The Jurassic World Theme Park has been closed for four years to the public but the dinosaurs thrive on Isla Nublar without paying onlookers. Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) return to the island when a volcano threatens to end all life there. Owen is especially concerned about Blue, the raptor he bonded within the last Jurassic edition.

While saving the prehistoric creatures from a threat from nature, Owen and Claire learn of manmade threats to destroy the animals completely and another which would exploit them for financial gain.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom struggles to develop underlying plotlines when the entire purpose of these films is to showcase the dinosaurs. The stories are weak, predictable and plagued by a number of “coming out of nowhere rescues” by both humans and creatures.

Returning stars, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, add stability and familiarity to the film. But among the human cast, the real star is young Isabella Sermon, who plays Maisie Lockwood, whose grandfather, Benjamin helped create the dinosaur-cloning technology. Isabella is amazing!
For cast diversity, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom gets a B+. One of the featured stars, in addition to Pratt and Howard, is a young black actor, Justice Smith playing Franklin, a nerdy, easily frightened, computer tech. There are also other people of color in supporting and minor roles.

Ultimately, the Jurassic Park Series is about the special effects and the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom doesn’t disappoint. And that’s enough to garner a “See It!” rating.

The film is PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril and is 129 minutes in length.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom also hints at the next film in the series.

Passengers is a moderately entertaining adventure starring Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen, and Laurence Fishburne

Talk about a long nap, the 5000 passengers and crew on the Starship Avalon are on a 120-year voyage from earth to their new outer-space home. They are put into a state of hibernation for the super long journey. However, due to a malfunction, Jim Preston, (Chris Pratt) an engineer, wakes up after only 30 years. He panics when he realizes that he’s likely to die before the vessel reaches its destination in 90 years. He finds his way around the spacecraft, locating the food and exercise facilities. His only companion is Arthur (Michael Sheen), the robot bartender. After a year, loneliness overwhelms him. He walks among the other passengers deeply sleeping in their pods. After a lengthy emotional and moral internal debate, he decides to awaken another passenger, journalist Aurora Dunn (Jennifer Lawrence). Once awake, she panics just as Jim had done. Also, as he had done, she tries to figure out a way to get back to sleep. But again like him, she eventually accepts her fate. And as would be expected, they fall in love and all is well until Aurora learns that unlike with Jim, her waking up was no accident. It was an intentional act on his part.

Jim (Chris Pratt) and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) talking with Arthur, a robotic bartender, on the Starship Avalon. Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures 

Passengers is a moderately entertaining adventure and viewers can’t be sure where it’s headed. However, it never reaches its entertainment destination. The writers start with an interesting premise: a young man and woman wake up 90 years too soon on an intergalactic voyage. After that, they just don’t seem to know where to go from there. Another one of the crew members, Chief Gus Mancuso (Laurence Fishburne), wakes up and has a short, strange interaction with Jim and Aurora. The film deteriorates to the point where viewers laugh at scenes and dialogue not intended to be funny.

No complaints about Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. They serve their purposes: eye candy for viewers and are credible in their roles. The special effects are weak compared to the technological marvels Hollywood is capable of these days.

It’s difficult to give this film a Cast Diversity rating, with such a small cast. It would have received a D- accept for the short appearance by Laurence Fishburne with lifts it up to a C+. As Jim walks past the passengers in pods, very few of the inhabitants are people of color; this was an opportunity to add some color to the cast.

Leave these Passengers alone. Just at Jim and Aurora feared about their own plight; Passengers is Dead on Arrival! It’s 116 minutes and rated PG-13 for sexuality, nudity, and action/peril.