Jurassic World Dominion

Ages ago, I said in my review for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) that I was excited for the third film in the rebooted franchise to come out. I’m a fan of dinosaurs and never particularly minded going back to the well for stories and ideas. Provided a movie knows what it is about and asks a question that matters, I’m willing to see any number of sequels.

My optimism betrayed me. Jurassic World Dominion opens with a news story, illustrating what life has been like the past few years now that humans and dinosaurs are living alongside each other. Cut to a Tim Cook impersonator, extolling the innovative technological and pharmaceutical benefits his company “Biosyn” can glean from these dinosaurs’ genes and we already know the end. I mean, they’re just not even trying at this point.

Bryce Dallas Howard’s “Claire” and Chris Pratt’s “Owen” are just a regular couple, chilling/hiding out in the forest with now teen, Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), a human clone determined to have evil scientists discover her. Wouldn’t you know it, they do and kidnap her and Owen’s velociraptor Blue’s baby. You see, dinosaurs aren't supposed to be able to reproduce, but somehow, we’re going to keep acting shocked when we fill dinosaur gene gaps with the same amphibious DNA from Jurassic Park I that can change its sex in a single-sex environment. Life can't help but find a way.

We reunite with Laura Dern as “Ellie Sattler” who’s on a mission to discover why foot-long locusts are eating everyone’s crops except Biosyn’s (because Biosyn also does agricultural things). She recruits Sam Neill’s “Alan Grant” to head to Biosyn’s fortress in Italy’s Dolomite mountain range. Jeff Goldblum’s “Ian Malcolm” has been hired as a consultant there and he knows something’s up. You might be wondering why Biosyn hired the guy whose sole purpose is to tell them they’re making terrible decisions, but it’s anybody’s guess, really.

Having the original characters back made me pine for the original Jurassic Park. It packaged an enduring question into an engaging, genuine, action-packed story: just because we can do something, does it follow that we should?

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Having the original characters back made me pine for the original Jurassic Park. It packaged an enduring question into an engaging, genuine, action-packed story: just because we can do something, does it follow that we should?

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And because it begs the question, we spend the story trying to answer it. We try to reconcile Dr. Malcolm’s reservations about playing God with John Hammond’s idealism of such. We know it has to be a bad idea, but what if, what if maybe…?

Jurassic World Dominion asks no such thing. Frankly, it doesn’t even bother to ask a question at all. There is no mystery or wonder or terror at what we're capable of. There are just wildly implausible things that happen because SCIENCE! and PLOT!, forcing characters to run around, chased by dinosaurs whose CGI at times seems weirdly regressive compared to Jurassic World’s first two installments.

Perhaps I’d forgive Jurassic World Dominion’s complete inability to foreshadow in any mildly competent way if the characters interacted with each other (and the plot), in such a way as to suggest the screenwriters (Director Colin Trevorrow and Emily Carmichael) had actually seen people talk to each other before. Dinosaurs may be a relic, but the emotions and relationships and questions the characters ask aren’t. If you fill an unbelievable movie with real people, the dinosaurs will follow in kind.

One of the most egregious character issues is Campbell Scott’s "Lewis Dodgson," the CEO of Biosyn. His first draft lines and quirks and queries for food never quite mesh toward a socially awkward Silicon Valley-type genius. It doesn’t help that he’s surrounded by Mamoudou Athie’s assistant "Ramsay Cole" who’s never quite readable and BD Wong as the recurring "Dr. Henry Wu" who just looks like he’s on the verge of tears the entire time (he deserved so much better as a character).

It must be said, it’s not the actors’ fault. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are fine carrying on as the film’s leads, and the reunion of Sam Neill and Laura Dern’s "Grant" and "Sattler" is sweet and genuine. They’re all just stuck in a script that insists on telling you the plot instead of telling you a story.

The one bright meteor in Jurassic World Dominion is the return of our favorite characters. But, if that’s the best that can be said, why not watch the far superior Jurassic Park instead? Plus, if you already own the VHS tape, you won’t lose five bucks.