Jurassic World Dominion

 

The summer box office continues to heat up with this weeks’ release of Jurassic World Dominion, the sixth and final installment of the popular movie franchise based on Michael Crichton’s novels.  Twenty-nine years after Jurassic Park, dinosaurs are living and hunting alongside humans taxing the fragile balance of nature all over the world.  Well, that’s what we’re led to believe is the setup for Jurassic World Dominion, however, the movie we actually get is an altogether different beast.

Jurassic World Dominion is essentially two different films with the original trio of Sam Neil (Alan Grant), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcolm) reuniting in one story (the more interesting of the two in my opinion) and Chris Pratt (Owen Grady) and Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire Dearing) picking up and continuing their story from Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom.  Eventually the two stories meet and everything is brought to a conclusion.  

Sadly, the conclusion, as well as the ride leading up to it is far from spectacular or overall satisfying.

The pacing in Jurassic World Dominion is clunky and uneven, particularly in the beginning.  Many of the themes are heavy handed and preachy to the point of making you feel you’re sitting in a lecture hall.  Oddly enough, Ian’s actual lecture in the film is more entertaining and thought provoking than the bludgeoning messaging throughout the rest of the film.  The call backs to previous films in many cases are stale.  With the exception of the original Big Three, the returning characters are lifeless (in Pratt’s case the film plays more like a contractual obligation) and uninspired.  BD Wong’s Dr. Wu takes an unexpected turn and the resolution of his story line feels unearned. New characters aren’t fleshed out and act more as props to get from point a to point b than characters.   

Worse still, Jurassic World Dominion, is a dinosaur movie that has little to do with dinosaurs.  Again, Goldblum’s Ian says it best when he goes off on the seduction of dinos excusing what’s going on.  A note that the writers should of taken when sussing out the story.  Dinosaurs are freely living among humans, what’s that like?  Dunno, it’s glossed over save for a few references. I mean at one point in this 2 hour 26 minute film you go a good half hour to forty minutes without seeing or hearing ANYTHING about the dinosaurs.  

Serious bait and switch as well as a major disappointment.

The biggest saving grace of Dominion is the legacy characters, especially Goldblum’s Ian. The wit, charm, and humor is classic. All three actors seem to be having a blast and it shows and you feel it ever time they’re on screen.  When you get the dinosaurs they look amazing.  These bad boys never fail to delight. 

All told Jurassic World Dominion looks great, has some shining moments, but ultimately is lifeless.  If this is what the franchise has to offer, it’s time to let it go the way of actual dinosaurs. 

Jurassic World Dominion gets a disappointing 5 from me.