June 2018 was the release of the sequel to Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. I had seen the critic’s reviews before we went to see the film so I didn’t know what to make of it all as the reviews weren’t great. Some reviews were slaughtering the film and saying how rubbish it was, others were a little less harsh and said it would be great for dino-loving children but it’s not for adults who loved the 2015 movie.

We went to see Jurassic World 2 in the first week of the release at our local cinema, Odeon Greenwich as a family. There was even a special dino appearance with Dextor the dinosaur! The dinosaurs were very popular amongst the public and many people including children were brave enough to take photos with the beasts.

LO was very brave and stroked the baby dinosaurs. He was slightly afraid of Dexter because he was much bigger but did eventually get close enough to admire the triceratops from a distance.

The staff at Odeon Greenwich were lovely – as they usually are. This is our local cinema and they are always very welcome to families of all ages. I was slightly weary of how Baby Girl was going to react during the film but she was very well behaved.

The film

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (for us) was a good watch and I thought even though the storyline was a little simple, it was easy to follow making it suitable for young families to enjoy. Both LO and Baby Girl stayed interested in the story from start to finish – they absolutely loved the character Blue and LO was very keen to learn more about her back story. He said his favourite bit in the film was when Owen defended Blue but then she got shot and they had to nurse her better. I think the last fighting scene between Blue (the velociraptor) and the new hybrid Indoraptor was very good with lots of cool special effects.

I can understand how some film critics found the storyline to be a little thin (the story does not go into much detail about certain events) as some unexplained scenes left me slightly confused. Also, the concept of dinosaurs walking with us in today’s world is a little far-fetched. I was also a little sad with how it ended ie. what will happen to the world with the dinosaurs now supposedly loose? Also, the giant herbivore that was left behind to die on Isla Nublar (either a Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus or Alamosaurus) was really sad. These gentle giants were left to die whilst vicious carnivores were transported away for keeping and cross-breeding. We later found out that they were selling the dinosaurs on the black market to the highest bidders. What they’d be used for, we can only imagine…

The film wasn’t as dramatic as the first Jurassic World. Saying this, it’s definitely a good watch for children and families but as an adult I’d probably expect more suspense, more plot and a thorough storyline. Despite all of this, I did think the socio-environment factors the film touched upon was interesting. As humans, we are always curious to experiment but the good old saying “curiousity killed the cat” is something to remember here. I don’t think I’d like to live in a world where humans are not on top of the food chain.

After we got back home from our viewing, Daddy P got LO a Jurassic World sticker book which he loved! He’s always asking me for the next Jurassic World toys to buy (SMYTHS has a great range to choose from. It’s our birthdays this week so either I or Daddy P might just have to buy him something!