Jurassic World: Dominion feels like a movie that was so preoccupied with whether it could, it didn’t stop to think if it should
There have been innumerable pieces comparing JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION to STAR WARS EPISODE IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER and, superficially (as if JJ Abrams’ franchise-cratering clusterfuck operated at any other level) such comparisons may seem apt. There are similar levels of nostalgia and fan service at work; a similar a tendency towards spectacle and set-pieces over logic and, crucially, both turned to the directors who previously revived each dormant franchise when faced with the unenviable task of bringing a beloved multi-movie, multi-billion-dollar movie series in for a satisfying landing. They say any landing you can walk away from is a good one and while Abrams conspicuously crashed and burned, Jurassic World’s returning director Colin Trevorrow at least manages to hit the runway and bring everything in more or less intact despite some bumps along the way.
Four years after the volcanic destruction of Isla Nublar and the containment breach at the Lockwood Estate, dinosaurs roam freely across the earth. Biosyn Genetics has established a dinosaur sanctuary in Italy’s Dolomites mountains, with global government approval, both protecting the animals and conducting genetic research that they claim will yield ground-breaking medical and agronomic discoveries. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) has accepted a position at Biosyn, working with CEO Dr Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott replacing Cameron Thor from JURASSIC PARK) – from where he extends an invite to Ellie Satler (Laura Dern) and Alan Grant (Sam Neil) to visit the Biosyn site. Satler has been investigated the rise of a genetically engineered locust which threatens to plunge the world into a global famine but when Blue’s parthenogenically produced offspring Beta is kidnapped by poachers along with Maisie (Isabella Sermon), Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen (Chris Pratt) also find themselves bound for Biosyn where the fate of this new Jurassic World will be decided.
The idea of dinosaurs surviving and thriving outside of a protective conservation environment has always felt like an odd direction for the Jurassic World series to take given its roots as a satire of capitalist and scientific hubris. The film inevitably had to create another sanctuary zone to house the adventure because it simply beggars belief that in a world where trophy hunting is still very much a thing the majestic former residents of Isla Nublar would survive for a few months let alone years in the wild. JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION, after a somewhat clunky and expositional first act, does start to sink its teeth into the meaty moral subtext the series has always enjoyed (if, at times, neglected), presenting Biosyn as the ultimate tech company and Lewis Dodgson as an amalgam of every smug, entitled tech billionaire who views the planet and its resources as his personal playthings.
Dodgson’s return works on two levels, one as a call-back to the character’s attempts to catch up with InGen’s cloning research and again as a metatextual invocation of Dennis Nedry’s famous line: “Dodgson, Dodgson, we’ve got Dodgson here! See, nobody cares.” Because I doubt there was anyone in the audience who really does care who the human villain of the piece would be this time out, as long as they were there to arrogantly think they could control the uncontrollable and thereby unleash the dinosaurs for one last rampage.
Dodgson isn’t the only returning character, of course, and Trevorrow takes the opportunity to bring back familiar faces from JURASSIC WORLD (Omar Sy) and JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM although, in the latter’s case, Justice Smith and Daniella Pineda get consolation cameos before being sidelined for the rest of the movie.
No, JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION is about one thing and one thing only, (re)uniting the Jurassic Family and bringing both generations together for a fan-pleasing romp through the franchise’s greatest hits. And family is a more than apt metaphor, not just because of the late-in-the-day revelations of Maisie’s true lineage (another RISE OF SKYWALKER touchpoint) but because there are times when it very much feels that rather than bringing one of their tentpole titles to a conclusion, Universal have one eye on crossing over with their other box office juggernaut: THE FAST & THE FURIOUS.
For the first hour and a half at least, JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION is jarringly atonal with the rest of the Jurassic movies, feeling more like Fast & Furious: Triassic Drift as it embraces gratuitous action sequences and even delivers the series’ first ever car chase through the narrow streets and plazas of Malta as they track and trace a band of mercenaries and attempt a dinosaur heist. It’s all in service of a plot which feels a little unfocussed and scattergun as it tries to juggle two sets of main characters and a bundle of plot threads from the previous five movies, some of which probably didn’t need to be addressed in this so-called final chapter.
Trevorrow knows his lore, of course, so there are plenty of nice little details in there, such as a final acknowledgement of the existence of Isla Sorna. In fact, the belated recollection that there’s always been a second island (most conspicuously missing from the machinations in JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM) is apt because JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION resembles nothing else in the franchise as much as it does THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK. It shares that film’s awkward, clunky structure, confusion over who its heroic lead is and an egregiously recharacterized Ian Malcolm. In THE LOST WORLD, he’s suddenly become a swashbuckling man of action, in JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION, he’s reverted to type, ignoring his more mature and sombre appearance before Congress in JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM to embrace his idiosyncratic leather-jacket wearing persona of days past. Other nostalgic touches feel somewhat unnecessary: a rekindling of the romance between Grant and Satler seeks to undo the relationship revealed in JURASSIC PARK III but feels superfluous and with so many callbacks and easter (dinosaur) eggs included, it almost feels odd that there’s not even a fleeting reference let alone appearance from Lex and Tim for this cretaceous curtain call.
Now I know what you’re thinking:
And of course, my answer is, “Yes, yes I will” because while the film might spend a little too much time on giant-sized creepy crawlies, that doesn’t mean there are plenty of new and returning thunder lizards to enjoy.
The dinosaurs remain the stars of the show and while they can never have the same awe-inspiring impact they had back when they first strode across the screen in 1993 they remain eminently watchable, and the film is noticeably stronger in its second half where they appear on screen with much more regularity. Surprisingly, Blue’s appearance is more of a glorified cameo and while her offspring Beta drives the plot, its appearances are also quite limited. Instead, we’re treated to series debuts for the likes of Quetzalcoatlus, Therizinosaurus, Pyroraptors and Atrociraptors plus an appearance by one of my personal favourites growing up, the Dimetrodon (taking us way, way beyond the increasingly inaccurate “Jurassic” classification). Other returning favourites include the series’ O.G. T-Rex, of course, who faces off against the movies’ latest pretender to the dino-throne in the form of a Giganotosaurus. There’s also an encore performance by the Dilophosaurus, who are only too happy to reprise their greatest spits.
JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION is often clumsy but always good-intentioned. Unlike THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, it never feels cynical or like a craven capitulation to fan pressure. Sure, it’s overstuffed and often feels like two movies’ worth of ideas crammed into one – or like an extended director’s cur with all of the justifiably deleted scenes put back in – but it’s still fun, action-packed popcorn entertainment that honours everything that’s gone before it. There may be more tales to be told in this new Jurassic World (and the box office practically guarantees it will return in future) but it’s clear that it’s the human characters which need to be allowed to die out. If the franchise is to avoid extinction, it’ll need to borrow human DNA in the form of a whole new set of characters. I wonder if a velociraptor can be taught to drive a car?
