“Jurassic Word: Fallen Kingdom”
RELEASE DATE: June 22, 2018
MPAA RATING: PG-13 (for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril)

I jumped twice. In fact, I jumped and let out an audible exclamation that was a cross between a scream and a yell. I should have known better. This is, after all, another installment in the “Jurassic Park” franchise that has been exciting, or agitating, filmgoers since the initial film release in 1993.

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” occurs three years after the destruction of the Jurassic World theme park and resort, the cataclysmic result of dinosaurs that were no longer contained. Now its very location, Isla Nublar, is about to head into extinction as its once dormant volcano erupts.

Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) are hired to rescue the surviving species. They are led to believe that the wealthy Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), John Hammond’s former dinosaur-cloning partner; and his aide, Eli Mills (Rafe Spall), want the dinosaurs relocated to a new island sanctuary. Mills, however, has more sinister plans in mind, and key to that agenda is ensuring that the lead raptor, Blue, is among those rescued.

The premise of the film is absurd, of course, but with this type of movie we must simply suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride. Director J.A. Bayona, writers Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow, and executive producer Steven Spielberg, for the most part, bring us a well-paced summer entertainment, bookended with dire warnings from Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). While “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” is being lambasted by most critics, the film continues to find an interested audience.

And in case you were wondering, yes; there will be another installment in this journey. Be sure to stay through the rather lengthy end credit roll for a teaser of what is to come. As noted so often in this franchise, “life finds a way.”