Review: JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION

A thoroughly satisfying conclusion with plenty of old friends, and plenty of new dinos, as well.

It’s only been four years since Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and yet, it somehow feels like it’s been even longer, maybe because the finale to Colin Trevorrow’s trilogy was delayed a year after being shut down by COVID, restarting with new protocols in place. I guess that’s a good enough reason for the movie to need that extra year to finish it up.

Before going further, you should be made aware how much I love this franchise; in my book, there has not been a single bad movie in the series. Not one. I loved the original two movies, enjoyed Jurassic Park III just fine, and loved what Colin Trevorrow did with the previous two Jurassic World movies. Don’t worry, I’m not telling you this to set you up for the news that Dominion is bad or anything. Or at least, I hope not. 

Maybe you know something about the plot from watching the various trailers and ads, though not all of it. For instance, you probably already know that Blue, the female raptor trained by Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady, had a baby raptor, and that the plot revolves around that raptor baby being taken by poachers. What might not be as known is that Isabella Sermon’s Maisie Lockwood – now a teenager who straddles that fine line between Emma Watson and Avril Lavigne – has also been taken. If you don’t remember the former pipsqueak from Fallen Kingdom, it was revealed that Maisie was a clone of Charlotte Lockwood (maybe we’ll get to her later). It turns out she’s as valuable to scientists as that raptor toddler.

There’s also a new(ish) evil corporation in Biosyn, run by Campbell Scott’s Lewis Dodgson doing his best Steve Jobs/Tim Cook — honestly, it’s just so great to see Scott back making movies, regardless of what he’s doing. When ravenous mutant locusts that clearly have been genetically spliced with dino DNA start ravishing the country’s crops, Dr. Ellie Sattler (Lauren Dern) calls upon Sam Neill’s Dr. Alan Grant to travel to Biosyn’s European sanctuary to get proof that they’re responsible for the devastation to America’s crops.

A good chunk of Dominion’s opening involves catching viewers up to this new world where dinosaurs and humans are trying (but failing) to coexist. There’s also a bunch of new characters to introduce, and plenty of reintroductions to make as well. As far as the new characters, DeWanda Wise’s pilot Kayla Watts, who gets roped into helping Claire and Owen, is one of the standouts, as is Ramsay Cole (Mamoudou Athie), an insider at Biosyn who idolizes Jeff Goldblum’s Dr. Ian Malcolm. As was the case with Jurassic Park, Goldblum tends to steal many scenes with a well-placed quip. It’s been so long since I saw Campbell Scott in a movie that I didn’t even recognize him as Lewis Dodgson, but man, is he still great at playing a despicable villain. (I only learned much later that the character appeared in Jurassic Park, played by a different actor.)

There’s a whole section of the movie in Malta where Claire and Owen are tracking down Beta (Blue’s kin) and Maisie within a den of black-market dino-traders. That section literally turns into something straight out of Bond or Bourne, with Dichen Lachman playing a character named Santos, who could just as well be Vanessa Kirby’s character from Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Yes, there are a lot of characters/elements to this movie, which may be one of its main drawbacks, but it’s also nice seeing Trevorrow branch out from the frequently-used remote island setting and delving into other genres. 

Recently, there was some conversation about whether Chris Pratt is a good actor (probably not) or an A-list star (definitely), and Dominion is more proof that Pratt can pull off a likeable every-man, but also a believable action star. Bryce Dallas Howard is right there with him in terms of the action, as are all the Jurassic Park veterans, who are used particularly well in this movie by being put on the same level as the Pratt/Howard duo. Sure, some could say it’s “fan service,” but they’re great characters, particularly Dern’s Ellie Satler, and it would have been a shame not to see them again.

Eventually, everyone gets to the Biosyn dinosaur sanctuary in (I think) Europe, and that’s where it starts delivering some of the things we’ve come to expect but also still manages a few surprises. Sure, we get some of the dinos we know and love, but we also get some rather strange anomalies – some bigger with larger teeth or claws, including a couple that just defy description, because they’re just so darn wacky. Honestly, you’d be best off asking a 10-year-old if these were real dinos or manufactured ones. I have no idea, but they’re bizarre and dangerous, and it leads to lots of humans being chased, a few less being eaten*, but mainly trying to avoid being trampled in a dinosaur battle.  (*I personally have nothing against BD Wong – loved him on Oz – but the fact that his Dr. Henry Wu somehow has survived this entire series, while being responsible for so much of the genetic chaos. I mean, seriously?)

Many times, the real hero of this movie, beyond the ILM visual effects team, is once again composer Michael Giacchino, who has once again taken the basis provided by John Williams and enhanced so much of the film’s emotions through his score.

Dominion is a thoroughly satisfying finale, because Colin Trevorrow has delivered an exceptional trilogy that only has a few minor drawbacks but recovers well from the pitfalls within Fallen Kingdom to deliver a far more entertaining conclusion with plenty of things to entertain fans of the franchise, both old and newer.

Rating: 8/10

Jurassic World: Dominion hits theaters across the nation on Thursday night, June 9.