Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)

[Eric Duncan]

Discuss

[Brainbug]

Ok, my spoiler review:

 

Things i loved or liked: The amount of different dinosaurs in here + the guest star Dimetrodon was great. Therizinosaurus and Giganotosaurus were the standouts for me, especially design-wise. The third act is a lot better than the first two, once theyre all on the BioSyn ground, it really feels like a Jurassic Park movie through and through. The dynamic between the old trio was most of the time very charming, though the dialogue is extremely cheesy in many scenes. Still, Alan, Ellie and Ian feel like themselves, which is the most important part. Other franchises get their old characters wrong, this one doesnt. Ian was very funny, Goldblum seems to have had a blast. Also, while there are not many scenes of it, everytime we see dinosaurs interacting with the world, its great. 

 

The World characters are all in all solid. Claire is definetly the best she was in this trilogy, Owen is ... well hes there and surprisingly i found Maisie not half as annoying as i though she would be. The plotline with her kidnapping and DNA stuff still was the slowest part of the film, but i didnt find it boring. The film is also a lot more funnier (both intentional AND unintenional) than probably every other JP movie. I liked the end fight, though its not as great as the one from JW, the stakes are a lot lower and the fight itself is just not as cool.

 

What i didnt like: The pacing in act 1 was too fast and the Malta Jason Bournce scene - while fun overall - had bad editing that reminded me of 2000s era action films, that was not great. Also, yes, the script is bad and cheesy and the whole subplot with the locusts - well, lets just say i was happy it was only a few scenes. The villains were laughable. Either be serious or go full hamm but this half-hamm of Dogson ... no, that didnt work for me. Also, his death should have been more graphic.

 

Still, i had a lot of fun with it and look forward to seeing it a lot more times. 8/10, a B+ for me. If i would rate it objectively as a movie, probably more like a C or C-, but since i cant judge these movies objectively in the first place, why bother?

 

Edit: After 5th viewing, its barely enough for my fanboy heart to give it an A-

Edited June 11, 2022 by Brainbug the Dinosaur

[THUNDER BIRD]

15 minutes ago, Brainbug the Dinosaur said:

Ok, my spoiler review:

 

Things i loved or liked: The amount of different dinosaurs in here + the guest star Dimetrodon was great. Therizinosaurus and Giganotosaurus were the standouts for me, especially design-wise. The third act is a lot better than the first two, once theyre all on the BioSyn ground, it really feels like a Jurassic Park movie through and through. The dynamic between the old trio was most of the time very charming, though the dialogue is extremely cheesy in many scenes. Still, Alan, Ellie and Ian feel like themselves, which is the most important part. Other franchises get their old characters wrong, this one doesnt. Ian was very funny, Goldblum seems to have had a blast. Also, while there are not many scenes of it, everytime we see dinosaurs interacting with the world, its great. 

 

The World characters are all in all solid. Claire is definetly the best she was in this trilogy, Owen is ... well hes there and surprisingly i found Maisie not half as annoying as i though she would be. The plotline with her kidnapping and DNA stuff still was the slowest part of the film, but i didnt find it boring. The film is also a lot more funnier (both intentional AND unintenional) than probably every other JP movie. I liked the end fight, though its not as great as the one from JW, the stakes are a lot lower and the fight itself is just not as cool.

 

What i didnt like: The pacing in act 1 was too fast and the Malta Jason Bournce scene - while fun overall - had bad editing that reminded me of 2000s era action films, that was not great. Also, yes, the script is bad and cheesy and the whole subplot with the locusts - well, lets just say i was happy it was only a few scenes. The villains were laughable. Either be serious or go full hamm but this half-hamm of Dogson ... no, that didnt work for me. Also, his death should have been more graphic.

 

Still, i had a lot of fun with it and look forward to seeing it a lot more times. 8/10, a B+ for me. If i would rate it objectively as a movie, probably more like a C or C-, but since i cant judge these movies objectively in the first place, why bother?

Act 1 could've used more dinosaurs.

 

From beginning news flash to Malta we had not many proper dinosaur scenes and that hurt the movie. 

 

Movie picked up with Malta scene, but throughot the runtime there were boring things scattered here and there because whenever Humans were on screen and locusts subplot, movie slowed down and that it's something they should've corrected. 

 

During the final act when locusts were less of a thing, movie picked back up. 

 

 

[THUNDER BIRD]

So basically every boring stuff in this movie was related to Locusts.

 

Once locusts were out of pictures, even the human stuff became better.

 

Although the final battle between Giganotosaurus and T Rex was disappointment, once if the reason was less of epic feel that was present in Jurassic World and second reason was the Lighting, it was too dark. 

[Menor the Destroyer]

I actually enjoyed the first act. In fact I was enjoying the movie quite well until the climax, as the Giga vs Rex was kinda a dud. Liked the Malta chase a lot as well as the Dimetrodons. Therizinosaurus was quite fun, although it made no sense that it would behave that way, but this franchise has never attempted accuracy, and it was definitely entertaining. 

 

I didn't mind the locusts part and thought the characters were generally handled fine. Dodgson was a weak villain but not cripplingly so. 

 

Overall B+

 

[cookie]

Probably the worst of the whole franchise just on account of how dull a lot of it is. So many dino sequences are either rehashes of encounters we’ve seen before, done to a rushed and underwhelming effect (the feathered raptor diving under the ice looked like it could be tense and scary, but it’s just nothing and it ends just as its starts), or are brought down by terrible editing (the Malta chase in particular is a big mess). There’s so many characters and plotlines to follow, and none of them feel fully developed or even made intriguing enough to care. The OG trio were decently entertaining (albeit Alan Grant didn’t get to do anything other than being Ellie’s sidekick), but I’m starting to think Trevorrow just doesn’t care about the JW cast and just uses them as chess pieces to move around the messy yet underwritten plot with. It becomes so dull after a while.

 

Not even the last dino fight is any real fun, since it’s a bout between three dinos who barely had an effect on anything (why couldn’t the T-Rex just inhabit the Giganotosaurus’s role and limit its rivalry to the blind claw dinosaur? Rexie is left being in the background with nothing to do until the very end). And only one guy gets eaten in the entire last half of the film and it’s a rehash of Dennis Nedry’s death in the original. So lame.

Edited June 11, 2022 by cookie

[Ipickthiswhiterose]

 

My 10 most ridiculous things in Jurassic World: Dominion, ranked:

Spoiler

10: The evil villainous plot in the film is......they want to correct the mistake they made and prevent a global catastrophe.

 

9: "Somehow, dinosaurs have spread across the world....."

 

8: Every evil corporation naturally employs someone specifically just to give lectures about how rubbish and awful they are.

 

7: "We need a clone like monitor lizards, so we are going to spend millions of dollars and make illegal contacts so we can take the baby of one specific dinosaur as a baseline clone. Rather than just use any monitor lizard like we said had the same properties at the start of this very speech"

 

6. Dinosaur doesn't understand the material properties of water.

 

5. Former veloceraptor trainer has powers of arrest in Malta.

 

4. Big locusts can sustain heat of what was visibly thousands of degrees.

 

3. Same locusts resurrect because....the power comes back on.

 

2. We join the action in media res as our kidnappers have been holding the wealthiest girl in the world and telling her that she can never leave the house for four years now. She has Stockholm syndrome. These are our heroes. (okay that's an exaggeration, but seriously why do they think people are after the girl? The only reason they're *actually* after the girl is to solve the locust issue.....but Clare and Owen don't know about that. So what's even going on there? The girl is supposed to be a multimillionairess with, presumably, a colossal trust fund. And whatever happened at the end of the second film they're clearly holding her against her will to a large degree now)

 

1. Magic hands, obviously.

 

Whimsy aside, I think it was the best of the trilogy as it has more fun value from the production design elements (the paleontological dig, the cave scenes, the parachute scene were all lovely and tactile and made me feel invited into the environment) and an extended action scene early on that while rather silly was certainly well choreographed and a good action sequence.

Lots of sequences at the beginning of Act 3 felt like a fun theme park experience.

 

The narrative though was a mess, and most of all from my subjective experience is the series has simply never recovered in the human area from having such blandly designed lead characters and casting a pair with so little chemistry. Owen and Clare are the problem with the trilogy for me, not the dinos or even the logical issues.

 

JP: A+

Lost World: C

JP 3: C-

JW: D+

FK: D

Dominion: C-

[DAR]

Yes it was long and a bit silly but overall I had fun.  3 1/2 out of 5.

[Jonwo]

I'm not sure if Tim Cook should be offended or flattered that the villain is basically a thinly veiled version of him. I think the movie probably would have been a lot shorter if they basically had asked Maisie nicely for her and Beta's DNA and gave her tons of dosh and a nice facility to stay in.

 

How Henry Wu hasn't been barred from any sort of scientific position is beyond me, Man is a walking disaster. 

 

 

[titanic2187]

I think the weakest aspect of the film is the story and editing. The direction is poorly executed and lack of a cohesive plot. Too many last minute rescue and lack of actual casualty, especially to its principal cast, to keep the tension and thrilling effect. 

 

At least the dinosaur chase is still fun to watch, with obviously better VFX. 5.5/10.

 

 

[filmlover]

A technically well-done but very dull conclusion that overstays its welcome at nearly 2.5 hours. It's definitely the weakest of the World trilogy for sure, and an unfortunate reminder that none of the sequels have ever come close to capturing the magic and thrills of the original Jurassic Park (which will always be one of my favorite movies). This new set of movies spent the previous two building up a world in which dinosaurs and humans live together and they decide to shift the focus from that to...a worldwide agricultural crisis caused by really big locusts? Seriously?

 

The questionable choices don't stop there. Perhaps the biggest sin it commits most of all is that it hardly even feels like a movie from the Jurassic franchise most of the time. For a series where the main attraction is seeing dinosaurs (and seeing them attacking people), Dominion somehow ends up underusing the creatures, as if they ran out of the budget or something (although it must be said that the dinosaurs here might be the best-looking ones in the whole series). Plot and character motivations are disjointed, and while some of the action sequences are impressive, too much of it comes off as reheated set pieces from the previous movies (what even was that bizarre dip into James Bond/Mission: Impossible territory with that extended chase scene in Malta?). And the attempts at evoking nostalgia for the '93 movie mostly fall flat.

 

Did all of the actors make this movie only for the paychecks? Pratt and Howard sleepwalk through the whole thing as if they're only here because of the contractual obligation, and while it's initially a delight to see Sam Neill and Laura Dern again (plus Jeff Goldblum and BD Wong in increased roles from before), the movie ends up giving its legacy characters disappointingly little to do compared to expectations.

 

It's not nearly as bad as some have made it out to be, but if Universal tries to bring their most prized franchise back again in a couple of years, hopefully they'll be able to cook up something a lot more satisfying than this underwhelming send-off.

 

C

Edited June 12, 2022 by filmlover

[Webslinger]

Watching Jurassic World: Dominion provides a bizarre experience: even though almost all the major players here have been involved in the production of at least one prior Jurassic film, this latest outing feels so disconnected from the heart and essence of this franchise that it feels like it’s being made by people who either haven’t seen a Jurassic film or do not understand how one is supposed to work. Much like Fallen Kingdom before it, Dominion’s biggest flaw is that it is an overstuffed affair where it feels like the filmmakers couldn’t decide which pitch they wanted to go with, so they just smushed all of them together. The differences this time, however, are that the returning Jurassic World actors feel less invested this time out, the longer running time makes for an even more plodding experience, and – most galling of all – the dinosaurs feel more like a nuisance the narrative must occasionally deal with than the star attraction they should be. There are also attempts to cater to nostalgia for the original with the reunion of Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum, but they are saddled with relatively little of interest to do and never really feel like they’re playing the same characters from the 1993 original (which I suppose could be blamed at least partially on the sequels they previously appeared in, which also basically forgot about their character arcs from the original). On a story level, the film is overstuffed with exposition and a convoluted plot, but little of it is interesting, and there’s also an excursion into Malta that feels like it belongs in an entirely different franchise. On a dinosaur level, the film also largely fails to capture even the cheesy, flippant fun of director Colin Trevorrow’s 2015 Jurassic World, let alone the awe and tension of the Spielberg original; at no point do the dinosaurs feel as impactful as they should in a franchise built around them. The action sequences are big and loud, but not especially engaging; they’re basically just elaborate sequences that involve CGI dinosaurs in some way (as opposed to being built around the dinosaurs), and they lack the energy of Trevorrow’s previous stint in the director’s chair. With less emphasis on the dinosaurs, it’s up to the human characters in front of the screen to carry the film, and they mostly seem checked out. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard feel like mere stock characters despite being the leads of this trilogy, Campbell Scott is a lame villain, and the returning legacy cast members try to make the proceedings fun, but are working within a script that does not figure out any really compelling ways to use them. Heading into Dominion, I really wanted to have a good time; I love the original film (because honestly, who doesn’t?) and even count the first Jurassic World as a huge guilty pleasure. However, what we get here is a crushing disappointment that squanders virtually all the potential present in the idea of dinosaurs living alongside humans and forgets the terror, wonder, and fun that made the better installments of this franchise work.
 

C-

[Avatree]

I enjoyed it. Not sure what the critics are seeing that's so bad. Yes it is "more of the same" but the action sequences are well done, it's tense when required, scary when required, and emotional at the right moments, even maybe possibly brought a tear to my eye at one point.

 

No there is no depth to it but as a B-movie it is fine. C

[MrFanaticGuy34]

Almost mostly copied from what i said in the Jurassic World: Dominion thread:
 

I really genuinely adore this film and had such a huge blast. I found the many good (great even) moments to overshadow the few bad ones. 

 

As many die-hard Jurassic lovers pointed out, the return of the OG trio JP characters together like Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler & Ian Malcolm, is such a delight. And the original cast really delivered here. Even the JW characters are very engaging as well. I really liked Owen, Claire & Maisie with the roles they have. Especially Maisie being one of the better & endearing kid/teen characters in the Jurassic franchise alongside Tim & Lex from the first Jurassic Park.

 

The action (even the dino-action) here was very well-used here. I know there are some complaints of it being either too much or lack of it, but I think there was necessarily enough action to also make room for the more tender, calmer and even tense moments in the film.

 

The dinos themselves are also well used enough here. At times there’s CGI (though great-looking ones) and other times they’re done practically like the dinos more close to the characters. It was cool to see both old & new dinosaurs in the film. Rexy was cool as always & Blue and it’s offspring Beta were fun to see. The Giganotosaurus was a really menacing & threatening Dino-villain (in a cool way) up there with Spinosaurus & Indominus Rex amongst one of the top Jurassic Dino baddies. Even the herbivorous dinos are put to good use here.

 

Also…I’m aware of the backlash the film got due to the aspect of locusts, but to be honest…I didn’t mind the locusts in the film. I think they serve enough as a threat to what happens if we humans aren’t careful. I think it served as a new & interesting thing we haven’t seen before in any of the previous five films.

 

 

Then there’s the epicly awesome battle between Rexy & Therizinosaurus vs the Giganotosaurus in the climax. And while it’s not as grandiose & earth-shaking as the battle against the Indominus Rex from the fourth film, this one is still one of the most suspenseful & breathtaking dino-fights in the entire Jurassic franchise. I rooted for Rexy to win and not to die, and thank god she stayed alive.

 

All in all…I can understand why some folks don’t like the film or so (and it’s perfectly fine), but I don’t think it deserved the severe hate it got, at all. So I short, I loved it. Is it the first JP? No. But is it really worth watching as a Jurassic fan & as a general dinosaur fan and who wants to see cool dinos and engaging human protagonist characters? Yes.

 

Overall, a very satisfying conclusion of the Jurassic World-films. And a true defender of it.

 

My score for this, is a strong enough:

 

A

9/10