'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Proved That Darker, Low-key Sequels Are Always Artistically Superior Than Popular Originals

By replacing the narritively overwritten and spectacle first approach of its predesccor, 'Fallen Kingdom' became a far superior piece of popcorn entertainment by being dark sequel 

'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' (CREDIT: Universal Pictures)

by Jack Linsdell

This week marked the two year anniversary since Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom debuted in cinemas across the world. Released from June 6 internationally it netted a huge $151 million debut from six territories, on it's way to a excellent $890 million international total, and a whopping $1.2 billion global total. In America, it scored a decent $148 million debut weekend, legging it's way to $417 million domestic total. Although a slight comedown from its insanely popular and record breaking predecessor Jurassic World, which became the 5th highest grossing film at it's time of release with an insane $1.6 billion global cume, that was to be expected. Firstly, as I just mentioned, that Collin Trevorrow-directed flick was a monster in 2015, becoming the court appointed summer blockbuster. It broke all records and smashed many box office milestones by the merit of a) being a big budget monster movie b) appealing to both nostalgic adults who fondly remembered Steven Spielberg's original Jurassic Park and a new, young generation of kids by being enjoyable popcorn entertainment and c) its light and pulpy tone. It's for those reasons that J.A. Bayona's much darker and far more narratively simplistic sequel didn't quite soar to the incredible heights its predesccor went to. 

In recent years, we've seen a trend of popular original movies that both reinvent a given franchise or IP with new characters and splashy production values grossing top notch theatrical business, only for the filmmakers to bring out a much grittier and simplistic (story wise) sequel. Think, Casino Royale which reminded fans of classic Bond flicks whilst appealing to a new generation of moviegoers, being followed by Quantum of Solace, a darker, more action heavy than story focussed sequel. Normally, the original is a popular, and (for the series) an insanely leggy commercial hit, with a lighter, pulpier tone and an emphasis on big scale spectacle over grounded character driven tension. The original often gets critical and awards praise, whilst the darker sequel, gets panned and ignored, causing a theatrical downturn. And, Jurassic World seems to be playing a similar tune. 

However, the best comparison is Sicario. That 2015 Oscar-nominated political thriller directed by Denis Villenueve was released to critical acclaim and good box office (for an r-rated, topical movie) in the same year that Jurassic World won over critics and audiences alike with its blockbuster update to a much liked classic movie. Not to mention Chris Pratt's newfound popularity coming off Guardians of the Galaxy. Then, in 2018, with a new (and grittier) filmmaker at the helm, we received Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado. That Stefano Sollima-helmed actioner suffered a commercial downturn ($75 million global versus the original's $85 million worldwide cume), plus indifferent/critical reviews and no awards buzz in the same year that the Chris Pratt/Bryce Dallas Howard sequel found itself not quite as well received as its original. 

Anyway, both Sicario 2: Soldado and Fallen Kingdom are both much darker and (in my opinion) much superior movies to their more adored and lighter originals. They are the latest examples of why making a grittier sequel to a smash hit will cause you to suffer a commercial downturn but will offer you a more respected and far better made movie in the long run. You see, both movies are far better than their predesccors by being being real world, much darker (which suits their genres as a crime thriller and dinosaur horror flick respectively) and much more narritively simplistic. In Fallen Kingdom gone are Jurassic World's much overwritten plot threads, underdeveloped character arcs and underexplored thematics. What we lose in plot, we gain in becoming a taught, immensely entertaining thriller, with plenty of action and just enough character work to satisfy us. It clear that going the darker sequel route produces a high quality of film because the filmmakers can be focussed on doing one thing: entertaining you. Both Sicario and Jurassic World are so excessively and unnecessarily narritively complicated that being able to watch a much leaner and better paced sequel with the same characters and a grittier action focussed narrative is far more rewarding. 

J.A. Bayona managed to take the Jurassic franchise to a new place thanks to grounding Fallen Kingdom as more of a horror-led monster movie where plenty of good people (and dinosaurs) die as a result of greedy and corrupt three dimensional antagonists. Sure, it looses it slightly in the third act (the first half of the movie is the highlight) and leaves some questions unanswered purely to set up Jurassic World: Dominion, but overall this Dinosaur blockbuster is a top quality piece of Saturday night popcorn entertainment. Amongst other things, on its release two years ago, it taught us that going the "darker and simplistic sequel" route may alienate some fans (and even put off some general consumers with younger kids) causing commercial downturns, but in the long run will produce much more entertaining and higher quality popcorn entertainment flicks than their much more popular and well liked predesccors. Happy second anniversary Fallen Kingdom!