SPOILER WARNING: The following article gives away, just about, the entire plot of Jurassic World Dominion. If you have not yet seen the 2022 Jurassic Park movie, act like Owen Grady holding up his hand to magically neutralize a dinosaur, and proceed with caution as you read on.
With Jurassic World Rebirth hitting theaters soon, I figured it was about time that I do something I had been reluctant to do: catch up with the full franchise and watch Jurassic World Dominion. Considering the beastly reviews from critics and audiences, I was braving the worst, but, to my surprise, I thought it was far from it.
To be clear, I would not call Colin Trevorrow’s sequel a good movie. I think it suffers from a pitifully lazy script, sleepy acting, and throwing out the previous film’s setup for a dinosaur-ridden dystopia in favor of, echoing Eric Eisenberg’s Jurassic World Dominion review, two bland, disparate plotlines that have little to do with, ya know, dinosaurs. However, I do not at all regret watching it and would choose to watch it again over most sequels to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic, which I realize may come as a shock to many Jurassic fans. Well, allow me to explain…
The Locusts Got Under My Skin
In previous articles of mine, such as my reaction to the recent sci-fi thriller Companion, I have made it clear that I am a staunch technophobe who fears how dangerously technology’s advancement could, or already has, affected our society. However, there is one fear of mine that I have been a bit less vocal about in my writing until now: bugs, especially ones of unusual size.
So, you might be able to imagine how I felt when the genetically engineered locusts appeared on the screen. Now, I will agree with the widely shared opinion that a Jurassic Park movie focusing its plot on a non-reptilian prehistoric creature is a mistake, but said creatures did manage to get my adrenaline going faster than any of the dinosaurs that appear in Jurassic World Dominion. That being said…
The Dinosaur Action Sequences Are Top Notch
Whenever a dinosaur would appear on screen in Dominion, I found it nothing short of impressive. The special effects, boasting the classic blend of practical animatronics with some of the best CGI Hollywood has to offer, were so convincing, I am surprised there was not more praise about that aspect, at least.
Aside from their visual effects, I felt that the action sequences involving dinosaurs are genuinely some of the best that the franchise has ever seen. I recall, in particular, being thoroughly riveted by a scene taking place in Malta, when Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) is chased on a motorcycle through the city by Atrociraptors. I had to stop and think to myself, Wow, I am actually having fun with this movie, and it did not stop there.
DeWanda Wise Steals The Show As Kayla Watts
The one reason I had to be somewhat optimistic about finally watching Dominion was the one aspect that I had heard positive rumblings about: DeWanda Wise as Kayla Watts. I could not agree more with my colleague Sarah El-Mahmoud that the daredevil pilot is the best character from the Jurassic World trilogy for her bravery and quick wit, and for just being a badass.
If there are any downsides to Kayla, I would say that she makes most of the other newer characters (including Mamoudou Athie’s Ramsay Cole and even Pratt’s Grady) look weaker than I already believed they were, and that she should have been introduced to the franchise earlier. With all due respect to Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali, a part of me wishes that she were the focus of the upcoming 2025 movie, Jurassic World Rebirth, instead.
The Classic Characters Meeting The New Characters Won Me Over
Despite my harsh words about the newer Jurassic characters, I have to admit that I really enjoyed seeing them finally interact with Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). In fact, I don’t think I was ever amused by the OG heroes’ return until that moment, as the parameters of their reunion and the moments the trio shared never felt particularly natural. And don’t get me started about the random callbacks to the first film, like Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott) somehow possessing the fake Barbasol canister and displaying it in his office. What?!
Anyway, I can’t say that “natural” is a word I would use to describe Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm’s meeting with Grady, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), and others in the final act either. The events that lead them to each other are far too convenient (like many other aspects of the plot), and much of their dialogue feels egregiously forced. Yet, there was something about seeing them all gathered together and relying on one another to survive against the prehistoric wildlife that left me wishing the movie had dedicated more time to bringing them together.
You Gotta Love A Three-Way Dinosaur Brawl
Of course, any Jurassic Park fan knows that the real draw of this franchise is not the meat, but the meat-eaters, and the one who rules them all is the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Any return by that big behemoth in these movies, no matter how convoluted the reasoning may be, is warmly welcomed by me, and its appearance in Dominion was no exception, especially since it was not alone.
I actually really dug how the T-Rex was treated as a hero, Godzilla style, in the film’s final act, when it teams up with a Therizinosaurus to bring down the Giganotosaurus. Watching the T-Rex throw the Giganotosaurus onto the Therizinosaurus’ claws, fatally impaling it, made for a more satisfying final battle than the Indominus Rex showdown in 2015’s Jurassic World, if you ask me.
I don’t see a future in which I ever boot up my Peacock subscription to watch Jurassic World Dominion again, unless I get curious and decide to check out the extended edition, which I hear is an improvement. Yet, I can’t say I feel that I wasted my morning watching it the other day, which is something I can’t say about most of the follow-ups to the original ‘90s movie classic, and that calls for a modest roar of applause in my book.
