A gem
of work that immediately became a classic, and even though The Lost World
and Jurassic World are also good films, the saga spawned significantly weaker
successors on every level. Even though Fallen Kingdom was a huge letdown for most
viewers, the cliffhanger finale set up a fantastic premise for the future part.
How could a story about dinosaurs resurfacing all over the planet while humans learn
to coexist with them fail to succeed? Sadly, Jurassic World Dominion succeeds
in achieving this "feat" of failure.
This
was the film the director had always wanted to make inside the legendary
story, but the truth is that the most engaging and exciting portion of the
premise is reduced to a brief, exposition-heavy depiction. Dominion begins up a
few years after the previous film's conclusion, which means that all of the
turmoil, terror, war, natural conflicts, and much more are hidden from view.
Instead, viewers are transported to a time where humans have become accustomed
to coexisting with dinosaurs, as well as other animals and nature. So, how did
Trevorrow and co-writer Emily Carmichael come up with their story?
A
basic, predictable screenplay centered on espionage and Taken-inspired subplots
throughout its 146-minute length, entirely shifting all attention to human
characters and putting dinosaurs as simple extras with infrequent big-screen
cameos. Trevorrow crams two films into one, making the film needlessly long.
Dominion commits the worst crime a summer blockbuster can commit: boredom. From
a cliche antagonistic CEO with futile motivations to the terrible decision to
split the cast – the original actors only meet the new ones after the beginning
of the third act – Dominion commits the worst crime a summer blockbuster can
commit: boredom.
Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris
Pratt are embroiled in a kidnapping-rescue plot that goes through the most
inexcusable areas of logical nonsense, but the main problem is the lack of
effect or value to the overall story. All attempts to reclaim what they've lost
have no effect on the primary plot. Only one new character would be lost if the
handoff and subsequent chase action in Malta were deleted from the film -
DeWanda Wise is fantastic as Kayla Watts, but she doesn't cease being just
another adventure companion with no emotional development or growth.
Furthermore, Dominion fails to deliver even the tensest action moments.
It's
truly astonishing that a 2022 blockbuster can't harness the technology that
allows spectacular visual effects to create jaw-dropping dinosaurs, whether
it's due to the awful shaky cam or the incredibly choppy editing. The dinosaur
action is not only scant throughout two and a half hours, but it also lacks
tension, suspense, and energy for the most part. In fact, only the best sequence
of Dominion manages to avoid this boring feeling: a brief scene between Claire
and a very specific dinosaur species will have everyone on the edge of their
seats. I wish the rest of the movies were as good in terms of technical
excellence and entertainment value.
Finally, Dominion's
decision to place the emotional weight of the entire plot on Maisie Lockwood
(Isabella Sermon) proves to be a complete failure. Clearly, the young actress
does her best with what she has, but Owen's bond with Blue, the "adopted"
Velociraptor, has a lot more promise that goes untapped. The bond between
Maisie, Owen, and Claire matured and cemented off-screen, pushing viewers to
care about a character more than they were supposed to because there wasn't
much to care about because there wasn't much to care about. Dominion closes the
narrative in a horrible fashion because of decisions like this and many
others... at least until a new trilogy emerges in the future.
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