Jurassic Park/World Mash Up Yields Only Average Results In World Dominion

 

Early on in Jurassic World Dominion, Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), returning to the team from the earlier generation of JP Universe characters, engages a baby dinosaur, gives it a rub on its horn, and exclaims with nostalgia “it never gets old”—well Dr. Sattler… it kind of does. It’s clear that World Dominion’s creators spent a lot of money and generated a large amount of CGI code to make the union of the Jurassic Park and the Jurassic World characters special and fresh. And I’ll give them credit for combining the old and new crews without invoking the multi-verse—bless them for this. But very little of the end product is fresh and the few pieces that are new and different are kind of silly. 

Dinosaurs of all shapes and number of teeth now run amok across the planet thanks to the disasters that occurred in the previous Jurassic films. And although these invasive species are now laying waste to the world’s ecosystems (including the human one), the story is the same—nasty humans in big corporations are still trying to exploit the animals for gain in numerous nefarious ways--shocking!  It is within these dire, yet usual, circumstances that our old and new Jurassic Park/World friends gather, like aged and dismissed superheroes, to, once again, rise up and try to save the planet. 

I’ll admit, it was fun to see the old crew—Dern’s Sattler, Sam Neil’s Dr. Alan Grant, and the always slightly askew Dr. Ian Malcolm played by Jeff Goldblum. They’ve gone their separate ways all these years but now unite to uncover a plot by the evil Biosyn Corporation that includes the release of giant prehistoric locusts (of all things) into the global ecosphere. Meanwhile the younger generation from Jurassic World (Chris Pratt’s Raptor training Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing) have hooked up and are attempting to preserve all dinosaurs one animal at a time in the most dangerous and inefficient fashions. Their dinosaur rescue efforts are kind of a side gig for them however, as they have a larger calling--keeping the clone of Charlotte Lockwood (daughter of Dr. Benjamin Lockwood, Dr. Hammonds former partner, see previous films) under cover as the evil corporations are after her too for convoluted reasons. 

Yes, there is a lot going on in World Dominion leading to some truly weak intrigue with our old heroes cloak and daggering their way into Biosyn while the more youthful heroes attempt to stifle the kidnapping of their ward, the young Lockwood. The result is a mash up that seems to aim toward a Mission Impossible and Indiana Jones vibe. Alas, the intrigue and ensuing action is not as clever or as tense as any of Tom Cruise’s MI cappers and Pratt is certainly not Harrison Ford. Soooo, we are left with the dinosaurs. And they are magnificently rendered… again. But how many times have we seen Velociraptors skid arounds turns and bump into walls as they chase elusive humans on slick surfaces. And how many times do we need to experience the “Apex Predator” throw down…? Six times is my guess, as there are six Jurassic Universe films. Steel yourself again for the same close calls. And prepare yourselves again to be relieved when the same escape maneuver is invoked… the magic extended hand. You know the trick, reach your hand out toward the dinosaur who is about to eat you and whisper “eeeeaaaasy Blue (or whatever name you’ve given your dinosaur)”—think Eleven from Stranger Things without the strained face and the nosebleed. It works every time. 

OK, OK… I know, I’m beating a dead T-Rex here, you got my drift long ago—I think World Dominion is significantly silly, in an average and reparative sort of way. It’s still a great looking ride even though you’ve seen most of the props before. Maybe a bigger view of the film’s prettiness would better counterbalance its mild staleness. Take in the film in on the IMAX, I didn’t but it might help. 5 out 10 for World Damion, and happy 4th.