Jurassic World Dominion

Welcome to Jurassic Park! On July 3rd, 2022, I saw the June 10, 2022 film Jurassic World Dominion, directed by Colin Trevorrow. Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Isabella Sermon, it is rated PG-13.

Now that the world is populated by dinosaurs, there is a new danger that did not exist before. When Maisie and a dinosaur are captured, Owen and Claire set out to rescue them. Meanwhile, Ian Malcolm sends his old friends Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler on a mission that could help save lives. With everything that is going on, the only question you can ask is, who will survive Jurassic World?

As the conclusion of the popular Jurassic Park franchise, this film had a lot of expectations to meet. It failed at them miserably. The biggest reason for this would have to be the acting. The actors themselves seem tired of another Jurassic Park movie as they come off as bland and unbelievable as their characters. They show off no emotion whatsoever. The best example would have to be Justice Smith. Reprising his role as Franklin Webb, he plays it the same annoying way he did in the previous movie. Granted, he isn’t in the movie for long, but a little bit goes a long way. If you want to see a good performance by him, watch Pokémon Detective Pikachu. The only good performances came from Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. Seeing them back again as their classic characters just feels right and any scene with them instantly became better. But other than those three, the cast was just horrible.

The story isn’t much better. This is because of how badly the setup with the dinosaurs is handled. The best way to describe this movie is a movie with dinosaurs in it, instead of a dinosaur movie. The main threat has now become locusts, which do not belong in a Jurassic Park movie. The dinosaurs have been reduced to obstacles instead of the problem. The dinosaurs themselves are also quite ineffective. Despite the world being populated with them, which should have instantly increased the danger factor, they instead feel really bad at killing, which lessens the fear we’re supposed to feel. There are also many locations that just don’t fit with the franchise. No parks, no islands, just a bunch of random locations.

Discussing what worked in this movie, it is a fun watch. With non-stop action, it’s a thrilling ride although the main characters never really seem like they’re in real danger. That and the effects for the dinosaurs are impressive. I’m also glad this movie went in a different direction from Jurassic Park III, as opposed to the first two World movies that just repeated the plots of the first two Park movies. Here’s the thing though: you need a good story and characters for a movie to work, which is a benefit this movie just doesn’t have. In a franchise that has been very hit or miss all throughout, they could have chosen to go all out with a finale. Instead, they show off unimpressive filmmaking that doesn’t put a good reputation on anyone who decided to be associated with it.

Overall, despite fun dinosaur scenes, it is a bad movie. Not the worst film I’ve seen, just disappointing. This film does not belong with the list of good films in the franchise, 1993’s Jurassic Park and 2015’s Jurassic World. It actually belongs with the list of bad films in the franchise, 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 2001’s Jurassic Park III, and 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Forget the meteorite, this movie is what killed the dinosaurs.