The Dinosaurs are back, and in our B movie land/pop culture, what a strangely comforting sight they are. That’s why “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” 25 years after the original “Jurassic Park,” knows exactly what its purpose is and performs it monstrously well. Directed by J.A. Bayona and co-written by Colin Trevorrow (who directed the previous installment) and Derek Connoll, the filmmakers are aware that keeping this franchise from becoming extinct requires wit and infusing as much originality as they can, coupled with the storied clichés.

The film thankfully hits all those marks and more. Helped by a luminous Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire) and a less cocky Owen (Chris Pratt) the film starts with the two reuniting and mounting a campaign to rescue the dinosaurs. They need to be saved because after the dinos destroyed the luxury resort Jurassic World which was located on the island Isla Nublar, the greedy humans fled and the dinosaurs happily habituated  there until the island’s dormant volcano sprang to life. (Got that?) So hence the mission to save them.

Owen has a special place for ‘Blue,’ a raptor he helped raise and sincere Claire, well she wants to save them all. But of course there are always the bad guys, including Eli (Rafe Spall) the smarmy, sneaky controller of the bedridden benevolent billionaire Benjamin Lockwood played wonderfully by James Cromwell, who is paying to save the dinosaurs in a noble way. Scientist Zia (Daniella Pineda) and a very neurotic and funny Woody Allen like computer geek named Franklin (Justice Smith) are part of the good guy club. Jeff Goldblum makes a cameo as Dr. Ian Malcolm, high-minded and foretelling he is. So bottom line, it’s wildly entertaining to see Tyrannosaurus romp, Blue be sweet, meet Indoraptor, and see T-Rex rule. These aging dinosaurs never get old.

Universal’s “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” opens wide on Friday.

“Gotti” is dead with just  $1,670,000  for its opening weekend. It’s Travolta’s lowest among regular openings based on theater count. But Travolta is used to low numbers– he’s had his share of disasters in his 40 year career but he always brushes himself off and keeps going.

It wasn’t like the warning signs weren’t there. “Gotti” had many false starts, producers who came and went, producers who had serious prison records, and so on. Everything pointed to this being a bad idea. James Toback had a screenplay that probably made more sense, but that was back when Barry Levinson was going to direct and the duo thought they could do another “Bugsy.”

Disney-Pixar scored $180 mil opening weekend for “The Incredibles 2.”  It’s the 8th biggest opening ever, and the biggest ever open for an animated film.

Very nice news for Paramount and “Book Club,” with $62 million so far for Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candace Bergen, et al. If they get to $65 mil or $70 mil they may get a sequel. That’s a total “Gotti” will never live to see!

Fourteen years ago, “The Incredibles” was a hit animated film. And the sequel? We finally got it last night, and it’s a monster hit.

“Incredibles 2” made $71.5 million Friday night (with $18 mil from Thurs previews). The Brad Bird directed bonanza will get the biggest weekend ever for an animated film and head to the Oscars, of course. A $150 million total for three days could be a low ball estimate.

Brad Bird gave us “Ratatouille” and “The Iron Giant,” both classics. He also directed “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” but we won’t hold that against him. Ditto “Tomorrowland.”

Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Catherine Keener, Isabella Rossellini, and Bird himself voice the characters in “I 2.” Congrats to all.

Note to SAG-AFTRA: Jackson would also be a good choice for your Lifetime Achievement Award this year. Just sayin….

John Travolta’s “Gotti” scored just $614K last night by estimates, in just over 500 theaters. It’s his lowest opening, and means that “Gotti” will barely score $1.5 million on its opening weekend.

No one knows exactly what “Gotti” cost all in since it’s had many different structures, producers, investments and pay offs since its inception. But the latest iteration cost at least $10 million. It’s possible several million more were wasted before that.

The music budget alone is said to be over $1 million. Travolta’s participation equals far more than that, although he may be waiting for first dollar in once box office receipts are counted. Alas, he’s not going to see very much from this.

Travolta has a lot of duds and misfires in his career. His last two releases were basically straight to video, so we’re not counting them. His last real release was “Savages” in 2012, which made a total $47 million with a $16 million opening weekend. He also two non starters in 24 theatres apiece, in the 2000s, that died upon opening.

For a full release film you have to go back to 2000, to “Lucky Numbers,” to rival the “Gotti” performance.

“Gotti” has a zero on Rotten Tomatoes, 20 negative reviews, none positive. According to one report, this his third movie to sport a Zero. That’s quite an accomplishment.