Jurassic World Dominion

Writing as someone who adored dinosaurs as a child and who would also rank Jurassic Park among some of my personal favourite films, the idea of more stories about the giant beasts that once roamed the earth should easily win me over but somehow the Jurassic World franchise has failed to really even come close. The first film in 2015 was little more than a bland reimagining of the iconic original and the sequel, Fallen Kingdom in 2018, tried to get creative but was ultimately a forgettable action flick with a few moments of suspense. Despite a cliffhanger of sorts ending, there wasn't much of a demand for a third but nonetheless, Jurassic World Dominion released in 2022 going for something even bigger and bolder. Could this one with the director of the first, Colin Trevorrow, finally get things together?

Dinosaurs once walked the earth freely and now, owing to a bizarre decision by the clone girl in the second film, they have been unleashed on the world causing all kinds of chaos. This might raise a few ethical questions about the death and destruction at the result of this but the film is more interested in focusing on a new sinister corporation that is using prehistoric locusts to target crops and damage their competitors around the world. But in order to prove more effective with their work, they go after the girl who is now under the protection of Claire and Owen. Meanwhile we are also reintroduced to Alan, Ellie and Ian from the first film who find themselves caught amongst the locust problem.

Now there wasn't much talk of dinosaurs in the description, you say? Well Trevorrow seems more interested in this locust plot and the concept of dinosaurs terrorizing the land, sea and air is reserved only for the action sequences. And sadly the big beasts are nothing more than window dressing, offering a few moments of cheap tension here and there while lacking any real sense of danger which Steven Spielberg so expertly produced. 

The story itself is largely bland and uninteresting given the lack of any real dinosaur peril but it just about keeps running thanks to the impressive visuals and comedic moments so neatly delivered by Jeff Goldblum. It's just unfortunate that everything just feels so thinly tied together by action scenes without much logic, craft or care as to how to get A to B making for a forgettable popcorn experience which I can already feel fading from memory. The sight of the original trio proves once again that nostalgia can only go so far as the seasoning to a recipe and you still need a solid story to form the meat of the film. 

Jurassic World Dominion benefits from a couple of entertaining moments but the apple really has fallen far from the tree given where this story began in 1993. The Lost World briefly explored the exciting concept of dinosaurs being released into the public and this should have taken things to a new level as there is so much potential for a thrilling disaster film. Jaws but with prehistoric dinosaurs? Sign me up any day! Instead, we get a brief glimpse of what that might be like before the big bugs arrive making for quite a duff way to round out this trilogy which never quite lived up to its potential.