MOVIE REVIEW: Jurassic World: Dominion

 

This is the third entry into the Jurassic World trilogy, that being the second film trilogy about live dinosaurs that have been brought back into the world through modern genetic tampering. In this, the dinosaurs that were inadvertently let loose in the last movie are now roaming the world at will, creating an almost intolerable situation for human civilization. There is now a black market specializing in dinosaurs, and illegal breeding farms are a constant problem. In addition, the girl Maisie, who is herself a clone of her mother, is now in her teens and becoming increasingly frustrated with the protected life forced upon her by her foster parents, Claire Dearing and Owen Grady. In a second storyline, Ellie Sattler, from the original Jurassic Park movies, is investigating abnormally large locusts that are devastating the crops of independent farmers while leaving the ones raised by the company Biosyn untouched. After talking her old lover, Alan Grant, into accompanying her, she visits Biosyn, where another old friend, Ian Malcolm, awaits them with valuable information. All the storylines come together when Maisie is kidnapped by Biosyn, and Claire and Owen follow her there to get her back.

As you can see, there is quite a lot happening in this film, which could prove confusing, but is actually handled wonderfully by the production and editing teams. The special effects are, of course, amazing, which is something that is expected with the movies Steven Spielberg is associated with, but the character development is also incredible. The most heart-warming revelations are given to Maisie, played by the very talented young actress Isabella Sermon. But the entire cast is breathtaking in this, as this film not only celebrates the newer endeavors, but also brings nostalgia into the mix with the stars of the former movies as well. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, BD Wong, they are all here, and the script brings them together with Chris Pratt’s and Brice Dallas Howard’s characters in such a way that seems so natural that it is hard to remember that 30 years has passed since the original film was released. Definitely see this one.