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‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ Makes ‘Jurassic World 3’ One of the Most Exciting Sequels Ever Promised

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This probably goes without saying, but I’m about to spoil Fallen Kingdom.

If the second film in a trilogy is supposed to ensure that you’d instantly pay to see the final film right afterwards, if given the option, then oh boy does J.A. Bayona’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom succeed in that particular department. In fact, so good is the tease for “Jurassic World 3” that it’s already my most anticipated movie of the next few years.

As we recently learned, the third installment in the Jurassic World franchise, planned at this time to be the final installment, is being directed by Jurassic World‘s Colin Trevorrow and will be unleashed into theaters on June 11, 2021. What we knew about the sequel, heading into this weekend, was that Trevorrow recently described it as being a “science thriller,” adding that he was looking forward to “getting a little back into the Paleontological, wild animal, true dinosaur nature of all of it.”

Having seen Fallen Kingdom, we now have a much better idea of what he was talking about. The main thrust of the Fallen Kingdom storyline is that Isla Nublar, the former home of both Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, is completely decimated by the eruption of a massive volcano we never knew was on the premises. Fortunately, *most* of the remaining dinosaurs on the island are evacuated before being melted by the sinister orange lava, brought to the home of Benjamin Lockwood, the former partner of the late John Hammond (who we never knew existed). While some of them are sold off in an auction to be used by rich businessmen for presumably nefarious purposes, most of them – including Blue and the T-Rex – are set free into the world, totally unrestrained and left to their own devices.

As Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm perfectly points out in a closing monologue that wraps up his brief-but-important return, the Earth has literally become… Jurassic World.

Fallen Kingdom comes to a close with some pretty ominous imagery, as the surviving dinosaurs of both parks are running around in *our* world; the T-rex faces off with a lion at the zoo, Blue races around on mountaintops, and the always-hungry Mosasaurus prepares to make a hot lunch out of an unlucky surfer at the beach. Even though the trailers already showed off all of those moments months before the movie was released, for whatever stupid reason, the images are no less chilling and awe-inspiring when seen in context.

There’s even a post-credits scene at the very end of Fallen Kingdom, a first for the franchise, which shows a group of Pterosaurs flying high above Las Vegas!

Granted, Fallen Kingdom‘s teasers for the next installment aren’t necessarily brand new for the franchise, per se. One of the most memorable aspects of Steven Spielberg’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park was the film’s final act, wherein the massive T-rex was transported to San Diego. The beast is eventually returned to Isla Sorna, but not before it goes on a rampage through the city. Only in the film’s last fifteen minutes does it make its way off the island, but the imagery of the prehistoric monster roaming around San Diego is pretty fantastic. Most memorably, the T-rex traipses around the backyard of a home, walking past a child’s bedroom window and then drinking from the pool; later, it runs wild in the streets, destroying a bus and forcing it into the storefront of a Blockbuster Video. Who’s extinct now, bitch.

Needless to say, the final act of The Lost World was bold new territory for the franchise, but it only briefly touched upon the potential for the series to leave the island behind completely and bring the dinosaurs into our world; Jurassic Park III, I needn’t remind you, went right back to the island. But Fallen Kingdom is a different beast entirely, with its final act promising the film that The Lost World left you hungry to see all those years ago. By literally demolishing Isla Nublar, Bayona’s film essentially kills off what you’ve come to know the franchise to be and opens up the endless possibilities of what it can be, going forward. In Jurassic World 3, we’re not going back to the island. The island is gone. Instead, Bayona promises of Trevorrow’s 2021 film, we’re entering a world where dinosaurs and human beings are going to have to truly co-exist for the very first time in the franchise.

It would seem that Jurassic World 3 will be the closest thing to an adaptation of Topps’ brutal Dinosaurs Attack! trading card line that we may ever see, as we can only imagine the unleashed dinosaurs will be rampaging and devouring everything (and everyone) in their path. Sure, Fallen Kingdom may have done a great job making us empathize with those dinos, who never asked to be cooked up in a lab in direct defiance of the natural order of things, but you can only imagine how they’ll behave when presented with an entirely new food source. By the looks of things, humans are going to drop way down to the bottom of the food chain once 2021 rolls around.

If only we didn’t have to wait three years to see how it all plays out, eh?

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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