CAPSULE REVIEW: “Jurassic World: Dominion” Surpasses Fallen Kingdom But Not Much Else
5/12 ForReel Score | 2/5 Stars
Jurassic World: Dominion bills itself as the epic conclusion of the Jurassic World Saga. Epic, this critic would argue, is a gross overstatement and yet another example that a film can't survive solely on nostalgia. While it's nice to see the old fan favorites back in action in a substantial way, the film lacks dino-human interactions and a complete finale.
In Dominion, Ellie Sadler (Laura Dern) employs the help of her former flame, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) to investigate a corporation creating genetically engineered locusts that could cause world famine. Meanwhile, Owen (Chris Pratt), and Claire (Bryce Dallas-Howard) are in hiding to protect the identity of Masie (Isabella Sermon) and living alongside escaped raptor Blue.
Dominion could best be described as a film full of missed opportunities. Short films Prologue and Battle At Big Rock were initially part of the film but cut to reduce the runtime down to 2 hours 27 minutes. The problem is the marketing sold us goods based on those premises and then went a completely different direction - an unacceptable bait and switch for attentive moviegoers. Dr. Grant is completely out of his element and it's painful to watch despite Dern and Neill still having great chemistry. A couple of new characters are simply plot devices to save our protagonists or get them from point A to B. Jurassic Park broke the special effects barrier for living beasts 29 years ago and for the most part the effects are good but the raptor chase looks terrible and rushed.
On the bright side, the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World scores are still some of the best in the business and worthy of recognition. But no amount of nostalgic character insertion can save Dominion from incredibly lofty expectations. The Jurassic Saga ends without a roar - just an unimposing whimper.
Acting and Casting - 1 | Visual Effects and Editing - 1 | Story and Message - 0 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 2 | Reviewer's Preference - 0 | What does this mean?