Harry Situation Reviews: Jurassic World Dominion
The end of a saga 65 million years in the making.
Jurassic World Dominion is the third installment in the Jurassic World trilogy and the sixth installment in the overall Jurassic Park franchise. Colin Trevorrow returns as director and writer along with Jurassic World/Jurassic Park alumini Christ Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, BD Wong, Isabella Sermon, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum.
Set four years after the events of Fallen Kingdom, humans are forced to share a world where dinosaurs roam once again. Owen Grady (reprised by Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (reprised by Bryce Dallas Howard) are now the adoptive parents of Maisie Lockwood (reprised by Isabella Sermon) and are trying their best to protect her from the world. Things change when they find that their old friend Blue the Velociraptor has an offspring of her own that is taken. Grady and Dearing do all they can to try and get the little dinosaur back.
Elsewhere, the survivors of the original Jurassic Park, paleontologist Doctor Alan Grant (reprised by Sam Neill); paleobotanist Doctor Ellie Sattler (reprised by Laura Dern); and mathematician Doctor Ian Malcolm (reprised by Jeff Goldblum); are brought to a facility owned by BioSyn, the rival company of Ingen. There they discover that they have been making new dinosaurs of their own such as the fierce Pyroraptor, the odd looking Therizinosaurus, and the extremely dangerous Giganotosaurus.
The Jurassic Park franchise has always been special to me. It's the whole reason I'm obsessed with dinosaurs. It's because of the first film it's why I wanted to be a paleontologist. And these Jurassic World movies have been a hit or miss with me. The first Jurassic World was a surprising fun thriller that took home over a billion dollars at the box office. And Fallen Kingdom was a piece of shit.
So the first positive I want to get out of the way is the cast. Having the original cast back is a sight to behold. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum were great. It was so fun seeing them together and interacting again. Plus, it was fun seeing the OG cast interact with the new cast. Everybody was great in this. Although if I had to pick which group is my favorite, I'm going with the OG group. Maybe that's a personal bias for the original film but, then again, why wouldn't I pick the original cast members, right?
And of course where would the franchise be without its groundbreaking effects. The special effects were top tier in this film. I haven't seen a splendid use of both visual and practical effects since the original film. Emphasis on the practical side. I feel that's something that the other two Jurassic World movies were missing out on.
As a dinosaur fanatic I did enjoy seeing the dinosaurs, especially the new ones. After six films we finally have feathered dinosaurs in a Jurassic movie. My favorites being the Pyroraptor and the Therizinosaurus. And let me just say that the Therizinosaurus is an absolute badass. While it only had a small amount of screen time and I'm in love with this dinosaur. I cannot wait to add it to my parks in Jurassic World Evolution 2.
But now is is the time to talk about all the bad. First up, the writing. This is the third film director Colin Trevorrow has also served as one of the lead writers for this new series of Jurassic Park movies. And this is also the third time he's proven that is not a good writer, and it shows with the main story. The main story is all over the place. First the got the stuff regarding Blue and Beta, the Velociraptors. Then there's Maisie, the human clone (and most unlikable character in the franchise). Then there's Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm fucking around at Biosyn. Then you got Dr. Henry Wu (reprised by B.D. Wong) and his conflicts with Biosyn CEO Lewis Dodgson (played by Campbell Scott). Yeah, that's right. Dodgson! Dodgson! We got Dodgson here! Eh, nobody cares.
Bottom line, the story is all over the place and it is such a mess to follow. Personally, I don't think Trevorrow understands balance, which might explain why the plot keeps jumping around. It's funny how people bitch about never getting a chance to see how his version of Star Wars Episode 9 would have turned out when they forget that he fucked up the Jurassic franchise with Fallen Kingdom.
More so, the other issue I have is when he tries to insert quirkiness into the story. That seems to be habit in each Jurassic World movie. Everyone has to make some sort of joke or somebody has to do something that seems out of the norm in an attempt to seem quirky. Trevorrow is trying to apply the same formula from Marvel into Jurassic Park, which is seriously unnecessary. I mean, it's fucking Jurassic Park. We want to see dinosaurs eat people for crying out loud not Owen Grady justify why he's carrying a baby Velociraptor on his back.
Overall, Jurassic World Dominion is a fine popcorn flick. I think this movie is better than Fallen Kingdom. It's certainly an improvement. However, it falls short from being good due to its poor writing. But I definitely had more fun watching this than Fallen Kingdom and I wouldn't mind seeing it again... when it hits Redbox.
There's been speculation that this will be the last Jurassic Park film in the franchise. It's certainly promoting itself as such. I don't believe that this is the last Jurassic Park movie, and honestly, I hope the franchise never ends. If the first Jurassic Park got me interested in dinosaurs and paleontology, then Jurassic World is probably doing that for this new generations of children. That's one of the spectacles of the franchise. If a kid somewhere wants to learn more about prehistoric life in the past and maybe make a career out of it that is awesome. So I say keep making movies. One day Universal Pictures might make their Fast & Furious/Jurassic Park crossover... in the next 65 million years or so.
Positives:
-The OG cast & New Gen cast
-Outstanding visuals & practical effects
-New (feathered) dinosaurs
-Fun action
Negatives:
-Attempt at quirkiness
-Colin Trevorrow's writing
-2 1/2 hours? Really?
Final Grade: C+
So those are my thoughts on Jurassic World Dominion. Have you seen it? What were your thoughts on it? What's your favorite moment from the Jurassic Park franchise? Please be kind, leave a like and comment, and check out more reviews here on Prose!
Best Quote:
Dr. Ian Malcolm: "Jurassic World? Not a fan."
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