Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

"The Jurassic Park movies have always been coat hangers for special effects, ever since Steven Spielberg awed audiences with the sight of a John Williams-accompanied brontosaurus nibbling leaves in the rousing 1993 original. You could say a lot of other tentpole American blockbusters exist to showcase spectacular set pieces and digital whizbangery, but the feeling is rather pronounced when a story involves being hurtled between rides in a theme park: an amusement park captured on film, in the form of a series of amusements."

"Once the dust had settled after Jurassic Park 3, there was a rumour doing the rounds about a new instalment of the franchise that would feature combat-trained dinosaurs wielding machine guns. It never got off the ground, and instead we got the bland re-tread of Jurassic World, which added the tantalising idea of gene-spliced dinos but didn’t do much with it."

"“Fallen Kingdom” is an improvement, but it’s the first “Jurassic” film to come close to pretending it isn’t a ride at all, and as a result it ends up being just a passable ride."

"After a first half that suggests franchise fatigue is setting in, Fallen Kingdom zooms in for some scarily good set-pieces."

"This fun, pacy addition to the dino disaster franchise doesn’t do much that’s particularly new – though what it does, it does with a fair whack of panache."

"The film staples together two snazzy-sounding ideas... without considering whether the end product’s sheer snarling hideousness might just prove an intelligence-insulting turn-off."

"There are some reasonably entertaining scenes and set pieces, but the whole concept feels tired and contrived..."

"The script is too silly, too obviously ticking the boxes to ever give Bayona the opportunity to really turn the screws and take our breath away."

"Bayona not only nods to the histories of classic monster movies and the legacy of original Jurassic helmer Steven Spielberg; he brings his own experience to bear..."

"This is a Jurassic sequel that plays it both adrenaline-pumpingly huge and thrillingly small."

"Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is good old-fashioned summer entertainment, and it does a cunning job of setting up the next instalment."