Jurassic World: Dominion

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Isabella Sermon, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, Campbell Scott, BD Wong, Omar Sy, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda

Director: Colin Trevorrow

As dinosaurs roam the earth after the events on Isla Nublar, Owen (Pratt) and Claire (Howard) attempt to live in seclusion and protect young Maisie (Sermon) from those who want to use her DNA for nefarious purposes. After she is kidnapped, they stop at nothing to find out who took her and bring her back to safety. As they search for Maisie, Ellie Sattler (Dern) and Alan Grant (Neill) discover a massive cover-up by BioSyn, who claim to be helping the dinosaurs but may instead be causing an epidemic that could wipe out life on earth. After being invited to the BioSyn sanctuary and lab by Dr. Ian Malcom (Goldblum), Sattler and Grant attempt to uncover the truth and expose BioSyn. Soon, the two groups find themselves attempting to outrun dinosaurs as well as the morally corrupt head of BioSyn, Lewis Dodgson (Scott).

Let’s get this out of the way right now. This movie is dumb. Colossally dumb. We are a far cry from what made Spielberg’s Jurassic Park a cinematic classic. Replacing the thrills of seeing dinosaurs terrorize a small group of characters is a global-scale story where dinosaurs now roam the earth in modern-day. Replacing the conversation about playing God and the moral and ethical repercussions of bringing back an extinct species is a series of action sequences set at an underground dinosaur black market in Malta or a dino sanctuary, as well as a plot to kidnap a human being who was cloned using dinosaur DNA. Also mostly gone are the animatronics used to create the terrifying dinos that still visually hold up today.

Colin Trevorrow returns to the director's chair to complete his Jurassic trilogy which simultaneously tries to cash in on nostalgia from the previous trilogy and bring his current one to a conclusion. This approach worked well for Top Gun: Maverick and Scream earlier this year but doesn’t work as well here. The film is a mishmash of tones, with our heroes from the previous trilogy trying to uncover a large-scale cover-up by a huge company while our new heroes attempt to recover their kidnapped “daughter” and a baby raptor. The two stories feel out of place and even when the groups do eventually connect, it doesn’t quite work.

And yet, I couldn’t help but be somewhat entertained by what was going on. There is some pretty good spectacle on hand to counter some of the more laughable moments in the film. And I mean, who can’t help but cheer as the three apex dinos duke it out in the film's climax. I don’t remember summer blockbusters being this dumb but those looking for lots of dinosaur action will find plenty to enjoy for two and a half hours.

The most welcome addition to the film is the return of Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. Their return also brings a huge problem that the sequels have faced since the beginning: I would have much rather seen a continuation of the original series with these characters instead of the new group they were replaced with. In seconds, they recapture the chemistry and likability that made us care about them in the first place. Any time they were on screen it brought a smile to my face. You didn’t quite get that magic with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. This becomes especially clear when Pratt and Howard pair up with their counterparts from the original trilogy (Pratt with Neill and Howard with Dern.) I will say of the new cast, Bryce Dallas Howard gets the best arc and the movie goes a long way to course-correct her character.

After the insane 3rd act of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, I didn’t think this sequel could get more bananas but Dominion seems to have swallowed the same crazy pill. You won’t find another movie where Chris Pratt on a motorcycle is chased by two raptors through Malta that have been instructed to attack him through a laser. While it was great to see the original trio back, the conclusion to the Jurassic World franchise just couldn’t recapture the same magic.

Grade: C+