By: Christopher James
The wonderful teaser moment of a dinosaur walking through a drive-in... not in the final film.All that’s old is new again at movie theaters this summer. However, not all nostalgia plays are created equal. Top Gun: Maverick has successfully delighted audiences old and young, marrying nostalgia with strong storytelling and jaw-dropping stunts. The final chapter of the new Jurassic World trilogy tries to do the same hat trick. Bringing back the original trio - Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum - checks off the 90s nostalgia box. A doomsday plot around terrifying dino-locusts eating crops acts as the great thread bringing all our characters together. Finally, is there any spectacle quite as jaw-dropping as dinosaurs?
Unfortunately, all these elements sloppily come together in this letdown of a final chapter. Though it comes alive in fits and starts, the result is far less than the sum of its parts...
Bryce Dallas Howard has to put up with a lot of swampy material in the new "Jurassic World Dominion."We get off to a good start with a fun riff on “Now This” online news outlets detailing what life is like living among dinosaurs. Accidents and deaths are frequent, while an underground market for trading dinosaurs has emerged. Thus, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) have taken to a remote Sierra Nevada cabin alongside Owen’s favorite raptor, Blue, who has managed to replicate and have a child, Beta. That’s not the only parent action happening in the cabin. Owen and Claire act as de facto parents for Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), a child created as a clone of her deceased mother using the same technology that created the Jurassic World dinosaurs. Like any 14-year-old girl, Maisie longs for a normal life and frequently sneaks out from Owen and Claire’s gaze to ride her bike around the small town. One day, poachers take both Maisie and Beta, spurring Owen and Claire on a Taken-esque quest to rescue them.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ellie Sattler has been investigating swarms of enhanced locusts that are decimating crops not using seeds from tech conglomerate Biosyn, run by a Tim Cook-esque CEO Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott). She believes that if she gets samples from Biosyn’s labs, she can prove the tech giant has been creating these locusts to create a global food crisis they can profit on. In order to do so, she reaches out to her old friend for help, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill). Lucky for them, they have an inside connection with Biosyn. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) has been hired as a consultant for the company. He invites Ellie and Alan for a tour of the facility, though they look to destroy Biosyn from within.
Conveniently, all characters old and new converge in Biosyn’s giant campus, which houses a plethora of (you guessed it) dinosaurs in its controlled jungle. Of course, things go wrong and our cohort of characters are put through the ringer of dino peril. This is where Jurassic World Dominion goes from being interesting to being a rote retread. Our first half explores how the world has changed now that we must live among dinosaurs. This is where the film’s imagination runs wild, both in terms of story and visual inventiveness. Though it feels more out of a James Bond or Indiana Jones movie than Jurassic World movie, a giant chase sequence in Malta gives us a much needed boost of adrenaline. Unfortunately, these big swings come to an end once we enter Biosyn’s airfield.
One of the few bright spots in the film is the introduction of DeWanda Wise's spunky pilot, Kayla Watts.Jurassic World Dominion isn’t all about old throwbacks. Of the new characters, DeWanda Wise is the clear standout. Her character, Kayla Watts, is a skilled pilot who has turned to illegal dinosaur transport in order to pay the bills. Her conscience aligns her with Owen and Claire. Wise brings a tremendous amount of spunk and verve that livens up the more predictable second and third acts.
Most of the sins of Jurassic World Dominion would be forgivable if the movie were more fun. While it’s a better film than Fallen Kingdom, for all its faults the first Jurassic World movie had some fun with its theme park location and featured some genuinely shocking jolts. Everything is telegraphed and toothless here. You know when the dinosaurs are going to pop out and the film cuts away before you can see anything violent or shocking. The most shocking things in the movie are the logic leaps, even by Jurassic World standards. Characters survive brutal plane crashes and appear or disappear whenever is most convenient for the story. Everything can be traced back to laziness at the script level.
Cynicism aside, it's still really great to see Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill and Laura Dern back on screen together.Still, as Ellie remarks early on in the film, you never fully get used to seeing dinosaurs. For all its faults, Jurassic World Dominion still has some magic left in its dino-action. Some new species feature imaginative and frightening designs that will definitely pop up in nightmares. Plus, we get the return of many favorites dating all the way back to the first movie. A final fight may push the magic a bit too far, as it devolves a bit into CGI nonsense. Still, there is something magical about watching dinosaurs in the human world. Plus, there’s something magical about seeing Neill, Dern and Goldblum back on screen again, their chemistry very much intact. Pratt and Howard fare fine enough as templated versions of blockbuster stars. However, our core three remind us of the power of well drawn characters. C-
Are you planning on seeing Jurassic World: Dominion? What are your favorite films in the series? Let us know in the comments below.