Pet the Dinosaurs

Rating: 8/10 (17 June 2015)

8 of 10. Solid action/monster/horror/sci-fi film all by itself regardless of whether it's a sequel. Starts out as a sort of zoo visit where you watch cute people pet the exotic animals. All very cute. The more fitting, and maybe too misleading for the film as a whole, would be Jurassic Pets.
Just when it seems everything is contained and cute, you realize you may be watching a more realistic prequel or actual Godzilla (2014) film, which was good but dependent on more science fiction stretches than this.
What it adds to the Jurassic series is more realistic, as mentioned pettable/touchable, dinosaur visual FX and a more realistic follow-up to the original film, especially one taking place 20 years later. It doesn't ignore the original, but rather embraces it and integrates what happened there into the story. It also adds the missing sea/ocean dinos and some believable technology to observe and run with dinosaurs. The adult relationships are also more complex/realistic than the original (though also some unnecessary melodrama). Finally, the key aspect, genetic engineering of the dinosaurs that leads to the dangers, monsters, and action.