life finds a way (to repeat)

George Santayana, a famous philosopher once said this infamous quote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Events tend to repeat themselves when we're not familiar with our past mistakes. In this logic, this can apply to the themes of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and to the franchise as well concerning retreading stories we've seen before. Taking place three years after the events of the previous film, the world has become divisive over the isolated existence of the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar. The volcano on the island that was once dormant has become active, and has the capacity of consuming all of the dinosaurs once it erupts. Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), now working as an activist to save the doomed dinos, recruits Owen (Chris Pratt) on a rescue mission to move the dinosaurs off the island before the inevitable eruption. Unbeknownst to them, the company that is funding their operation has malicious intents with the remaining dinosaurs that could disrupt the natural order of the world. If the plot sounds

That's not the tooth fairy

vaguely familiar, it's probably because it does. I couldn't help but notice how similar it felt to one of the previous entries in the franchise, The Lost World: Jurassic Park; a group trying to preserve the dinosaurs while an outside conglomerate company tries to take advantage and reap the assets for their own profit and benefit. It felt like I was watching a redux of the film except with improved visual effects and in a different setting. Even the usual cases of money shots and "saw that coming" moments have been sprinkled around here, more so than the last film. Fallen Kingdom falls victim to what most sequels do by going big in spectacle and leaving everything else behind. The characters from the previous film don't have much emotional growth this

time around, and the new characters are more or less forgettable, save for one who was so annoying that I was surprised they weren't one of the few to get eaten. The film isn't bad, it just feels like it's territory that's been explored before instead of something entirely new. It doesn't squander the new breath of life that the previous film established but it doesn't do much to bring to new heights. For what it is, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a fun time at the movies, and here's hoping that the next sequel (because you know there'll be one) will try to be a little more inventive.