Critics definitely have mixed feelings about Star Wars: Episode 9.

While Trevorrow has since stepped down from Episode 9, he was still a cowriter and producer on Fallen Kingdom and will close out the trilogy he started by directing Jurassic Park 1&2's Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), in a much-publicized cameo.

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Fallen Kingdom picks up three years after the events of Jurassic World, by which point Owen and Claire have gone their separate ways. When Isla Nublar's dormant volcano unexpectedly roars back to life though, the duo reunite for a company-funded mission to rescue the island's remaining dinosaurs. Everything changes, however, when the pair discover the real reason their operation got funding; a conspiracy that could endanger the world at large. To find out what critics make of the film so far, read on for SPOILER-FREE excerpts from the first wave of Fallen Kingdom reviews.

Here are some of the positive things that critics are saying about Fallen Kingdom:

Molly Freeman - Screen Rant

All in all, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom provides the fun and adventure moviegoers have come to expect from the Jurassic Park franchise, while providing a great deal of horror and perhaps even more heart than viewers may be expecting. Further, the concepts and ideas explored in Fallen Kingdom also weave in a little more to think about in of the real impact de-extinct dinosaurs would have on humankind's existence on Earth. And, given Bayona's visuals as applied to the big action set pieces throughout the film, this may be one for fans to catch in IMAX.

John DeFore - THR

Finally making good on its name, J.A. Bayona's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom says goodbye to the park for good, not just carrying the de-extincted dinos off the island but freeing itself from the genre trappings of the previous four films... Audiences put off by some dumb characterizations in the last film have much less to complain about here, while those requiring only some spectacular predators and exciting chase scenes should greet this outing as warmly as its predecessor.

Chris Nashawaty - EW

Howard, thankfully, gets more to do than the last go round (and in combat boots, no less!), Pratt busts out his Indiana Jones cocktail of can-do heroism and deadpan jokiness, and Bayona and his screenwriters (Trevorrow and Derek Connolly) test the laws of incredulity with varying degrees of success. At least, until the final half hour when forehead-slapping absurdity finally win out. Up until then, Fallen Kingdom is exactly the kind of escapist summer behemoth you want it to be.

Gav Murphy - IGN

Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom opens with one of the most exciting set pieces of the year and from there it barely stops for breath as we’re bounced from a huge, high-stakes disaster film to a claustrophobic gothic horror... It’s a brave choice to literally blow up everything that’s come before but one that definitely pays off in Fallen Kingdom. While Jurassic World gave us a lovely self-contained story, Fallen Kingdom leaves us wondering just where the series will go for its third act...

Meanwhile, the following Fallen Kingdom review excerpts very much fall on the opposite end of the opinion spectrum:

Kristy Puchko - Pajiba

I watched a Jurassic Park movie and felt nothing. This should be impossible... The soul of these movies has been extinguished. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom gives us no heroes worth rooting for. No action sequences that will stick with us the way Spielberg’s did. What it offers are lazy re-creations, lazier screenwriting, and sneering disrespect for our love of the original. I did not think I could hate a Jurassic Park movie more than I hated the last. But here we are. Trevorrow found away.

Dan Callahan - The Wrap

The major problem with “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” - the fifth installment in this dinosaur series, and the second of a prospective trilogy - is that the makers treat the action and suspense sequences in the way most of us go to the dentist. Director J. A. Bayona (“A Monster Calls”) goes through the motions of these scenes, even staging a “hiding from dinosaurs” set piece that was the most memorable section of Steven Spielberg’s original “Jurassic Park” movie from 1993. But what was exciting and scary then feels expected and very hackneyed now.

Eric Kohn - IndieWire

In the wake of the box-office lunacy that drove “Jurassic World” to become the fifth-highest grossing movie of all time, “Fallen Kingdom” is a frustrating display of overconfidence. It’s occasionally elevated by director J.A. Bayona’s penchant for taut human-versus-dino showdowns, but fleeting moments of inspired filmmaking can’t overshadow the broader tendency of this material to sag into stupidity. Campy dialogue and ludicrous plot twists abound: The fate of these resurrected creatures remains uncertain, but the formula for their movies will never go extinct.

At the time of writing, the Rotten Tomatoes rating for Fallen Kingdom is at 68% Fresh after 19 reviews, with the average review score landing at 6.1/10. For the sake of comparison, the first Jurassic World ended up with a 71% Fresh rating on the site after 311 reviews, with the average rating coming in around 6.7/10.

Seeing as critics appear to be very hot or cold on the sequel thus far, it's difficult to tell whether Fallen Kingdom's rating will rise or fall significantly over the remaining weeks until its debut in U.S. theaters. Whichever way you cut it though, the variety in opinions should allow for some lively debates about the quality of the Jurassic World sequel, once more non-critics are able to see the movie in theaters. To paraphrase the very tagline for Fallen Kingdom, the park is indeed gone.

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Source: Various [see the above links]