★★★☆☆

IT was 14 years between the third Jurassic Park film and semi-rebooted Jurassic World, an enjoyably bombastic updating of a much-loved property that once carried our imaginations high and to the tune of an almighty roaring T-Rex.

Considering that film has gone on to become the fifth most financially successful film ever, it’s no surprise we’ve had a pretty quick turnaround for this sequel. And as is the want with sequels, everything is bigger, louder, more toothy and more explosive. Quite literally this time, as a giant erupting active volcano has been added into the mix.

This presents a moral quandary for the world’s nations to have to deal with: do the dinosaurs left on Isla Nublar – the island where the now destruction-ridden Jurassic World resides – deserve the same rights as other animal species? Or should they be left to go extinct (again) at the hands of the volcano expected to erupt at any moment?

Character-wise we catch up with former park manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) who is now working tirelessly at the Dinosaur Protection Group, an organisation looking to save the prehistoric creatures from destruction when the powers that be vote the other way.

Claire agrees to a rescue mission at the behest of Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell, above right), the rich former business partner of Jurassic Park founder John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), and his ambitious protégé Eli (Rafe Spall), who are looking to resettle the dinosaurs on a more suitable and private island.

To do so she tracks down former “raptor wrangler” Owen (Chris Pratt, main image), convincing him to travel with her and a small team, including dinosaur vet Zia (Daniella Pineda) and systems analyst Franklin (Justice Smith), back to the island to help her round up the dinosaurs, chiefly his prized trained raptor Blue.

There’s no prizes for guessing that things don’t all go to plan, nor that those who have set up the daring rescue mission have far more nefarious agendas – needless to say deftly woven and nuanced plotting isn’t really its thing.

What ensues is plot-wise a frequently dopey but action-wise a sufficiently thrilling dino-sequel. It may lack a strong sense of dumbfounded awe and wonder conjured by simply seeing these creatures on-screen but admirably tries out enough fresh ideas and takes the franchise in an intriguing direction.

JA Bayona (The Impossible, A Monster Calls) takes over from co-screenwriter Colin Trevorrow in the director’s chair and he delivers some genuinely exciting and well-staged set-pieces; the sight of dinosaurs running away from plumes of smoke and lava, a daring underwater escape sequence or Pratt and Howard trying to extract a blood sample from a sleeping T-Rex.

It’s the sort of stuff that will give audiences of all ages the sort of bang for your buck wanted and expected from this sort of big budget, made-for-the-biggest-screen-possible summer popcorn fare.

The film attempts to return to the ferociousness and inherent threat these creatures pose which so permeated the original film but was somewhat lacking in the previous one. It’s partly successful in that endeavour particularly when it brings the danger off-island to more familiar domestic surroundings.

But there’s also a feeling of it being defanged to fit an age rating that can bring in as wide a range of audiences as possible; attack sequences feel toned down when they should be ramped up, undercutting much of that visceral approach that would have helped it evolve from gargantuan blockbuster to a truly effective creature feature.

As it stands there’s plenty to enjoy in this fifth instalment in the long-running franchise even if, like Jeff Goldblum’s all-too-brief cameo as fan favourite Dr Ian Malcolm, it’s far from the series at its best. If you’re just looking for more massive dinosaurs causing havoc then this does what it says on the clawed tin.