Sure, it was full of action, amazing CGI, and even a touch of sadness. Oh, and the movie was scary. Wow. I have always been scared by the jumpscares (there is something wrong with you if you aren’t, go see a doctor now), but this was the first Jurassic movie where I was scared by the dinosaurs themselves. The new clone, the Indo-raptor, is one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. “What they’ve done with the series is great,” I was thinking, until I got to the end.

So, the plot went a little like this: rich guy tricks scientists and dino-lovers into going to the island for a rescue operation of the dinosaurs. Oh, and the island just happens to be an exploding volcano. So, they get the dinos, go back, and…well, all hell breaks loose. And even better; this time it is inside a mansion, not on an island. Whew, it’s intense. The plot comes around, and it’s great, but then- the ending. It takes these movies to a whole new level. THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS. DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU. In the end, the dinos break out of their cages and run into the wild of North America. The closing shots and narration set a somber scene for Jurassic World 3.  Dinos now run wild, and the earth must adapt to these new and dangerous predators. When the credits started to roll, I began to think to myself; wait, this is a Jurassic movie, right? Aren’t those supposed to be, disaster movies? With romance? And a happy ending with a CGI T-Rex roaring after saving the heroes in a tight situation? Well, this is different, I thought, I’m not sure if I like this. The Park becomes the World, I guess. But does it work like that? I say no. The movie felt like a complete departure from the originals, and a send off to the old characters and locations. It was like The Last Jedi on steroids. Too early, I say. Make more movies before you literally blow up the island, where it all started. The filmmakers assumed that we had all gotten adjusted to the new characters and their paths in an instant. They barely reintroduced them in the movie at all, making it hard to care about them, and the bad acting didn’t help. Yes, Jurassic World was a huge hit and a great film, but mostly because of the nostalgia it caused for the viewers. Everyone in the theater had a flashback to their childhood (or whenever they saw the first movie) when the T-Rex did its whole roar to the sky routine that I mentioned above, but in Fallen Kingdom, the nostalgia rush had worn off. We wanted more homage to the classics, but instead they destroyed them. These disaster films became apocalypse films, which is putting the franchise completely off track. You can’t just create a whole new formula. The World can’t survive without the Park.