Jurassic World: Dominion Review

Synopsis
Four years after the destruction of Isla Nublar, dinosaurs now live–and hunt–alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures in a new Era. (via IMDb)

Review
The Jurassic Park trilogy does not end on the best note with Jurassic Park III. I was hoping that Jurassic World: Dominion, the third and final entry into the Jurassic World trilogy, would cap the Jurassic World trilogy better than Jurassic Park III capped the Jurassic Park trilogy. Unfortunately, that was a bit too much to hope for.

To start with a positive, it was great to see the cast from both the Jurassic Park films and Jurassic World films together. Their pairings and interactions were a treat for any fan of the franchise. Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott) returning was an unexpected surprise. He had a very minor role in Jurassic Park and it was intriguing to see what he has been up to since his lunch with Dennis Nedry. I’ve talked about “theme” a lot in my Jurassic World reviews and this review will be no different! I really liked that this idea of genetic manipulation and power that Ian Malcolm has mentioned many times has been applied to something other than dinosaurs yet continues to show the hubris of the characters who think they can control it.

Besides that, Jurassic World: Dominion falls into B-movie territory, the same as Jurassic Park III. The villain is campy and the billionaire-megalomaniac-who-doesn’t-care-about-the destruction-he-causes has been done a lot recently, and been done better elsewhere. Characters are introduced then are discarded without much explanation or exploration. At times there seems to be a lack of focus, which even Jurassic Park III had. At almost two and a half hours long, it’s not like there wasn’t time to get that focus. All-in-all, it told a story that had the right idea but wasn’t executed to its fullest.

On a plot side-note, how did the dinosaurs become so wide-spread so quickly? This film takes place only a few years after Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and, spoiler alert, only a handful of dinosaurs were released into the wild at the end of that film. It’s implied that several companies were cloning their own dinosaurs but that still wouldn’t account for the amount and their coverage across the Earth in that short amount of time. As I said in my last review, I try not to get caught up in plot holes but this one kept bugging me and took me out of the film at times.

I thought Jurassic World: Dominion was OK 😐 I liked seeing all my favorite characters from the franchise together and felt the theme was the culmination of the themes of the previous films. There were some exciting sequences but they felt included because they look cool and this also lead to some of the antagonistic characters not getting much development. It’s a shame the franchise didn’t end on a note more deserving of a the Jurassic franchise’s popularity.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Colin Trevorrow – Director / Story / Screenplay
Derek Connolly – Story
Emily Carmichael – Screenplay
Michael Giacchino – Composer

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

Jurassic World Review

Synopsis
A new theme park, built on the original site of Jurassic Park, creates a genetically modified hybrid dinosaur, the Indominus Rex, which escapes containment and goes on a killing spree. (via IMDb)

Review
Like many others, Jurassic Park was an influential movie of my childhood. I lost track of how many times I have seen it throughout my lifetime; it’s easily up there as one of my favorite films of all time. Sequels to 20+ year old movies that attempt to cash in on their franchise’s nostalgia have been very hit or miss (primarily misses) so I was a bit cautious going into Jurassic World. To my pleasure, Jurassic World is one of the better sequels today.

Any sequel that comes out decades later has a fine line to balance between paying homage to the original while bringing something new to the franchise and standing on its own. Throughout the film, Jurassic World gives nodes or callbacks to things and events of Jurassic Park that there is plenty for eagle-eyed fans to pick up on. Most importantly, it continues the themes of its predecessor. One of the biggest through lines of Jurassic Park was the hubris of mankind and that theme continues and is built upon here. It’s a wonderful continuation and natural plot growth for the franchise.

Besides building on the themes and providing plenty of easter eggs, Jurassic World has a great cast that carries the story. Chris Pratt, coming off his spectacular appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy, commands the screen. Bryce Dallas Howard is always great in anything she is involved in and this film is no exception. Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins hold their own as the younger members of the core cast across from the older cast members like Pratt and Howard. Vincent D’Onofrio channels the same energy he brought to Daredevil’s Wilson Fisk and chews up every scene. And to top it all off is an excellent comedic supporting cast of Jake Johnson and Lauren Lapkus. No matter where you look in the cast, there is talent everywhere.

The film spends the first half of the film setting up the park and the characters, so it can feel slow early on. However, once the action picks up, it really picks up. There is a horror element to the last act in particular that kept me on the edge of my seat. One highlight is when Owen (Pratt) is hunting the Indominus Rex with a pack of velociraptors. And it all culminated in a showdown that any fan of the franchise is sure to love.

If I had one complaint for this movie it’s that the subplot of Zach’s (Robinson) and Gray’s (Simpkins) parents did not add anything to the overall plot. There is maybe one scene with the parents and their lawyers and it was only mentioned by the boys once or twice. It felt shoehorned in to give more emotion to the film but I don’t think it added anything at all.

I thought Jurassic World was GREAT 😀 Being a huge fan of Jurassic Park, Jurassic World is a worthy sequel. The themes from the original are continued and built upon in a way that few sequels are capable of accomplishing. There is no weak link in the cast with great actors like Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Nick Robinson,and Ty Simpkins. Top it off with exciting action scenes and you’ve got yourself not only a great sequel but a great film.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Colin Trevorrow – Director / Screenplay
Rick Jaffa – Screenplay / Story
Amanda Silver – Screenplay / Story
Derek Connolly – Screenplay
Michael Giacchino – Composer

Chris Pratt – Owen Grady
Bryce Dallas Howard – Clair Dearing
Ty Simpkins – Gray
Nick Robinson – Zach
Jake Johnson – Lowery
Lauren Lapkus – Vivian
Omar Sy – Barry
Irrfan Khan – Masrani
Vincent D’Onofrio – Vic Hoskins
BD Wong – Dr. Henry Wu
Brian Tee – Hamada
Katie McGrath – Zara
Judy Greer – Karen
Andy Buckley – Scott