Jurassic World Dominion Review

Directed By: Colin Trevorrow
Written By: Emily Carmichael, Colin Trevorrow, and Derek Connolly
Runtime: 147 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG-13 for some violence, language, and intense sequences of action.

Chris Pratt – Owen Grady
Bryce Dallas Howard – Claire Dearing
Isabella Sermon – Maisie Lockwood
Laura Dern – Ellie Sattler
Alan Grant – Sam Neill
Jeff Goldblum – Ian Malcolm
DeWanda Wise – Kayla Watts
Campbell Scott – Lewis Dodgson
Mamoudou Athie – Ramsay Cole
BD Wong – Dr. Henry Wu
Omar Sy – Barry Sembène
Justice Smith – Franklin Webb
Daniella Pineda – Dr. Zia Rodriguez
Dichen Lachman – Soyona Santos

The Jurassic Park franchise reaches its grand conclusion, at least until Hollywood decides it’s time for another reboot, with Jurassic World Dominion. Continuing after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Colin Trevorrow returns to the director’s chair for the long-running film series, which made its debut in cinemas 29 years ago. Jurassic World Dominion, while not the most exceptional sequel of the franchise, is at least another entertaining, dino-filled ride. What Dominion lacks in script cohesion, the film makes up for with quick pacing at a nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime, the return of iconic characters, and the merging of casts from past films.

After Fallen Kingdom, Owen Grady (Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Howard) have taken the genetically engineered Maisie Lockwood (Sermon) into their care, acting as her surrogate parents. They are living off the grid and trying to keep Maisie’s existence hidden, fearing that nefarious parties would want to experiment on her DNA. Their fears have proven valid as dino poachers abscond Maisie from Owen and Claire’s remote cabin, along with the infant child of Owen’s raptor pal, Blue, who conveniently tracked Owen to his home. Now, Owen and Claire have to track down and free both Maisie and Blue from their kidnappers.

Meanwhile, the now single and empty nester Ellie Sattler is back at work, studying a deadly plague of prehistoric locusts that is steadily growing and wreaking havoc on human farms and food supplies. At the center of the locusts’ chaos is the mega-corporation, BioSyn, and its shady figurehead Lewis Dodgson (Scott). Dodgson was Dennis Nedry’s shady contact who hired Nedry to steal the embryos way back in the first movie, bringing that subplot back full circle. Sattler reunites with her old flame, Dr. Alan Grant (Neill), seeking his help to break into BioSyn to gather evidence against the company and blow the whistle on them. Since BioSyn is behind Blue and Maisie’s kidnapping, it sets the legacy characters on a collision course with the Jurassic World cast members.

Jurassic World Dominion suffers from a bloated, overly wrought script. As amusing as it is to see the legacy characters make their return and interact with the newer cast members, it proves to be a bit too much of a juggling act. New characters pop up, such as Dichen Lachman as Santos, a black market dino dealer and mercenary. She has a striking, memorable presence. Unfortunately, Lachman is introduced and taken out of the plot far too quickly. Characters from past sequels also appear briefly and are never seen nor heard from again.

Trevorrow walks back ideas he established in his previous entries that depicted how releasing genetically engineered dinosaurs is fraught with peril. The moral message of Jurassic World Dominion is grandiose and moving. However, it was not properly seeded and established beforehand. The visions of the three writers are not properly aligned.

The other issue with the plot is that it continues to push some of the franchise’s wackier ideas that would have been better left forgotten. Trying to train or engineer dinosaurs for military applications because they do not have unhackable software is still utter nonsense. A tiger or a lion is not released on a high-value target with a laser pointer for the big cat to play with, with the client hoping for minimal cleanup.

Colin Trevorrow is no Steven Spielberg, but he still manages to put together some compelling action set pieces and some nail-biting suspenseful ones. In one of the film’s best sequences, Claire is stalked by a lethal, famished Therizinosaurus. Of course, the iconic T-Rex gets a notable role once again. In one particular sequence, it is remarkable how one of the T-Rex’s entrances is framed.

While some of the narrative choices are a bit off, the pacing of Dominion is strong. There is a globe-trotting, epic scope that is enjoyable to watch. The film does manage to evoke that throwback, pulpy, action serial style that inspired films such as the Jurassic Park series in the first place. The underground dinosaur market in Malta, followed by a fast-paced raptor chase, was the highlight location.

The dinos have always been the true stars of this franchise. That is something director Colin Trevorrow understands more than most. Even after nearly 30 years and multiple sequels, the dinosaurs are still presented with impressive grandeur.

While the original Jurassic Park was one of the major films that ushered in the era of new computer-generated visual effects, Dominion does not rest on the safety of CG visuals. The film features an inspiringly strong mix of what at least appear to be practical animatronics. What CG is there is very good, but the film feels very organic with how the dinosaurs interact with the environment. This film utilizes a fair mix of both CG visuals and practical effects where the dinosaurs are concerned.

Dominion also freshens up the creature cast with the addition of traditional, “realistic” dinosaurs designed to look more historically accurate. The classics are always fun, but the newer dinosaurs break up the monotony. That said, Dominion does throw in a few nostalgic throwbacks.

In terms of the nostalgia factor, Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant’s returns are the most emotionally rewarding elements of the film. They were the central characters of the original, and it always seemed contrived that they split up. Thankfully, their roles are more than just glorified cameos, and they are strongly utilized throughout the film.

Jurassic World Dominion is not a high point for the franchise, but it’s still reasonably entertaining and delivers where the real stars, the dinosaurs, are concerned. The plot definitely could have used a lot of work.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Plot-wise, Jurassic World Dominion is the weakest entry of the Jurassic World trilogy. It deals with an overwrought, bloated script that is a bit weighed down from convoluted plot developments and a few too many characters. Not to mention, Jurassic World appears thematically at odds with its previous entries, even walking back previously established narrative threads that were set up beforehand. Seeing the original legacy characters meeting and interacting with the newer cast members provides some fun and amusement. What does elevate the film is Colin Trevorrow's strong direction and exhilarating sequences featuring the dinosaurs, who are the main reason to see any Jurassic picture.