Jurassic World Dominion Movie Review by Michael Winkler : Pop Culture Leftovers

Jurassic World Dominion Movie Review by Michael Winkler

June 12, 2022 6:45 pm |

Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) was tasked with directing the final installment of the “Jurassic World” series. After what was widely accepted as a great job with “Jurassic World”, Trevorrow should’ve been able to stick the landing and ride off into the sunset knowing he left one of the most storied franchises in cinematic history off on a good note. Spoiler… he did not. “Jurassic World Dominion” is a prime example of a great movie series gone one film too far and a great example of movie studio greed. While the film certainly has some positives, it’s frustrating thinking about how good Dominion could’ve been.

“Jurassic World Dominion” brings back integral characters Alan Grant (Sam Neil), Ellie Sadler (Laura Dern), and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), from “Jurassic Park”. Seeing these original characters together again was very rewarding. The trio has some great interactions with one another and with Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) alike. Key new characters include Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise), Ramsay Cole (Mamoudou Athie), and Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott). While Dodgson is supposed to be Nedry’s accomplice from “Jurassic Park”, he is a different actor and character completely.

Story and pacing were large issues in “Jurassic World Dominion”. The movie breaks down into different stories that had no business connecting to one another. The clashing stories all include Biosyn. Biosyn is a bio-pharmaceutical company that is engineering creatures to tarnish crops so it can control the world’s food. Biosyn is located off the grid on mountainous terrain on a dinosaur reserve. The head of Biosyn, Lewis Dodgson (Scott), is so over the top and awkward that it makes for many cringey moments and uncomfortable interactions. The writers were trying to capture the essence of a high I.Q. eccentric genius type but ended up with an awkward and uninteresting villain. Ramsay (Athie) is Lewis’ right hand. Athie did a really great job for what little material he was given. This actor made the most of his time on screen. Ramsay is in contact with Ian Malcolm, who is the whistle-blower. Malcolm then contacts Saddler and Grant to help stop this company.

Owen and Claire are living off the grid with their daughter Maisie. The trio becomes tied into Biosyn when henchmen who work for the company kidnap Maisie in order to study her genes, as well as a baby velociraptor. The raptor pup is the offspring of none other than Blue from previous “Jurassic World” movies. Blue has stayed close to Owen and Claire by living in the wilderness nearby their cabin. With Maisie and baby Blue kidnapped, this is all the characters need for the intertwining nonsensical storylines to start branching toward one another. Owen and Claire are joined by Kayla Watts (Wise) through a series of fantastic action sequences. Watts is a pilot that deals in black market dinosaurs and is Owen and Claire’s ticket to get to Biosyn headquarters.

When the two groups meet up, the film becomes disjointed. Trevorrow attempts to create nostalgia through callbacks to the original “Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic World” but it all just feels forced and unauthentic. The good thing about “Jurassic World Dominion” are definitely the dinosaurs. Seeing animatronic dinosaurs is always refreshing. You love to see techniques used 20 years ago still upheld to such a high standard in this day in age. It was really great to see some new dinosaur species being introduced to the big screen. New species of Velociraptor are introduced, as well as the Therizinosaurus, and Giganotosaurus, which give the T-Rex a run for its money for most intimidating. The selling point for "Jurassic World Dominion” was a world where humans and dinosaurs had to live together. There were so many chances to explore various avenues of dinosaur and human interaction that were abandoned for lackluster payoffs and uncomfortable dialogue.

“Jurassic World Dominion” should’ve focused on dinosaurs with some action sprinkled in. Instead, the viewer gets the exact opposite. Dominion leans into heavy action instead of what made the other movies in the series so iconic and magical. As a result, “Jurassic World Dominion” has more in common with a “Fast and Furious” sequel than any of the five previous Jurassic movies. While there were some high points in the film, it was mostly underwhelming. I think the best thing for the franchise now is to remain like its dinosaur counterparts… extinct!

PCL Rating: Taste It

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ROTTEN