Jurassic World Dominion (2022) Universal/Sci-Fi-Action RT: 146 minutes Rated PG-13 (intense sequences of action, some violence, language) Director: Colin Trevorrow Screenplay: Emily Carmichael and Colin Trevorrow Music: Michael Giacchino Cinematography: John Schwartzman Release date: June 10, 2022 (US) Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, DeWanda Wise, Isabella Sermon, Mamoudou Athie, Campbell Scott, BD Wong, Omar Sy, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, Scott Haze, Dichen Lachman, Kristoffer Polaha, Caleb Hearon, Freya Parker, Alexander Owen, Ahir Shah, Elva Trill. Box Office: $376.8M (US)/$1B (World)
Rating: ***
Maybe it caught me in a rare good mood, but I actually enjoyed Jurassic World Dominion, the third and final part of the follow-up trilogy to the original Jurassic Park films. I’ll concede that the “WOW!” factor of Steven Spielberg’s original 1993 blockbuster has long since vanished from the franchise. What he pulled off with the innovative FX, mixing CGI (in its infancy) and practical effects, has become commonplace nearly three decades later. There’s nothing really new in Jurassic World Dominion, but it still manages to entertain even if it doesn’t explore some of the more interesting ideas it brings up in the first place.
What really has some people amped up about Jurassic World Dominion is the return of the original Jurassic Park stars, Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum as paleontologists Ellie Sattler, Alan Grant and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm respectively. They figure into a crowded plot that I’m going to try and simplify for you.
As you know, the villains in these movies always have an evil corporation behind their nefarious action. In this case, it’s an outfit called BioSyn whose heinous CEO Dr. Lewis Dodgson (Scott, The Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2) has created a super-breed of locusts for the purposes of creating a worldwide famine by devouring any and all crops not grown with their seeds. Ellie is tasked with infiltrating their main facility and obtaining a DNA sample to turn over to the proper authorities. She asks her former colleague Alan to accompany her. As it so happens, Dr. Malcolm works there in an advisory capacity.
Meanwhile, teenage Maisie Lockwood (Sermon) now lives with Owen Grady (Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy 1 & 2) and Claire Dearing (Howard, The Help) in a secluded cabin in the woods. They’ve taken it on themselves to protect her by keeping her out of sight, something that doesn’t allow her much of a social life. It’s necessary though because she’s being sought by baddies who want to collect the bounty being offered by bigger baddies. If you saw Fallen Kingdom, you know why they’re interested in her. Owen’s favorite raptor Blue lives in the nearby woods with her asexually reproduced offspring. Of course, the company would like to get their hands on it too. As you can probably guess, both Maisie and the little raptor are caught and taken away. Owen and Claire go after them. Guess where they end up.
There’s a lot more going on, but these are the main plotlines with which you need concern yourself. Other characters, like pilot-for-hire Kayla Watts (Wise, She’s Gotta Have It) and BioSyn employee Ramsay Cole (Athie, The Get Down), figure into Jurassic World Dominion. However, I don’t want to bog you down with too much info. It’s best to just go in and enjoy the ride. In the right frame of mind, it’s pretty fun.
I won’t lie, Jurassic World Dominion is nowhere near as good as Jurassic Park or Jurassic World. On the other hand, it’s better than Jurassic Park III. At 146 minutes, it runs longer than it needs to. Colin Trevorrow, who also wrote and directed the first JW flick, could have tightened things up a bit. However, I’m willing to cut Jurassic World Dominion a bit of slack. Here’s why. Even though it brings up big ideas, it doesn’t waste a lot of time on them. Instead, it gives the audience what they’ve really come to see, dinosaur action. There’s a great deal of it too. They run, roar, chase, fight each other and go chomp-chomp on humans. There’s one great chase scene in Milan involving a raptor running and jumping across rooftops a la Jason Bourne.
The cast looks like they’re having fun, so why even bother criticizing their performances. Honestly, there’s really nothing to criticize. They all turn in the types of performances demanded by a movie of this kind. I will say it’s great to see the OGs back for one more hurrah. Also, I am now 100% convinced that Pratt should inherit the role of Indiana Jones from Harrison Ford. He’s a great action hero. One more thing, I’m happy not to see Howard trying to outrun dinosaurs in heels. What the hell was up with that anyway?
The special effects in Jurassic World Dominion, while hardly groundbreaking, are good. Maybe they’re not quite as convincing as the ones we marveled at in ’93, but they’ll do. I’m not going to say a lot more about Jurassic World Dominion. I had fun watching it. Sure, it’s not perfect and it’s too long. But it’s summer and I just wanted to have a good time at the movies just like when I was a teen. It’s not the same as the great blockbusters from the 80s and early 90s, but it comes darn close. I can’t ask for much more than that.
P.S. No reason to stick around through the end credits. There are NO extra scenes.
