Movie Review: Jurassic World - Dominion

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great action, fun, wraps up arcs from franchise

Cons: Ignores story possibilities in favor of familiar story lines

The Bottom Line:

A franchise wrap-up?

If so, it’s satisfying

This fan enjoyed it

“What’s the Plan?”  “Whatever Happens – That’s the Plan!”

I consider myself a fan of the Jurassic Park/World franchise, although I have found them to be wildly uneven over the years.  I absolutely hated the previous film in the franchise, but I was curious enough with where they were planning to go with the story to see Jurassic World: Dominion.  Plus, the news that they were bringing back the original trio made me curious as well.  I’m glad I went to see it because I really enjoyed it.

I’m going to do something I rarely do.  I went into this movie knowing nothing more than it was going to bring back Ellie, Ian, and Grant while continuing the story of Claire and Owen.  I enjoyed watching how the movie reintroduced the characters and brought everyone together again.  If you want to go into the movie blind like I did, skip the next three paragraphs and just go down to my thoughts.  I’m just doing my usual plot catalyst teaser below, but if you want to skip it, feel free.  I’ll have a header when I get to my commentary.

It's been four years since the events of the previous movie.  In that time, humans have tried to figure out how to live with dinosaurs.  Most of the dinosaurs have been relocated to a remove valley in Italy where Biosyn oversees them.  Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is spending time trying to stop illegal dinosaur breeding while Owen (Chris Pratt) is trying to help round up some of the animals.  The two of them are living in a remote cabin, trying to keep Maisie (Isabella Sermon) hidden from those who might be seeking her, whether Maisie wants to stay hidden or not.

Meanwhile, a new, giant species of locusts have appeared in the US, and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) is trying to prove that Biosyn is behind them.  That means going to Biosyn’s facility in Italy.  Fortunately, she has an in thanks to Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and she recruits Alan Grant (Sam Neill) to help her.

While they are in route, someone nabs Maisie, sending Claire and Owen to Biosyn’s facility as well.  Naturally, chaos is going to ensue.  But what will happen at the facility?

MY THOUGHTS:

Okay, everyone back?  Then let’s get to it.

Because this movie had to set up two parallel stories and catch us up on the original trio, the movie took a little bit of time getting the story moving.  But just about the time I was thinking “It’s time for something major to happen,” something major happened, and from there the movie didn’t slow down.  We certainly have a faster start than we got with the first movie.

And the action?  Hold on to your seats.  While it isn’t nonstop thrills, there is plenty of action to keep you engaged.  And the attacks are varied enough that we don’t get bored.  Yes, it is usually pretty obvious when the dinos are going to show up, but that’s a minor issue.

We get a wide variety of species, too.  However, we don’t get lots of exposition about them and how scary they are, and that’s a good thing.  We get a little information about them, but mostly, we get to watch them in action.

In the middle of all that, we get a little character development.  Okay, so it isn’t much since the priority here is action.  This is still a monster movie franchise, after all.  But we get some moments that will make fans happy.  Honestly, I was impressed with how they wrapped up a few plot threads from previous movies.  They’ve been talking about this movie ending the franchise, but come on, this is Hollywood.  It’s quite possible they will give us another movie sooner rather than later.  But, if it does end here, I can walk away satisfied.

They even fixed one of my biggest complaints about the last movie.  Well, at least they did the best they could with what they were given to work with.  Still, it was enough that I might give Fallen World another shot at some point.

The actors rise to the challenge and give us great performances.

Likewise, the special effects are outstanding.

Actually, I have to praise the cinematography in general.  This is the most beautifully shot film in the franchise.  While much of the action takes place at Biosyn’s complex, we get action in other parts of the world before everyone arrives there.  And the shots are outstanding.  The fact that they worked dinosaurs into these shots is even more impressive.

Then there are the one liners.  I laughed several times as the movie progressed.

Even so, the film isn’t perfect.  The ending of the previous film and the beginning of this one seem to set up a story about humans the dinosaurs living in the same world together.  We don’t get that story.  In many ways, the real story of this movie is one we’ve seen before, just with some different trappings to it.  Then again, it is a sequel.  What do you expect?

I can see an argument that at least part of what is driving the plot feels like something that belongs in a different monster movie franchise.  In fact, the dinosaurs seem a bit irrelevant to parts of the story.  But this is something that came to me later.  While watching the movie, I got caught up in the action and had fun.

I did appreciate that the emphasis was a bit more on the humans rather than new, wild dinosaurs.  I wasn’t tempted to roll my eyes at how the newest was worse than anything we’ve seen before.  And, no, the raptors still aren’t speaking, despite my joking about that happening since the third movie.

I’ve heard some people who were really disappointed with this movie, but I completely enjoyed it.  If you are a fan of the franchise, you’ll pretty much know what to expect, and that is what you get in Jurassic World: Dominion.  Walk in with those expectations, you’ll enjoy this one, too.