Jurassic World: Dominion – Excellent Dinosaur Action
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Writer: Emily Carmichael, Colin Trevorrow (Screenplay) Derek Connolly, Colin Trevorrow (Story)
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, DB Wong, Isabella Sermon
Plot: Four years after the destruction of Isla Nublar, dinosaurs now live–and hunt–alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures in a new Era.
Runtime: 2 Hours 26 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Jurassic World: Dominion starts four years after dinosaurs have been living alongside humans Owen (Pratt) and Claire (Howard) have been hiding Maisie (Sermon) from the world, as well as protecting Blue from any hunters. Which will see them tracked down, with Blue’s baby and Maisie taken to BioSyn who have been offering a shelter in Italy for the dinosaurs.
The research there are bought Ellie Sattler (Dern) back into her research of the dinosaurs, with locust causing havoc to the ecosystem. Ellie invited by Dr Ian Malcolm (Goldblum) to the base in Italy, turns to Dr Alan Grant (Neill) as they look to uncover the truth, crossing paths in an attempt to expose the leader of BioSyn and what has been doing to the world.
Thoughts on Jurassic World: Dominion
Characters & Performances – We are going to break this down into a couple of parts here, looking more at the World characters before looking at the originals.
Owen has been helping heard up the dinosaurs, using non-lethal force to give them a chance of surviving, while watching over Blue and Maisie, hidden away in the woods. When Maisie and Blue’s baby Beta are taken by hunters, he will join Claire, using his connections to rescue the pair. He will continue to jump in head first, dealing with plenty of problems along the way, using his abilities to read animal body language to stay alive. Claire is still trying to make up for her involvement in Jurassic World, she wants to rescue the dinosaurs, going undercover to free any captured, while protecting Maisie. She will join Owen in the hunt to find Maisie, using her resources to fight back against any threats that come her way. Maisie is the young girl from the last movie, wanted by BioSyn because of her DNA, she is getting frustrated with her life away from the world, wanting to learn more about her mother, which see will, and her importance to the damage created in the world.
When it comes to the brand-new characters, we get the best in the movie with Kayla, she is a pilot who smuggles the dinosaurs for he right price, only to find herself needing to help Owen and Claire. She can handle anything, she always seems to take a step back during any panic situation and solves the problem. Ramsey is the guide around the facility for Ellie and Alan, he stays close to them to make sure they get around without breaking any rules.
Dr Ellie Sattler is investigating the locust that have been causing havoc in the crop fields in America, she believes she knows who is behind it, leading her to turn to the man she trusts the most Dr Grant. Dr Grant still digging, looking for the real answers behind dinosaurs, has spent his life here now, having to sell out to tourists wanting to get involved. The pair return together with the same what could have been relationship between the two, with Grant getting jealous and Malcolm. Ellie might well have the bigger moments in the movie, by Grant is here to continue to do the right thing. Ian Malcolm is working for BioSyn, though he has invited Ellie there to uncover the truth, he needs to bring it down, but must continue he performance as the man that has given up warning people.
Lewis Dodgson is the owner of BioSyn he has been offering the shelter for the dinosaurs since they were released, though his research has more sinister motives, with how he conducts business, being the selfish egomaniac needing for the villainous part in the movie, even though he does feel more like a Bond villain.
With plenty of characters, we have a host of people performing, with an all-star cast. The originals returning is great to see, only we don’t seem to get too much added to their characters over the years, with the actors not getting as much to do. This has been the problem for the World side of the franchise, because Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard also struggle to make much more of an impact on what is going on. The new cast members bring us the more interesting characters, with DeWanda Wise being easily the best performer in the movie.
Story – The story here will see two paths come together, first the originals will be looking to expose the truth behind the creation of locusts that are destroying the ecosystem, which on paper isn’t the biggest selling point, but would make perfect sense for the characters involved, they have seen, fought and survived dinosaurs, they are concerned about the impact of dinosaurs, right back to Jurassic Park. On the other side of the story, we get the action heavy side, parents trying to rescue their child from abductors who are a bigger company trying to control the world. This side is a more generic side to the story, giving us reason to include more dinosaurs. This side will have a deeper side of what is right for the dinosaurs in the movie, which goes hand in hand with the trying to find missing daughter plot. The two work well enough, letting the more interesting side get the spotlight, compared to the more of the same action side we have been seeing.
Themes – Jurassic World: Dominion is an action sci-fi movie, with the action coming from the different chases with dinosaurs, with each one offers up a different threat, the chase through Malta is the big one that offers up too many questions it makes my head hurt, but sure it is dinosaurs in the real-world chasing people through the streets. Once we get to the more contained environment around the sanctuary the dinosaurs are within, we feel more involved in the locations, which will make for more entertainment. Saying that, when we see the opening sequence with the dinosaurs all over the world, with different problems they are facing, it is fascinating to see. The underground market continues to show the darker side to humanity, which is hard to watch how people would treat dinosaurs in an everyday world. When it comes to the special effects, it seems pretty flawless with what we see, from the dinosaur battles to the destruction causes, it fits the movie perfectly.
Final Thoughts – Jurassic World: Dominion is a great fun conclusion to the mini trilogy in the franchise.