Jurassic World: Dominion Review | A gorgeous, convoluted, mess

The Jurassic World trilogy comes to a drawn-out conclusion with Jurassic World: Dominion.

There are plenty of dinosaurs in Dominion. Unfortunately, the majestic creatures are kind of shoved into the background. The plot mostly centers around the human cloning angle setup in Fallen Kingdom and a genetic locust-dinosaur hybrid wrecking havoc on farms, which could lead to humanity’s extinction. There’s also kidnapping and the return of legacy characters.

Dominion doesn’t really offer anything new to the franchise. There’s an evil company using genetic manipulation of dinosaurs and human DNA for financial gain.

The performances are fine, but the characters are written in such a shallow fashion it’s difficult to connect to anything going on in the film. The women outshine the men in Dominion. Although, Chris Pratt does fare the best out of the male performers. The fatherly love for Maisie is easy to see and his attraction to Claire played by Bryce Dallas Howard comes through. Not so much the other way around.

Howard is really good for the most part. Her desire to connect with Maisie feels honest and she has chemistry with everyone except Pratt. Laura Dern is terrific as Ellie Sattler. She drives the plot in many ways and her earnest desire to do right by dinosaurs and humanity feels right for the character. DeWanda Wise nearly steals the film as Kayla Watts, a pilot with shifting allegiances. Isabella Sermon is much better in Dominion as Maisie Lockwood than she was in Fallen Kingdom.

Pratt does a fine job in the film. Although he’s still slightly miscast as the straight-laced lead character. Pratt is a terrific comedic actor and those talents are simply wasted. Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neil offer little to the film outside of nostalgia.

The film should sit comfortably in 3rd place in the Jurassic Park franchise. Dominion is nowhere near as entertaining as Jurassic World and doesn’t scratch the perfect hide of Jurassic Park. The action sequences and scope captured by Trevorrow make this a more entertaining film than Lost World, Jurassic Park III and Fallen Kingdom.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the elements that stood out in Jurassic World: Dominion. There may be some minor spoilers.

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Dinosaurs and humans coexisting in Jurassic World: Dominion

Dominion opens with an interesting premise. Can humans and dinosaurs coexist? Trevorrow does a great job initially showing dinosaurs in precarious places. For example, a pair of Brachiosaurus end up at a construction site in the snow. Maisie helps the construction crew lead the herbivore to safety.

Humans and dinosaurs co-mingling is an interesting concept. Unfortunately, this plot gets brushed aside when Biosyn is introduced. Similar to Ingen, the evil company has created a supposed sanctuary for these dinosaurs. When our heroes end up in the sanctuary, Dominion becomes just another Jurassic Park film. Albeit one without the majesty, tension or an ounce of creativity.

The best sequence in the film happens in Malta. Owen, Claire and Kayla are racing through the streets with raptors chasing them and a myriad of other dinosaur species killing multiple humans. The sequence is the only time there’s any tension in the film

Familial Bonds

Owen and Claire are still together. They’ve taken Maisie in as a member of the family. They’re trying to keep her away from Biosyn.

Like most teenagers, Maisie feels trapped. Sermon, Pratt and Howard do what they can to make this material work. I completely believe they are a makeshift family unit trying to balance this difficult situation. There’s just nothing new about this story. Maisie even throws the cliched “you’re not my mother” phrase back at her. Dominion is much better when Maisie is paired with Alan, Ellie or even Dr. Henry Wu played once again by Benedict Wong.

Blue, the raptor Owen nurtured, has an offspring of her own and is captured by Biosyn along with Maisie. Owen promises Blue he will get them both back.

Wise fits into this universe with ease. Kayla is a savvy pilot who flies for whoever is willing to meet her price. When she sees the kidnapped Maisie, she decides to help Claire and Owen get their daughter back. I could have used more scenes featuring this trio together. Her air force background pairs nicely with Owen’s Naval background. Like Claire, she also has regrets over her past.

The cloning aspect of the story is ridiculous but better than in Fallen Kingdom. I also enjoyed Wu getting a redemption arc of sorts.

Nostalgic Failure

Ellie is the only character from the original character that has any purpose in this film. Ian Malcolm looks like he has a role to play and seems to know more about Biosyn than anyone else. Unfortunately, a whistleblower told him, which kind of renders his presence in Dominion, useless. The whistleblower could have just told Ellie.

Alan Grant is my favorite human character in the Jurassic Park franchise. Again he offers nothing in this film, other than empty nostalgia. That’s maybe a little too strong as Dern and Neil still have fantastic chemistry. Grant is just not given much to do.

Dern provided the original Jurassic Park with its integrity. Grant was the curmudgeon and Malcolm was Jeff Goldblum. Dern provides the same quality here. She uncovers Biosyn’s secrets and enacts the plan to bring the company down. She drags Alan along to serve as a witness.

Top Gun: Maverick set a new standard for how to use nostalgia the right way. When you use legacy characters, they need to have a purpose in the present story and you need to feel like the time in between has changed them somewhat. Grant, Malcolm and even Sattler feel like they were trapped in amber like the mosquitos in Jurassic Park.

Jurassic World: Dominion Final Thoughts

Dominion is a beautiful film to watch on screen. Unfortunately, the story is cumbersome and about 30-40 minutes too long. In a world full of dinosaurs, the film just can’t sink its teeth below the surface. The human characters are rote and the dinosaurs are background characters for most of the film.

Here’s hoping the franchise stays dormant for a while. One wonders what someone like John Krasinski could do with the concept of a family in a world of dinosaurs