Jurassic World Dominion Is More of The Same

 I remember the first time I saw Jurassic Park.  I was a little kid, and my interactions with dinosaurs had been mainly with the animated series Dino-Riders (check it out) and the legendary animated film, The Land Before Time.  What I got from that first Jurassic film is a childhood trauma that to this day scares the hell out of me.  These dinos were not Little Foot and Ducky.  They killed a lot of people, and were scary, and I used to imagine a T-Rex was outside my window at night as I tried to sleep.  But as I grew up more of these films came out and they became less scary to me, and less entertaining.

In the sixth film of this franchise the current cast and the old cast unite to take down a corporate billionaire who is trying to exploit the dinosaurs, but something goes wrong, and they are all running for their lives trying to escape the scary dinos.  Which is pretty much the plot to most of these Jurassic films.  But that's why we see these films. To see the people get eaten by the T-Rex, and hunted by the Raptors. 

The first Jurassic Park film was mind-blowing in both effects and story, but the others that followed lacked the same originality.  When Jurassic World came out, I felt like the franchise had something new to say, at least to me, but has since gone back to being stale popcorn films.  Jurassic World Dominion is no different.  The basic premise of the film branches off from the previous installment, Fallen Kingdom, but when you try to build a story on top of one that wasn't so great, it makes your story not so great either because you're not starting on solid ground.  

Let's start with the OG cast.  Sam Neill and Laura Dern return as Alan and Ellie, once former lovers who have lived their lives and now looks like are going to reconcile.  They are on a mission to prove Jeff Bezos, I mean Elon Musk, I mean some super rich guy is using mega locust to take out crops that aren't his so he can control the world's food supply and get even more wealthy and crazy.  Jeff Goldblum is also back as Malcolm and is pretty much there just for jokes and quips.

What I missed from this film however was the jokes and quips of Chris Pratt.  He and Bryce Dallas Howard are back from a third time to try and protect their foster daughter Maisie and try and get Blue's baby back from the evil rich dude.  This film also lacked my boy Blue.  Pratt played it pretty serious the entire film and I don't think he cracked one joke the whole film, which not why I go to see Chirs Pratt in films.  I mean, I enjoyed The Tomorrow War without a lot of Pratt jokes, but I think that film is better than Dominion.

I'm not saying the film is bad.  It was just what I've come to expect from a Jurassic film.  But really, I also felt like nothing happened.  At the beginning of the film the dinosaurs are out in the world, and humans are trying to integrate them into the society.  By the end of the film nothing has changed except the locust problem was solved. Fallen Kingdom wasn't great in my opinion, but at least it changed the franchise rules to where tinstead of the dinos being on the island they were set free in the world.  And that's still where we're at by the end of Dominion.  

I don't believe this is the end of the franchise.  It's just the end if the actor's contracts.  In less than ten years we'll get a new Jurassic film with a different cast.  These movies make way too much money to just go away.  We watch them to see dinosaurs eating people, and as long as we get that, that's all we need to see to part with our money. But if I can make a suggestion for a Dino-Riders spin-off, I think we can see something really bonkers!

'Jurassic World' Brings Extinct Franchise Back To Life

Whenever my friends and I are just sitting around, shooting the shit, occasionally the topic of scary movies come up.  Most people say films like It, Halloween, or Friday the 13th as the film that scared them the most.  For me, it was a movie I saw as a kid called Jurassic Park.  At that point in my life the main dinosaurs I watched were in The Land Before Time.  They were cute, happy, and sweet.  My view about these extinct creatures changed after I saw a cup of water vibrate.

Twenty years later ol' T-Rex is back to try and scare the hell out of me again.  Jurassic World is the fourth film in the franchise, but luckily for all of us we can just forget the last two ever happened and go straight to Chris Pratt taming raptors.  John Hammond's vision has been brought to life as Jurassic World is a huge success, but the scientists and creators of this theme park aren't satisfied.  They've created a new dinosaur all their own.  And like A.I., we know that humans creating new life and playing God never works out.

From the moment the John Williams score roared off the screen I was transported back twenty years as I saw something familiar, but also something new. Director Colin Trevorrow was able to recapture the tone and appeal of the original film, which I'm a bit surprised how well he did given his small directing experience.  Chris Pratt, having just come off the mega Marvel hit, Guardians of the Galaxy, shines once again as the lead.  I wasn't sure if to expect Star-Lord in this film or not, and was pleasantly surprised when he played a bit more serious and rough character, but still with a little humor.  Opposite Pratt is Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays the serious, cold, uptight, park runner whom Pratt has to thaw throughout the film. I felt like her character was very stereotypical with not a lot of originality to her, but still played off of Pratt pretty well.  I just don't believe she lasted the entire film wearing those high heeled shoes!

All the other actors seem insignificant next to the dinosaurs.  It was a pleasure to see the raptors evolve out of their usual serial killer role in the franchise to more of a White Fang metamorphosis of wild-beast-turned-man's-best-friend.  I'd definitely want Blue as my pet.  The action was great, I loved seeing some dino on dino fight sequences, and as I watched my wife squirm in the seat next to me I think the suspense of the film worked as well.

I've heard the film makers have several sequels already planned and judging by the little easter eggs in the movie I believe it's true.  From the cleaning out of the lab, too the scarred T-Rex at the end looking over his kingdom.  And I think we all want to see a reunion of Owen and Blue.  I'm sure they'll bring Chris Pratt back, and hopefully the two brothers will continue to play a significant role in the franchise; otherwise their heart to heart talk I believe is a waste.  I think the only expendable one of the main four is Howard.  We'll see if Opie's daughter has made enough of an impression to survive to another film.

My wife wants to go back and see the movie in 3-D, and she HATES 3-D,  so she really must have liked the film.  I'm fine waiting till I buy it on blu-ray, but I am drooling over what the special features will include.  I want see an interview with the actor who decided to save his two margaritas as the pterodactyls attacked!  I'm glad Jurassic World is breaking box office records.  It's a rare film everyone can enjoy that doesn't seemed dumbed-down for any age group.  I'm also now excited to see where the franchise continues from here.  Just as long as they don't turn the sequels into musicals I think it'll be alright.  Trust me, that stuff ruins dinosaur franchises.  

RATING:  B+