I had high hopes going into Jurasic World 2, but was disapointed to see an opening night crowd taking up only a third of the theatre. A damn shame, I thought, as that fantastic trailer shot of our mighty and scarred iconic T-Rex letting out a primal roar with the island’s volcano erupting in the background warranted far more hype that what was observed. From the get-go, Fallen Kingdom plays like a horror movie’s take of a Jurassic Park film. Action sequences are shot in a tense and suspenseful manner, with select jumpscares aimed less at terrifying the viewer and more at keeping them alert and engaged. Fallen kingdom seems to have learned from its predecessor (which, being honest, I thought was quite good) and realized that vehicles stand out a lot less when they don’t all have a shiny mercedes benz logo shot at a car commercial angle. For about the first third or half of the movie, I was completely enthralled. The cinematography and score were in a league of their own, tense and high tempo sequences were paced well between the slower exposition-heavy scenes, and Pratt and Howard’s onscreen chemistry was fantastic. Unfortunately, I feel that as much this movie made great strides, it also got a proportional amount wrong. The movie’s latter half introduces a very noticeable loss of scale, which is a first for the entirety of this franchise. Major plot points and interactions are handled quite poorly and with a surreal lack of impact. Had the movie continued on a similar track to the energy and atmosphere of the first half, i’m convinced we could’ve had a masterful and fresh addition to the franchise. Instead, we got a movie with fantastic visuals and a killer score, but with an energy and scope that feel a bit too narrow towards the film’s final moments. There is also a neat 3 second post credits scene that isn’t crucial viewing, but a nice touch nonetheless.