The Mosley Review: Jurassic World: Dominion
Do you remember the first time you saw Jurassic Park? I do. It was full of wonderment, terror, adventure and morality. The many themes that were explored in that film was truly astounding and the reason why it stands the test of time. The dinosaurs were amazing to witness as the blend of practical and digital technology was state of the art and brought dinosaurs to back to life. It was about them and the people that would try and escape those creatures. Now fast forward past the sequels to 2015 where dinosaurs are back in another theme park. Jurassic World opened a new avenue that had so much potential and also really highlighted the stupidity of the smartest people in these films. It was a fun ride don't get me wrong, but if it had stopped there then I think this franchise would've been saved from the absolute travesty Fallen Kingdom was and the abysmal finale this film was. I loved seeing the dinosaurs again and hearing the warm Jurassic Park and Jurassic World themes return, but sadly this film forgot to include the one part of the story that everyone cares about: the dinosaurs. These films have always had an environmental protection and evolutionary plotline consistently carry through, but now it takes the forefront. The amount of retreading the same plotlines, lack of tension and straight up espionage was tiresome and downright boring. Character development is almost completely out the window and its sad to say because there are some actually great performances that are bogged down by this mess of a film.
Chris Pratt returns as Owen Grady and he is straight up a superhero at this point. He doesn't really go anywhere new as a character, but it was fun to watch him do almost all the action in the film. Bryce Dallas Howard was good in the film as Claire Dearing and her chemistry with Owen is still intact. They're a great pair and do well together, but they spend most of the film apart. Isabella Sermon returns as Maisie Lockwood and she does well portraying the rebellious teen. She does double duty in the film and really shows some of range as an up and coming actress. DeWanda Wise was awesome as the pilot Kayla Watts. She handled herself so well in all of her scenes and she even stole the spotlight from the main cast. BD Wong returns as Dr. Henry Wu and you truly see the sadness that he carries from the destructive nature of his work. I loved that he finally learned from his mistakes and was trying to make things right after 4 films. Campbell Scott portrays the returning character from Jurassic Park, Dr. Lewis Dodgson, CEO of Biosyn Genetics. He was good as always and I liked that the character was eccentric and awkward at times. He was definitely the weakest villain of the entire franchise though. Laura Dern returns as Dr. Ellie Sattler and she was as radiant and badass as you remember her to be. Sam Neill dawns the iconic fedora again as Dr. Allen Grant and he hasn't skipped a beat. He is still his grumpy self, but is always up for an adventure. The chemistry between Ellie and Allen was the standout of the film and I loved that there is a flame still burning between them. The loveable Jeff Goldblum is back in black as Dr. Ian Malcolm and he is still the chaos theory loving hero we know and love. Seeing the three of them together again was magical and they all get their moments to shine.
The score by Michael Giachinno is thunderous and pulse pounding in the best way as this was the most action heavy of all Jurassic films. He excelled in delivering new, tension filled and emotional themes when the film called for them. Like I said before, these films used to be about so much more than just cheesy dialogue and ridiculous action, but now this film showed that the main focus was completely lost after Jurassic Park. Jurassic World at least took the idea from Park and ran with it. There were globe trotting elements of the film that I liked and the action was sometimes cool, but it became a boring and predictable action film that didn't need the dinosaurs in the long run. I'm not really spoiling anything, but the last 30 minutes of the film is exactly the same as the first Jurassic World and sloppily done I might add. I'm just glad that this franchise is now what it should’ve been after the first Jurassic World, extinct. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
