"Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" (2018) Saturday Monster Movies

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom begins with a rescue mission and ends with an escape. The dinosaurs, once confined to islands and labs, end up loose in the human world. The story opens with Isla Nublar facing destruction from a volcanic eruption. The creatures that once fascinated the world are now abandoned, left to die by the very people who created them. The debate begins: should they be saved, or should nature be allowed to correct what humans have broken? The question is urgent, but it is not new. Once again, the film brings us face to face with a theological truth that runs through the entire series: playing God leads to disaster.

What makes this installment especially poignant is its doubling down on the original sin of the series. The dinosaurs are no longer just wonders or threats. They are symbols of our inability to take responsibility for the life we create. Wealthy elites and hidden labs continue the work of genetic manipulation, not for knowledge or even spectacle, but for weapons, profit, and control. It is creation without conscience. The creatures are exploited, sold, and treated as assets, all while the people involved tell themselves they are doing something noble. But the truth is plain. They are not gods. They are merchants, trying to profit from something sacred.

There is something deeply biblical in the way the film handles this. Romans chapter onell speaks of people who, having exchanged the truth of God for a lie, worship the works of their own hands. That is exactly what happens here. The scientists and businessmen believe they are masters of nature, but nature refuses to be mastered. The dinosaurs are not tamed. The volcano does not wait. And when everything collapses, the cost is unbearable. Sin always promises control. It always leads to chaos.

Yet in the middle of all this, a single act of mercy stands out. A young girl, herself the product of human cloning, makes the choice to release the dinosaurs rather than let them die. It is not a decision grounded in strategy or science. It is a decision rooted in empathy. She sees herself in the creatures and refuses to let them be destroyed. It is messy. It is complicated. But it is also the first truly human act in a story full of dehumanizing systems. Fallen Kingdom reminds us that once we have tried to be God, the only path forward is not more control, but repentance and mercy.