Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

I'll start out by saying the Jurassic franchise is one of the many that are based on one amazing first movie that none of the rest of come even close to approaching. While we each might have one of the sequels we enjoy for whatever reason (I like Jurassic World way more than most people do), none in the series never manages to capture the magic of Jurassic Park. I didn't go into Dominion expecting it would be anything more than it was.  

The film's plot requires quire a few incredible coincidences to meet its points. The film doesn't give the legacy characters a satisfying conclusion to their stories as started out in the first film (with the exception of perhaps Dr. Wu who in his brief screen time gets some redemption). The film better serves the story arcs of the World characters than the Park characters generally who are not necessarily characters I care that much about. But instead of focusing on what doesn't work, I'll instead explain why I still had a good time watching Dominion. 

The dino action is top notch. There I said it. Except for the first film, this is why we buy our tickets. I want to see dino action and Dominion gives it to you in spades. They didn't pull any of the made up dinosaur stuff in this one so you just get to see some of your favourite dinos attack people, attack each other. The action sequences are really quite good and keep you on the edge of your seat. As the film even says outright, you don't get used to seeing dinosaurs roam the earth. It never gets old. 

And the film holds up the franchise's critique of capitalism quite well, perhaps even driving it home more than the earlier films. This one, along with Lost Kingdom before it, focus heavily on corporate greed and how the profit margin drives immoral and reprehensible, even planet destroying, behavior. We need that in popular blockbusters so I was happy to see they were leaning into it so strong. 

So while the character development was weak and the plot required more suspension of disbelief than most can manage, Jurassic Park Dominion was fun and exciting. Would I have loved to see a legacy sequel that could hold its own with the original film? Damn right I would. But I'll take this silly monster movie if I can't get another masterpiece. I know they said this is the end of the Jurassic series but come on...we all know the only way movie franchises die is when they stop making money and not even then sometimes. We're not there yet. Maybe there is another great Jurassic film in our future. Maybe not. But I'll keep going to see fun dinosaur movies as long as they keep making them and Dominion was enough for me to have fun. 

Jurassic World Dominion

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, BD Wong, Omar Sy, Campbell Scott, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie

Director: Colin Trevorrow

Writer: Emily Carmichael, Colin Trevorrow