Riot’s Movie Reviews: Jurassic World Dominion
Society’s come a long way since 1994. For the most part, there’s not a whole lot of people still wearing hot pants and tearfully singing along with Boy’s II Men or All-4-One. (Although when it comes to cyclical fashion, I might be very wrong about the hot pants comment.) As technology advances and people’s tastes adapt, one would think storylines and film plots would make shifts themselves. For the modern-day movie industry, this appears to be false. Films like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick are cashing in on a reboot/nostalgia trend that Hollywood finds itself currently entrenched in. Jurassic World Dominion is no exception. Unfortunately for director Colin Trevorrow and the old and new faces of the Jurassic franchise, more innovation is needed to fully sustain a film in this reboot genre.
To be perfectly honest, it’s hard to pinpoint where the film actually goes wrong and the more I think about it, the more I come to understand that it boils down to a simple idea: nostalgia wears off. The once unprecedented and fear-inducing world where dinosaurs and humans co-exist has faded, translating into dino chase scenes or games of hide-and-seek that lost the anxious gut feeling that the original installations brought to the table. The main premise of the film, a “covert” mission to find a way to stop a plague of prehistoric, genetically modified locust from destroying the food chain, falls short when set against the reality of a global food shortage in real life! Ideas borrowed from other franchises (like a Star Wars, cantina-like, dinosaur black market) fail to hit home and a main staple of people getting eaten by dinosaurs ends up getting scaled back for the sake of plot lines that aren’t thrilling or interesting enough. There was a tangible fear that used to exist in these films, not so much anymore. It’s also a strange choice to highlight a plotline of “don’t trust corporations” in a post-shutdown world seemingly hell-bent on doing exactly that. In particular, having the villain (Campbell Scott who was by far, the worst part of the movie) be a quasi-eccentric Steve Jobs weirdo, made so little sense it was laughable. The majority of performances straddled the line of good/bad, making each what I can only describe as blasé. The preponderance of action scenes are driven by Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt, outside of that, the chemistry between the two (parents? lovers? Can’t tell) is fairly lackluster. What was meant to be the drawing factor to the film, the nostalgic return of Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum on the same screen since 1994, wasn’t enough to ignore the pitfalls of their performances.
Now, I will say that I didn’t hate this movie. In reality, Dominion had a whole lot going for it. Special effects being what they are these days, all of the featured dinos were incredibly impressive. (As was the character’s performances with and in response to giant lizards that aren’t actually there.) I am particularly fond of realistic/functional animatronics, something that was not lacking in this film. The audience was treated to a number of new dinosaurs, many of which were given new plumage that reflects scientific discoveries about the world’s feathered ancestors. The action/chase scenes (however characteristically cheesy) were fast-paced and entertaining. Performance-wise, gold stars go to the newest faces of the franchise: DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, and Isabella Sermon, the kids were looking to really make their mark. Throwbacks to the previous installments are scattered throughout the film for a sharp-eye to pick out; I found the one involving an infamous shaving cream canister and its wielder’s ultimate demise particularly fun. Even the final and inevitable T-Rex battle was actually worth waiting for. However inelegant, it doesn’t seem like these fights can ever not be entertaining.
As it stands, if you’ve gone to see every Jurassic film so far, there’s nothing that should keep you from seeing this one. But put simply, the ‘member berries just weren’t enough to carry this film into a likeable, more than middle pack category. I definitely don’t regret going, but I will be putting this viewing into the “one and done” catalog of films. Finally, as has become custom for my reviews: parents, think twice before bringing your kids.
Riot’s Rating: 6.2/10
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