Jurassic World: Dominion: Still Falling Short
One thing we can say for certain with six Jurassic Park movies, is that there is an appetite for this franchise. The success of the first film of each trilogy buoyed lesser films (even though I’ll defend Jurassic Park III), and its success spanning multiple decades is quite impressive. Even without any of the following films coming close to the original, the Jurassic Park franchise is in an elite class. Like, pretty much, every other franchise the key to its success lies with the original. There are many things that make Jurassic Park such a legendary film, with Steven Spielberg topping that list. Another factor is how it captures the wonder of dinosaurs, through both children and adults. It then takes this premise and runs it to its most terrifying conclusion. That dichotomy is incredible.
The 2015 reboot, Jurassic World, was able to capture some of the same magic. It attempted to find the same balance as Jurassic Park, and certainly had moments of success. The actualization of the park is wondrous and thrilling, but the fear in Chris Pratt as he’s sprays gasoline on himself to cover up his scent is palpable. Ultimately, it falls far short of the original and creates a wholly unique issue found within all of the recent trilogy. Indicative of the time and mostly present in the new Jurassic World: Dominion, is an overstuffed plot. Jurassic World introduces the ridiculous idea of training raptors to use them in the military, and things get even dumber from there. It all comes to a head in Dominion, a film that still captures some of the wonder of living with and amongst dinosaurs, but is bogged down with far too many ideas.
The word ‘wonder’ continuously comes to mind because there is no better description when imagining dinosaurs living in our world. At this point, they feel like mythical creatures, extinct far before our time, but the intrigue still remains. Seeing a creature as mysterious and interesting as a dinosaur just wandering around and eating trees is exciting. The amazement of seeing them in a park is more thrilling than anything a zoo could offer. That feeling, that wonderment is what this franchise is based on. Each film has been able to capture some element of that and as such, finds some level of entertainment.
Without a park to return to, Dominion takes us to a secluded area, in which the dinosaurs can roam, somewhat freely. Here is where we are introduced to a new dinosaur, the new apex predator. Seeing the dinosaurs roam this territory, interacting with each other and with humans remains exciting. It’s thrilling to see a dinosaur dive underwater and swim during an attack. The look of amazement from Sam Neal and Laura Dern at merely seeing a dinosaur, still creates wonder. It’s in these moments when Dominion levels the playing field, bringing back that nostalgia and makes everyone feel like a child.
On the opposite spectrum, is the fear and the thrills. A car chase sequence with raptors through a city, delivers on that. As does an incredible sequence, in which all of our characters (both new and old) are being hunted by our new apex predator. Packed all throughout Dominion, these sequences are genuinely thrilling and deliver on the promise of a Jurassic Park movie. While never close to the original, finding this balance is key. It’s where Dominion is able to execute the best parts of the Jurassic Park movies.
Where it fails, is where so many modern blockbusters fail. It’s that unique to the new trilogy problem of overstuffing a film. As great as it is to see the original cast back, it adds to the character list in an overwhelming way. Other than nostalgia they don’t bring much to the film and contribute to that bloated feeling. With so many characters, comes plots and character arcs that stretch this movie to the limit. Nearly two and a half hours is a long time to be in a Jurassic Park movie. Especially when a good portion of that time is dealing with nonsensical plot, that has less to do with the dinosaurs and more to do with the humans.
Dominion becomes the worst part of modern blockbusters by dragging in thematic elements meant to reflect society and “say something”. Instead of simply entertaining us in the unique way a Jurassic Park movie can, Dominion is commentating on all sorts of unnecessary things. Some of this is the fallout of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which brings in all sorts of themes that drag that movie into the mud. Dominion is working through some of that, unfortunately that is what our main characters are tied up in. However, it’s the justification for bringing back the original cast that is the bigger head scratcher.
Genetically modified locusts from dinosaur DNA, are attacking farms to deplete the world's food supply so everyone will be forced to go to one company for their food? That is the driving plot of this film and the reason doctors Sattler, Grant and Malcolm are back. Apart from the believability of something like this, why is a Jurassic Park movie attached to this? This desire to be more than simply entertaining is what has dragged down this new trilogy, each and every time. Unfortunately, Dominion doesn’t rectify this problem, it becomes another example of it.
Jurassic Park is a unique franchise. With a premise that cannot be copied anywhere else, it holds an ability to drive audiences to the theater every time. Our societal fascination with dinosaurs has allowed one tremendous film to become a trilogy and then a franchise. There is no real doubt that more movies will come in the future and that people will watch them. As long as they attempt to capture the dichotomy of wonderment and fear, then they will be passable, like this new trilogy. However, if this franchise ever wants to capture the glory of its original it needs to spend more time capturing what that film did. Not by using our love of it to drown us in a mess of environmental messaging and convoluted plot.
