'Jurassic World: Dominion' Review: A Flawed, But Fitting End To The Franchise
The Jurassic era is unfortunately coming to an end with Jurassic World: Dominion, a film that may not be perfect, but serves as a fitting end for this dinosaur franchise, while also still leaving the door open for future stories.
Following the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, dinosaurs now live and co-exist with humans, causing a wide array of issues and concerns. With the two species vying for dominance, only time will tell if humans or dinosaurs will claim the Apex predator position on the planet. The cast boasts returning talent, including Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, BD Wong, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, Isabella Sermon, and Omar Sy. Joining the returning cast are franchise veterans Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and newcomers DeWanda Wise and Mamoudou Athie.
The prospect of the legacy cast blending with the current one had unlimited potential to be extremely entertaining and nostalgic. Fortunately, the combination works for the most part. Though the two casts are separated for a large majority of the film, when they finally do collide it’s worth the wait. Everyone in the cast plays off of one another well, especially Neill, Dern, and Goldblum, who haven’t missed a step as their respective characters. Especially in the final act of the film, this winning combination provides tremendous entertainment value in addition to the dinosaurs.
After sitting the second installment out, director Colin Trevorrow is back at the helm here and he has shown considerable growth as a filmmaker since his previous outing. The action sequences in the film are fun, engaging, and are distinctly different from one another, fully utilizing the potential of humans and dinosaurs co-existing on the mainland. There’s a fantastic chase sequence that happens within a crowded, chaotic city that felt like a combination of Jurassic Park and Bourne that was surprisingly visceral. The dinosaurs definitely do not disappoint either, remaining as terrifying and beautiful as ever. The film has a far better blend of practical and CGI effects than its predecessors, which makes the dinosaurs feel far more tactile and grounded.
While the film provides the entertainment value, dinosaur mayhem, and carnage fans have come to love and expect, the story is where the film ultimately suffers. What starts out as a fascinating and engrossing exploration of humans and dinosaurs co-existing quickly turns into a bizarre narrative about genetically altered locusts and their inevitable destruction of the world’s ecosystem. This peculiar creative choice serves as a detriment to the pacing and momentum of the film, feeling wholly unnecessary to the overarching story. The pacing as a whole is also very unbalanced, the first half of the film feeling noticeably sluggish and lifeless, while the latter delivers the goods in strong doses.
The film also carries over Sermon’s Maisie Lockwood, who was discovered to be a genetic clone of her mother in the previous installment. While the familial dynamic between her, Pratt, and Howard is wholesome, her character doesn’t serve much of a purpose in the film other than being the resident damsel in distress for Owen and Claire to rescue. While her arc is nicely retconned in the film to have a more digestible conclusion, her character hasn’t added much value to this burgeoning narrative.
Jurassic World: Dominion may not be the strongest entry in this revered franchise, but it should still entertain and satiate fans of the series. It certainly has its fair share of issues, but that has seemed par for the course for the Jurassic World trilogy. The saga may have peaked in 1993, but it has remained an engaging and immersive one, especially when one sees the forest for the trees. The Jurassic era may be over, but it feels as if it’s only a matter of time before we see the dawn of a new one.