In Jurassic World: Dominion, humanity is beset by two man-made disasters: dinosaurs running amok and gigantic locusts devouring the food supply. The former is fallout from the previous movie, where the baddie had the brilliant idea to hold a dinosaur auction in his mansion. The latter is the result of some nefarious genetic engineering on behalf of Biosyn, run by ruthless tech bro Dodgson (Campbell Scott). Not content with controlling the world’s food supply, Dodgson is searching for Maisie (Isabella Sermon), a genetically-engineered clone who is now the ward of Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard).
The supersized locusts catch the attention of Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), who promptly recruits old flame Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) to visit the Biosyn headquarters at the behest of mutual friend Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). (They need a locust sample to prove that Biosyn is behind the big bugs.) The headquarters doubles as a dinosaur sanctuary, and you just know the dinosaurs won’t be kept under wraps for long. After Dodgson’s henchmen kidnap Maisie and Blue’s baby raptor, Owen and Claire head for Biosyn to retrieve their children. After running from dinosaurs separately, the two casts unite so they can run away from the dinosaurs together.
Dominion is not a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination. Its plot is driven by coincidences and contrivances. The dialog is mostly perfunctory. In spite of its limitations, I enjoyed it. In the sixth entry of this franchise, the filmmakers can still rely on a solid performance by Pratt and a tolerable one by Howard to anchor the proceedings. The dino-action is, as always, top notch. The movie avoids the unforced errors that sank Fallen Kingdom, in that nobody does anything glaringly stupid. I’m not sure if the reappearance of OG trio Neill, Dern and Goldblum was a panic movie to regain fans after that disastrous sequel, but it ultimately disappoints, with the gentlemen tossing gutterballs. (Dern emerges unscathed.)
Fortunately, the chances director/writer Colin Trevorrow took with the story succeeded, and turned the movie into something better than the sum of its parts. He thankfully moves the franchise beyond the tired “dinosaurs as entertainment” angle into interesting new territory. He shows us what a world where dinosaurs and humans coexist actually looks like. Then, he explores how the genetic engineering used to bring dinosaurs back to life could make things dramatically worse for humankind. Finally, he turns the question of dominion on its head for a theme of cooperation and collaboration. The movie also introduces several intriguing new characters, including DeWanda Wise’s tart cargo pilot Kyla, Dichen Lachman’s henchwoman Soyona and Mamoudou Athie’s Ramsey, an heir-apparent to Goldblum’s Malcolm. Omar Sy is also back, and if this series will continue with another trilogy, he should be given the leading role. Dominion takes risks when none were expected, and for that it earns my respect. Recommended.
Continue reading “Jurassic World: Dominion”