Jurassic World: Dominion is advertised as the finale of this long-running franchise and one can only hope it is. This new trilogy was already showing signs that it was running out of gas after the last installment Fallen Kingdom.
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are back and we pick up the action four years later where the dinos have escaped from Isla Nublar and are now running amok all over the world.
Dominion offers a subplot about genetically enhanced locusts the size of footballs and how a corporation is, I guess, trying to use them as a weapon against the dinosaurs. I’m not sure because the plot is murky and it doesn’t gel well with the rest of the story.
Pratt and Howard are also trying to protect young Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), a clone of her mother from Fallen Kingdom, but just about like everything else, her involvement feels slapped together.
The highlight of this film is the nostalgic returns of Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Satler (Laura Dern), and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). Together again, these three actors get some moments to shine, despite the script going into obligatory territory with the Grant, Satler reunion. Their interaction hints at things we can see coming a mile away.
The rest of the movie gives us the standard special effects sequences that this series knows how to deliver, but this time around, there isn’t much suspense. We sense each time a dinosaur is going to pop out or when a character is about to reach their demise, only to be saved at the last minute.
There is one action sequence that’s somewhat exciting that involves Pratt on his motorcycle leading a raptor on a chase through the streets. This scene does make an impact, but other sequences feel routine.
At almost two and a half hours, Jurassic World: Dominion feels clunky and creatively bankrupt. Fallen Kingdom gave us diminishing returns and while Dominion is a step up from that one, it suffers from its own shortcomings. It goes through the motions with the plot and action and the climax feels anticlimactic.
This series has been hit or miss with me. The first movie back in 1993 was thrilling and groundbreaking. The sequels rarely had anything new or exciting to offer. I think this one should’ve been called Jurassic World: Franchise Extinction.
Grade: C
(Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, some violence, and language.)
