Jurassic World: Dominion

I've never been all that "in" to the Jurassic Park/World series. 

Obviously the first one is a Spielberg classic and there are always things to love about dinosaurs chasing humans in movies, but it's definitely not a series like the MCU or the next Nolan film that I'm uber passionate about. Hell, at this point, I'm probably more invested in whatever Godzilla does next more than this. 

A lot of that is thanks to how dumb Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was. Where Jurassic World felt like a "good" retread (similar to a dino-laden Force Awakens), Fallen Kingdom - outside of a couple scenes - pretty much made me abandon all interest I had for this franchise outside of obligation to review it here. The *spoiler* human-clone subplot was ridiculous and the in-film decision that led to releasing the dinosaurs was shocked-blinking-man-meme levels of stupid. 

Jurassic World: Dominion picks up a while after Fallen Kingdom in a world where humans and dinosaurs are living side by side, apparently. Luckily, it's not so dumb as its predecessor (nor is it smart) but instead trades out stupidity for boredom. This is a lazy wrap-up to a franchise that probably should have never had this many films in the first place. Returning to the Star Wars analogy, it very much is like the Rise of Skywalker. 

I could stop my review there. Dominion has a sprinkling of interesting elements and fun segments, but it's all covered with a sheen of laziness and "been here, done that" that makes its 2.5 hours feel like a slog. The script isn't particularly witty aside from a handful of characters, the finale might as well be the same where our heroes must escape a dino-filled geography, the special effects are at times awful (which hurts even more having come from Top Gun Maverick ), and the action scenes are mostly generic. Part of me has to wonder if the Covid-era filming played a role in the "let's just get this done" mentality that's here, or if director Colin Trevorrow isn't all that great. Given Bryce Dallas Howard's strong direction in a few Mandalorian/Boba Fett episodes, I'm a tad surprised she wasn't asked to take this on (and likely would have done better). 

"Hey all! Name's Dave. Nice to meet you!
As a dinosaur, I'm often misunderstood."

"Everyone squeeze in for the legacy shot!"

I don't like to harp on the negatives too much for films I didn't outright hate and Jurassic World: Dominion does have some elements worth praising. The combination of casts can be fun as the film checks the "legacy sequel" boxes. In particular, Jeff Goldblum gets to be...well...himself, resulting in some of the film's best lines. Newcomer DeWanda Wise makes a mark as a sassy pilot, enough to where I wish she'd been in the series the entire time. Tim Cook - er, I mean - Campbell Scott has a blast as the villain and delivers the best performance of the film, filled with quirks and oddities to round out his CEO persona. And, even among generic action sequences, there are some neat ones that show more inspiration. A raptor/motorcycle chase through Malta is enthralling, even if its overedited, and BDH gets a hair-raising sequence as she hides in a pool of water that is probably the best-filmed segment of the entire film. 

Dominion is a serviceable sequel, but not much else. I can't help but feel like this was another trilogy with a lack of overall planning, but beyond that, this felt like it was going through the motions. Nothing was grotesquely "bad", nor did I leave frustrated/angry like I did from the stupidity of certain elements of Fallen Kingdom. Instead, I left knowing I'd forget this film in 2 weeks time. For a franchise this gargantuan, that's surprising and unacceptable. 

CONS

• Story feels very "been here, done that". Very little of it feels fresh anymore
• Wonky special effects for a franchise that makes as much as this?
• Generic action scenes and finale that are often overedited
• Generic original score
• Generic script/characters (mostly)
• At 2.5 hours, way too long

PROS

• Surprisingly made me not hate the cloned-child plot as much
• Solid cast that brings life to the generic characters and there are some standouts:
• DeWanda Wise is a sassy pilot I wish we'd had more of
• Jeff Goldblum being Jeff Goldblum
• Campbell Scott probably going to be sued by Tim Cook
• Handful of memorable scenes that show some spark of creativity

Rath's Review Score | 6/10