Jurassic World: Dominion Movie Review

For nearly thirty years, the Jurassic Park films have led the way for dinosaurs on the big screen. When the sequel trilogy arrived in 2015, it created a huge resurgence for the mighty reptiles. The franchise’s second wind comes to a close with Jurassic World: Dominion and this final chapter lands with a whimper.

Four years after the events of Fallen Kingdom, dinosaurs live alongside humans in a chaotic and overcrowded eco-system. Amid this imbalance, a new species of super-locust threatens to destroy all life on Earth. Two storylines run side-by-side; the first involves Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) trying to rescue their adopted daughter Maisie (Isabella Sermon) and the second sees the returning Dr Grant (Sam Neil) and Ellie Satler (Laura Dern) investigating a deadly global famine. Clocking in at nearly two and a half hours, the first and second acts are the worst kind of filler. Characters enter and exit the narrative making no impact whatsoever and the direction is a real headscratcher. Dominion tries to squeeze both a family drama and a spy thriller into the mix and at many points the dinosaurs are pushed to the side as an afterthought. The film does increase the dinosaur carnage when we get to the third act and this delivers what you’d expect, but everything before that is a total waste of time. The thread involving a locust horde comes out of left field and countless contrivances are thrown in for good measure. The worst of these is how Owen Grady can suddenly tame any dinosaur by raising his hand towards them; it’s completely senseless.

The Jurassic World movies were already struggling with character work and the sixth entry refuses to move forward; in Dominion, nearly everyone has been reduced to a cardboard cut-out with no development or chemistry. Flimsy plot threads are dusted off for the third chapter and they don’t do the cast any favours. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are there because they were in the previous one; their roles are static and unengaging. Maisie (Isabella Sermon) is equally poor; for much of the story she’s written as a pouting teenager with low likeability. Even the return of old favourites can’t salvage the mess. Sam Neil and Laura Dern are both fine in their roles, but they beg for more detail. Much of the plot involves them running around a science lab and they come off as shallow and muted. Ironically it’s Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm who has the most memorable moments; when he stands up to danger both human and reptilian, you believe in his character far more than everyone else. He’s the only bright spot in a bland, near-meaningless ensemble. The biggest let-down for me was the antagonist. Dr Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott), a character with less than five minutes on-screen in the 1993 original, is rebranded as a Tim Cook Apple CEO lookalike with dreadful results. It’s just as bad, if not worse than the corporate villains of previous films. You won’t care about anyone involved here and the action is greatly diminished.

Aside from the creature effects, the special effects in Jurassic World: Dominion don’t make much of an impact either. The film markets itself as a globe-trotting adventure, but the end result feels rather samey and forgettable. It rarely makes full use of the global scale and moves very quickly between locations. The set pieces themselves are mostly a re-tread, especially once they reach the dinosaur habitat; chased by dinosaurs in multiple environments with the occasional vehicle involved. Just about every film in the series makes a cameo here and the sequences aren’t remixed or reimagined in any way. The final battle is the most egregious example; it’s a repeat of the showdown from the first Jurassic World, only much more abrupt. The soundtrack, once again composed by Michael Giacchino, plods along, occasionally making reference to older theme songs. It won’t be generating any sympathy for the characters or the animals.

Brainless, banal and bloated; Jurassic World Dominion is one of the worst blockbusters in recent memory. It throws everything at the wall in a desperate bid to go out on a high note; with the exception of Jeff Goldblum and the occasional dinosaur rampage in the second half, it misses every time. Unless you’re a mega-fan of the prehistoric reptiles, the film offers very little and should be avoided.

Rating: 1.5/5 Stars (Bad)