Jurassic World Dominion is going to be the conclusion of the saga that began with Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” in 1993, and it may be a good idea to put an end to this. But it makes us disappointed because it failed to catch up with the DNA of the entire Dino success.
Director Colin Trevorrow (who was also behind “Jurassic World”, but was in charge of the sequel “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”) has worked hard to create magnificent and effective entertainment, something he has also managed, but it can work as if the series has run out of ideas.
“Jurassic World: Dominion” is largely based on the reuse of action, message, and suspense from the previous films. But the joyful sense of adventure from Steven Spielberg’s original film has been replaced by “Mission: Impossible” -like action aesthetics that do not suit this universe.
However, it has several stand-alone sequences with quite effective suspense, but sometimes stretches the credibility to the utmost, even within the framework of this fictional universe, and struggles to sew together both ends of the “Jurassic” saga without the seams being in danger of unraveling.
What do you see in the Movie?
Dinosaurs roaming the earth openly among humans have potential – but just like the Fallen Kingdom, Dominion never feels completely organic compared to the original movies.
Here you see, the world is trying to adapt to a new reality where dinosaurs and other extinct species are once again demanding their place on earth. The leading characters of the previous two films, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), live a secluded life to look after the re-created 14-year-old Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon).
When poachers catch both her and the offspring of velociraptor Blue, Owen and Claire must embark on an intercontinental rescue mission, aided by pilot Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise), among others.
At the same time, the old “Jurassic Park” acquaintances Ellie Satler (Laura Dern), Alan Grant (Sam Neill), and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are reunited to look for the source of DNA-modified locusts, which can create a worldwide food crisis.
All clues in both cases point to the company Biosyn, led by Steve Jobs clone Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott), who claims that they are researching dinosaur genes for good purposes but may be hiding their less ethical plans. They are also involved in black market activity for exotic and prehistoric reptiles which were already introduced in the Fallen Kingdom.
This has naturally led governments around the world to put their greedy hands on what they can while Biosyn appears to be the most aggressive device.
In this film, they have created an entire eco-habitat of dinosaurs, some of them with feathers and all sorts of deadly quirks fans have been hoping to see for years. And characters from several Jurassic films must unite to prevent Biosyn from inadvertently destroying the world with their ruthless tampering with DNA.
Parallel Story
In this film, there is a parallel story with the return of Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant, Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler, and Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm. Each of these characters has appeared in most of these films, but this is the first time we’ll see them all again since 1993.
At its best, Dominion fulfills its promise to merge the dinosaur world with our own time. Along with the characters, it has several parallels to the original, both in terms of the script’s structure and style of expression. Among other things, composer Michael Giacchino has used (almost annoying) small parts of John Williams’ classic themes, which nevertheless overshadow his own production. All verbal, visual, and musical hints remind us of how much better “Jurassic Park” was in almost every area.
Missing Chemistry
With a length of two and a half hours, The Jurassic World Dominion is in no way in a hurry to tell any of the many stories, and it feels like long straw. Of course, it’s a treat to see Neil, Dern, and Goldblum back in the franchise that so many people associate them with.
While it’s nice to see Howard’s Claire evolve from being the stereotypical “strong businesswoman” she went through in Jurassic World to a more sensitive character, she and Pratt are unable to muster much chemistry between them.
The highlights are behind the camera; The brilliant Michael Giacchino adds a playful twist to John Williams’ classic score and John Schwartzman’s photo and the color palette is bold and vibrant, from the snow-capped hills of Italy to the fields of West Texas, to the greener trees of the jungle and forest.
The plot in the film is at the surface level. It lacks emotional depth, the dialogue is banal, and you’ve seen so many of these scenes before.
With Jurassic World Dominion, it is clear that we have reached the end of the Jurassic era because the very DNA of this franchise has been destroyed. Sometimes extinction is a blessing.
The Weakest “Jurassic” Movie to Date
This also applies to the dinosaurs, which here too are a mix of practical and digital effects, but do not manage to surpass the magical feeling from the 1993 film. Some of them are a little too created digitally, but it may not be primarily about the technology itself, but the way it is used.
Spielberg masked its limitations with clever use of camera angles, lighting, pouring rain, and efficient cutting. Colin Trevorrow has not had to worry about this to the same extent since digital technology is completely different now than it was 30 years ago, but the result is actually that his dinosaurs are less credible than Spielberg’s.
Even the amazing T-Rex roar from 1993 trumps all the sound effects we hear in the new movie.
The most disappointing is a dramatic showdown between two large dinosaurs that are cinematically boring, without the build-up of suspense that Spielberg had guaranteed to make the most of. He is admittedly listed as an “executive producer” on this film but has probably had little to do with the filming.
“Jurassic World: Dominion” is a decent popcorn movie that never gets directly boring. An enormous amount of work has been done on the technical side so that it looks and sounds like a big, summery “blockbuster”, and there is every reason to believe that it will reach a wide audience.
Maybe someone will be left with a more positive impression, too, but I think this is, unfortunately, the weakest “Jurassic” film to date.
It only repeats the main features of the previous ones, while at the same time trying to become a “Mission: Impossible” / “Indiana Jones” / “Uncharted” -like an action film, which takes away some of the adventurous mystery that has characterized the series in the past.
