With the park now destroyed and dinosaurs let loose to live amongst civilization, the world attempts to move on in uneasy peace, with Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) – usually at the centre of all the dino-drama – now attempting to live a quiet life off the grid with their adopted genetic anomaly of a daughter Maisie (Isabella Sermon). Meanwhile, paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) reunites with old flame Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to investigate a recently unleashed plague of locusts devastating the food chain, leading them to the mysterious Biosyn; a genetics company with more than a few secrets. When Maisie is kidnapped, Owen and Claire lead a desperate rescue attempt, pointing them on a collision course with Biosyn and two generations of Jurassic franchise stars.
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, DeWanda Wise & Isabella Sermon
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Dominion, the sixth entry and culmination of this three decade, dino-centric franchise is about bugs. Yes you heard that right: bugs. If that sounds stupid and strange then turn away now: it only gets worse from here. The premise that Fallen Kingdom so clunkily set up – that of a world where dinosaurs have been turned loose and walk amongst us – was one that fans have long been clamouring for and returning director Colin Trevorrow fumbles it from the get-go, with an introductory montage (filmed as a discount Vice special) showing off majority of the footage of these animals in populated areas in one go. From here we’re subjected to almost 45 excruciating minutes of needless set-up about genetically enhanced locusts that can wreak havoc on the ecosystem and angsty teenage tantrums from a girl who isn’t even sure she should be alive.
It’s clear that Trevorrow had a lot of ideas, wasn’t sure about which ones he wanted to prioritise and ended up throwing them all on-screen as a result. And that result is a dragging, muddy mess that completely squanders any goodwill afforded it through the return of Dern, Neil and Goldblum or from the simple pleasure of seeing dinosaur carnage on the big screen again – no movie about monsters eating people should be 2 and a half hours long, period. To fill that time he machinates about everything from preservation and mankind’s impact on the environment to human rights, instead of just giving the audience what they want: dinosaurs. Sure, Fallen Kingdom was heavy handed in its approach to preservation but J.A. Bayona was confident in his direction and brought some interesting ideas to the table, outside of Chris Pratt’s godawful body comedy and screeching supporting characters. Here whatever statement Trevorrow is trying to make is buried under a mountain of filler and fluff.
That lacklustre approach to the film’s message applies just as badly to its story. The rapid shift in character for Owen and Claire from ass-kicking dinosaur freedom fighters to doting homebody parents to Maisie – a girl they literally stumbled across in the last film – is totally jarring, with Trevorrow pushing aside the pair’s complicated on-again, off-again dynamic from the last two films in favour of a boring cross-country chase after Maisie. Then there’s the nostalgia-bait of the original film’s iconic trio, whose presence sadly barely registers as anything other than a last ditch attempt to win fans back amidst a sea of disappointment. There are some fun moments and callbacks to the original films and the three simply ooze chemistry, but it’s too little, too late in a film that insists on trying to force some kind of emotional connection between Owen and his once a pet, always a threat raptor Blue.
As for the dinosaurs themselves? They’ve never felt like more of an afterthought, with only a handful of interestingly directed sequences providing some genuine tension amongst cheap jump scares and quick flashes of half-baked practical effects. Rarely does Dominion deliver anything close to tangible dread at the idea of a 65 million year-old predator stalking mankind, preferring to litter the screen with a variety of new species. While its fun to see these new creatures get their day in the sun, they barely register as a threat before Trevorrow moves onto the next, with the biggest of them all – the Giganotosaurus – barely registering as anything more than a minor plot inconvenience than the king of the predators that it was.
Even if it wasn’t the proclaimed final film in the series, Jurassic World Dominion is so bad that it makes audiences wish the franchise went extinct long ago instead of bastardising the Spielberg classic like this. No amount of fan-service or callbacks can serve as a substitute for a compelling story and the one Trevorrow delivers here is as shaky as the science behind bringing dinosaurs back from the dead. Who knew that in the age of CGI spectacle we’d get a Jurassic World film devoid of dinosaurs? Maybe Trevorrow and co were too concerned with whether they could, that they didn’t stop think about whether they should.