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Jurassic World: Dominion
(Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment)
By Lucas Allen
“Jurassic World: Dominion” is the third and final film in this blockbuster trilogy as well as the sixth and final film in the Jurassic Park franchise, which started back in 1993. Director Steven Spielberg first brought to the screen author Michael Crichton’s groundbreaking sci-fi concept of man’s desire to resurrect prehistoric dinosaurs into our present day. For this highly anticipated finale, Colin Trevorrow, who directed the first “Jurassic World” returns to try to bring both the trilogy and this franchise full circle. Not to mention, this film unites legacy and current characters together for one last hurrah.
Four years after the events of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” the world continues to deal with the onslaught of dinosaurs roaming wild. During that time, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) are trying to protect teenage Maisie (Isabella Sermon) who’s a human/dinosaur clone hybrid (?) from those willing to exploit her. While hiding out in a snowy cabin, they find the raptor Blue with her baby, Beta. Suddenly, poachers snatched up both Beta and Maisie, and Owen and Claire traversed the globe to try to get them back.
Elsewhere, a mysterious plague of locusts is destroying crops and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) brings her old flame Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) to BioSyn headquarters to try to get a sample. There, they run into chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) working for the company’s CEO Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott), but is also secretly helping them prevent Dodgson from spreading a potential catastrophe. Soon enough, the two plots merge when revelations involve Dr. Wu (B.D. Wong) wanting to use the blood of both Maisie and Beta to control the locust problem. But with more dinosaurs roaming their way, both teams will have to survive the night to set things right.
For a series finale, Trevorrow and co-writer Emily Carmichael seem to be throwing everything at the wall to see what’ll stick. Their script is a Frankenstein stitching of a Jurassic Park movie, a Jason Bourne film, “Taken” and a silly plot for an X-Men film. Whatever they were trying to come up with for a spectacular climax, the story drives farther away from Spielberg’s magic and awe of the 1993 original. The dinosaurs are still there and it’s great, but you have to keep them at the forefront or else we’ll forget what movie we’re watching.
However, the confusing plot point involving Maisie from “Fallen Kingdom” gets dumber here in a subplot involving both Dino DNA and the locusts. It makes the whole human/dinosaur clone element this trilogy’s most fatal flaw that would’ve toppled the franchise’s entire legacy. On the upside, the cool dinosaurs and intense action scenes are plenty, which will likely please audiences who don’t try to think about the plot too much.
The real saving grace is seeing cast members from two different trilogies coming together to bring the real magic to the screen. While Pratt and Howard both deliver good moments of humor and chemistry, it’s the reunion of the three Jurassic Park leads that’s about three decades in the making. Neill is wonderfully stern as ever, while Dern once again brings a warm sweetness to her performance. Naturally, Goldblum remains the funniest and most gifted presence in the whole series with his eccentric personality and hand gestures coming through. The rest of the cast both old and new are fine and serviceable no matter how ridiculous the script gets.
“Jurassic World: Dominion” is the equivalent of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in ways to end a long-running franchise both right and wrongfully. For what it’s worth, it still has its fair share of good moments and very silly ones that help to tip the balance. It gets a mild recommendation though audiences will have no problem finding something to enjoy this blockbuster capper. If for any reason they decide to make another one, there’s so much you can do to these prehistoric creatures that it’s almost impossible.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for intense sequences of action, some violence, and language)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3 Stars (Out of Four)
