Jurassic World: Dominion
Jurassic World: Dominion
Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill
Directed by Colin Trevorrow
Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill
Directed by Colin Trevorrow
Nearly thirty years ago, Steven Spielberg revolutionized the summer blockbuster (again, after introducing the concept with "Jaws") with "Jurassic Park," using then-revolutionary computer generated effects mixed with digitally composited effects along with good old fashioned practical effects to give off an effect of true terror, and it's one of the few films that've withstood the test of time. We all still remember the scene of the water in the cup slashing as the T-rex approaches, and the big eye staring at the girl through the window, and it was the stuff of nightmares then as it is now. It re-invigorated a new generation of children to dinosaurs, and they in turn grew up and had children who have also been into the dinosaur craze. In 2015, Colin Trevorrow dusted off the amber of "Jurassic Park" and brought about a new film, "Jurassic World," and it was a worldwide smash hit. A new trilogy was greenlit, and even though he didn't direct the second outing ("Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom"), he returned to the director's chair to direct the third and final film of the "Jurassic" era (much like J.J. Abrams did for the latest "Star Wars" trilogy), and while it wasn't as great as "World," it's a fine sendoff for the almost-thirty-year-old franchise.
Four years after Isla Nublar was destroyed and dinosaurs were free to once again roam the earth, an underground breeding organization has been kidnapping dinosaurs to sell on the black market, and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) leads a resistance team to rescue enslaved dinosaurs, while she and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) hide young Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), who's a genetic clone of Charlotte Lockwood, and who's being hunted for her genetic code. Poachers end up finding her and the child of Blue - Owen's Velociraptor - and take them to Biosyn. Owen and Claire follow the trail to the shady company and join forces with former Air Force pilot Kayla Watts (Dewanda Wise) to rescue them.
Meanwhile, a swarm of genetically altered locusts threaten the world's food supply, and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) uncovers that the locusts only destroy the crops not produced by Biosyn, and concludes that they're trying to control the world's food market. She enlists the help of former flame Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) to infiltrate Biosyn with the help of Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to find evidence that they're the ones genetically creating the locusts, leading them to meet Owen, Claire, and Maisie as they work together to get the truth out to the public and try to stay alive on an island overrun with dinosaurs.
Ever since "Jurassic Park," Hollywood has been trying to bring back that sense of tension, excitement, and prehistoric action, with waning results. "The Lost World" was decent enough, but "Jurassic Park III" was an abysmal failure that drove the last nail in its coffin until it was resurrected with "Jurassic World," which came the closest to copying the original's sense of wonder. "Fallen Kingdom" had its moments but was almost wholly forgettable, and while critics are bashing "Dominion," I actually found it rather entertaining and fun to watch. While it didn't offer the same excitement as "Jurassic Park," it was still a decent film that incorporated the old with the new with almost perfect symmetry.
By this stage of the game, you already know the players so it's not about any deep character development anymore, but about the action the film promises. We know Owen and Claire inside and out, so both Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard have nothing more to give this franchise other than their bodies which they use to perform numerous death-defying stunts (including an exciting chase through Malta which, if you swapped out the dinosaurs chasing them, you'd think this was a Jason Bourne movie). There's a small story about them trying to be surrogate co-parents for Maisie, but there's not much story there, and neither is there any sense of romantic entanglement between the two of them. The sparks don't connect with this couple at all, and it's almost like a brother-sister relationship than romantic one, and thankfully they don't spend really any time with that aspect of their relationship. It's all about the action here, and both deliver in that regard.
Yet, to me anyway, I could care less about them and more about the OG crew, since "Jurassic Park" came out when I was thirteen, being able to see Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and especially the MVP Jeff Goldblum return to the big screen together was something my inner child yearned for. Was it simply fan service? Of course, but I'm a fan, and it serviced me quite well. Neill and Dern have the chemistry that Pratt and Howard are sorely missing, and seeing their light-hearted romantic tete-a-tete was reminiscent of the original series and felt like no time at all has passed. Then there's Jeff Goldblum, who absolutely nails it again as the cynical, deadpan Dr. Ian Malcolm, who provides all the hilarious quips that Chris Pratt only wishes he could do and delivers them in his traditional nature that makes them even more humorous. Seeing these three back on the big screen together is more than worth it, even if the story as a whole was highly predictable.
Maybe it's because there was a story at the start that could've proved a more interesting one that wasn't developed. When the film begins it talks about how dinosaurs have infiltrated our world, and the fact that trying to co-exist with prehistoric creatures isn't all that easy. They don't know how to act, and some of them are purely massive creatures that are downright terrifying if you think about it in real life: you're enjoying a movie at a drive-in when suddenly a T-rex emerges from the forest. It doesn't know to sit down and enjoy the show with some popcorn, it's a creature that threatens to kill everyone there. If the film focused more on this unnatural see-saw, it could've been something entirely newly terrifying, but instead it does what other "Jurassic" films have done in the past - prove that man is the deadliest thing in the world, not massive dinosaurs.
While the story was simple enough, a movie like this doesn't require any Shyamaladingdong twists or Nolan wit, it's just about dinosaurs and action, and this film delivers that on both ends. The dinosaurs are massive and beautiful, even if they're now entirely CGI-based, and the action happens often and gives exciting moments in the film. Sure, some of the dialogue was clunky and expositional, but it can be forgiven for what the film delivers on. Most critics bash the storyline, but again, this isn't Shakespeare. My attention was entirely given to the film from start to finish, and while there could've been some time cut out, I was never bored by what I was witnessing on the screen. Is it the best? No, but again, it was entertaining.
The Score: A
Four years after Isla Nublar was destroyed and dinosaurs were free to once again roam the earth, an underground breeding organization has been kidnapping dinosaurs to sell on the black market, and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) leads a resistance team to rescue enslaved dinosaurs, while she and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) hide young Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), who's a genetic clone of Charlotte Lockwood, and who's being hunted for her genetic code. Poachers end up finding her and the child of Blue - Owen's Velociraptor - and take them to Biosyn. Owen and Claire follow the trail to the shady company and join forces with former Air Force pilot Kayla Watts (Dewanda Wise) to rescue them.
Meanwhile, a swarm of genetically altered locusts threaten the world's food supply, and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) uncovers that the locusts only destroy the crops not produced by Biosyn, and concludes that they're trying to control the world's food market. She enlists the help of former flame Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) to infiltrate Biosyn with the help of Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to find evidence that they're the ones genetically creating the locusts, leading them to meet Owen, Claire, and Maisie as they work together to get the truth out to the public and try to stay alive on an island overrun with dinosaurs.
Ever since "Jurassic Park," Hollywood has been trying to bring back that sense of tension, excitement, and prehistoric action, with waning results. "The Lost World" was decent enough, but "Jurassic Park III" was an abysmal failure that drove the last nail in its coffin until it was resurrected with "Jurassic World," which came the closest to copying the original's sense of wonder. "Fallen Kingdom" had its moments but was almost wholly forgettable, and while critics are bashing "Dominion," I actually found it rather entertaining and fun to watch. While it didn't offer the same excitement as "Jurassic Park," it was still a decent film that incorporated the old with the new with almost perfect symmetry.
By this stage of the game, you already know the players so it's not about any deep character development anymore, but about the action the film promises. We know Owen and Claire inside and out, so both Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard have nothing more to give this franchise other than their bodies which they use to perform numerous death-defying stunts (including an exciting chase through Malta which, if you swapped out the dinosaurs chasing them, you'd think this was a Jason Bourne movie). There's a small story about them trying to be surrogate co-parents for Maisie, but there's not much story there, and neither is there any sense of romantic entanglement between the two of them. The sparks don't connect with this couple at all, and it's almost like a brother-sister relationship than romantic one, and thankfully they don't spend really any time with that aspect of their relationship. It's all about the action here, and both deliver in that regard.
Yet, to me anyway, I could care less about them and more about the OG crew, since "Jurassic Park" came out when I was thirteen, being able to see Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and especially the MVP Jeff Goldblum return to the big screen together was something my inner child yearned for. Was it simply fan service? Of course, but I'm a fan, and it serviced me quite well. Neill and Dern have the chemistry that Pratt and Howard are sorely missing, and seeing their light-hearted romantic tete-a-tete was reminiscent of the original series and felt like no time at all has passed. Then there's Jeff Goldblum, who absolutely nails it again as the cynical, deadpan Dr. Ian Malcolm, who provides all the hilarious quips that Chris Pratt only wishes he could do and delivers them in his traditional nature that makes them even more humorous. Seeing these three back on the big screen together is more than worth it, even if the story as a whole was highly predictable.
Maybe it's because there was a story at the start that could've proved a more interesting one that wasn't developed. When the film begins it talks about how dinosaurs have infiltrated our world, and the fact that trying to co-exist with prehistoric creatures isn't all that easy. They don't know how to act, and some of them are purely massive creatures that are downright terrifying if you think about it in real life: you're enjoying a movie at a drive-in when suddenly a T-rex emerges from the forest. It doesn't know to sit down and enjoy the show with some popcorn, it's a creature that threatens to kill everyone there. If the film focused more on this unnatural see-saw, it could've been something entirely newly terrifying, but instead it does what other "Jurassic" films have done in the past - prove that man is the deadliest thing in the world, not massive dinosaurs.
While the story was simple enough, a movie like this doesn't require any Shyamaladingdong twists or Nolan wit, it's just about dinosaurs and action, and this film delivers that on both ends. The dinosaurs are massive and beautiful, even if they're now entirely CGI-based, and the action happens often and gives exciting moments in the film. Sure, some of the dialogue was clunky and expositional, but it can be forgiven for what the film delivers on. Most critics bash the storyline, but again, this isn't Shakespeare. My attention was entirely given to the film from start to finish, and while there could've been some time cut out, I was never bored by what I was witnessing on the screen. Is it the best? No, but again, it was entertaining.
The Score: A
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