Jurassic World: Dominion

 

Score: C+

Directed by Colin Trevorrow

Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum

Running time: 146 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Jurassic World Dominion concludes a trilogy of films based on Steven Spielberg's classic 1993 blockbuster; unfortunately, it goes out with a whimper.  It's nice to see Malcolm, Grant, and Sattler back in action, but combined with the JW characters and their accompanying plot baggage, it's simply too much (and not well done, at that).  The dinosaurs feel secondary, and not nearly as exciting and scary as they were thirty years ago.  Pass, unless you are a JP diehard like me.

Just a few years after dinosaurs were smuggled off the Jurassic islands and onto the mainland, the previously-extinct animals are now spread across the world.  While this, of course, causes havoc in a number of ways, perhaps the most dangerous creature turns out to be one of the smallest.  Paleobotanist Dr. Sattler (Dern) - one of the first visitors to the doomed Jurassic Park - is called on to investigate, and she reunites with old friend paleontologist Dr. Grant (Neill) to solve the mysterious threat.  Meanwhile, tech company Biosyn kidnaps Maisie (Sermon), a young woman with powerful genetic secrets, and takes her to its secluded headquarters/dinosaur reserve.  As those familiar with the Jurassic world, both old and new, converge, they must together confront a global threat.

Jurassic World: Dominion provides a disappointing finale to the JW trilogy, itself a mere shadow of the original Jurassic films; while there are entertaining moments, the filmmaking is poor.  The first and biggest problem: there are way too many characters and way too much plot for a movie that should be, first and foremost, a thrilling dinosaur adventure.  I do admit that it was nice to have the old stars back, and they are easily the most interesting humans here; Goldblum's Ian Malcolm, in fact, is possibly my favorite part of the whole movie.  Grant and Sattler are also fun, though they are hampered by the poor script.  The drabness of the new characters is more striking when directly compared to the old stars.  Pratt is a fun performer, but the role is too generic; Howard's Claire fares even worse.  While there have always been malevolent humans in the background of Jurassic films, the plotting takes central stage in this film - the new and old characters each get distinct stories, and it's just way too much.  Not to mention how utterly ridiculous the plots are (especially the Maisie one).  The running time is a too-long two-and-a-half hours and not nearly enough of that is dinosaur-focused.

What you come for (or should) in a Jurassic movie are thrilling and/or wondrous dinosaur scenes, and while there are some good moments and cutting edge effects, even here, Dominion disappoints.  The film starts by showing dinosaurs interacting with nature and humans in a gentler manner, which is nice, but the dinosaurs are overly anthropomorphized/domesticated - very much aimed at the kids here.  The violence soon increases (though gore is kept to a minimum), and the most exciting scene is a dinosaur black market-infested Malta exploding into the open, with both a motorcycle chase (reminiscent of Mission Impossible but with, you know, raptors) and some small but neat moments for lesser-known dinos.  Too much of the rest, though, is stale and almost copied from earlier movies, particularly the finale.  Finally, while the technology may be better than ever, the effects still don't feel as real as the original Jurassic Park and The Lost World.  I think this is both the behavior of the dinos - much more like real animals in the originals, versus monsters in the new movies - and Spielberg's superior filmmaking, from the lighting to angles to knowing when and where to show his awe-inspiring stars.

Jurassic Park is my favorite movie; I was spellbound when I saw it in theaters as a six-year-old in 1993, and my affection for it, while different now, is undiminished.  The Jurassic World trilogy - consisting of Jurassic World (2015), Fallen Kingdom (2018), and Dominion - is a far cry from the original classics (I also love The Lost World; Jurassic Park 3 is crap, though).  I'll give the filmmakers and producers credit for one thing, though: they didn't even try, whether through the plots or the tones, to remake Jurassic Park, though of course there are plenty of callbacks.  For young kids, the Jurassic World movies are probably the better choice: more action-packed, while also less scary; far less subtle and more directly emotional/sentimental.  I hope that some day - no hurry, though - there will be more Jurassic movies; but I hope that they are more mature, well-made ones next time.

***

I can't say I was expecting a lot from Jurassic World Dominion; despite my love for Jurassic Park, the previous movie, Fallen Kingdom, pointed in the wrong direction.  So it was disappointing that it didn't even meet my lowered expectations - but it does have me excited to go see the original JP in July, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performing the score (also my favorite of all-time) live!  Looking ahead, the summer movie calendar seems a bit thin, but maybe - hopefully - there will be some surprises that get me out to the theater more than I expect to.  Definitely, I am very much looking forward to Taika Waititi's Thor 4.  Until next time, enjoy the summer - and if you need some blockbuster action, go see Top Gun 2 (even if it's for a second time!) or wait for Thor.

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