I’d Watch Jurassic World Dominion Over Any Other Jurassic Sequel

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CAUTION: The forthcoming article reveals almost the entire storyline of Jurassic World Dominion. If you haven’t watched the 2022 Jurassic Park film, imagine Owen Grady waving his hand to calm a dinosaur, and tread lightly as you continue reading.

As Jurassic World Rebirth prepares for its release, I decided it was long overdue for me to finally fill in the gaps in the series by watching Jurassic World Dominion. Given the harsh criticisms and audience reactions, I was expecting a tough watch, but surprisingly, it fell short of my expectations.

To put it simply, I wouldn’t categorize Colin Trevorrow’s sequel as a great film. Instead, it appears to be burdened by a poorly constructed script, lackluster performances, and an unexpected shift from the original movie’s setting to a dinosaur-plagued dystopia. As Eric Eisenberg stated in his review of “Jurassic World Dominion,” the story seems to consist of two unrelated plots that don’t really focus on dinosaurs. Despite these criticisms, I found myself enjoying it and would pick it over many sequels to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original, which might surprise some “Jurassic” fans. Let me elaborate…

The Locusts Got Under My Skin

the fear of large insects, or bugs, to be specific.

You could probably guess how thrilled I was when genetically altered grasshoppers popped up on the screen. While many believe that a Jurassic Park film centered around a non-reptilian prehistoric creature would be misguided, these creatures certainly got my heart racing faster than any dinosaur in Jurassic World Dominion. Nevertheless…

The Dinosaur Action Sequences Are Top Notch

Every time a dinosaur emerged on screen in Dominion, it left me genuinely amazed. The special effects, combining the timeless artistry of animatronics with cutting-edge computer-generated imagery (CGI), were so realistic that I’m surprised there wasn’t more acclaim for this aspect of the movie.

Beyond just appreciating their visual impact, I found the dinosaur action scenes in this franchise to be truly exceptional, even surpassing previous installments. One scene that particularly stood out for me was when Owen Grady (played by Chris Pratt) was pursued on a motorbike through Malta by Atrociraptors. It was so thrilling that I had to pause and reflect, Wow, I’m genuinely enjoying this film. The excitement didn’t let up after that moment.

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DeWanda Wise Steals The Show As Kayla Watts

One factor that made me somewhat hopeful about seeing the movie “Dominion” was the praise I’d heard about DeWanda Wise as Kayla Watts – a character I wholeheartedly agree with my colleague Sarah El-Mahmoud on, who found the daring pilot to be the most compelling from the Jurassic World trilogy. It’s not just her bravery and quick thinking that impresses me, but also her badass personality.

If I were to express this thought in a more straightforward manner, it would be: “Kayla seems to overshadow other newer characters like Mamoudou Athie’s Ramsay Cole and Chris Pratt’s Grady, making them appear less strong than initially perceived. In my opinion, she should have been introduced earlier in the Jurassic Park franchise. Respectfully speaking, I sometimes wish that she would be the main character in the upcoming 2025 movie, Jurassic World Rebirth, rather than Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali.

The Classic Characters Meeting The New Characters Won Me Over

Though I’ve been critical of the newer Jurassic characters, I must confess that my excitement peaked when they finally met up with Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). To be honest, their comeback didn’t thrill me until then because the way their reunion was portrayed and the moments they shared didn’t feel authentic. As for those odd references to the first film, like Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott) having the fake Barbasol canister in his office, I just couldn’t help but wonder, “What on earth?!

To be honest, I wouldn’t call “natural” the adjective that comes to mind when describing Grant, Sattler, Malcolm, Grady, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), and their meeting in the final act of the movie. The circumstances leading up to them coming together were quite coincidental (as with many other plot points), and some of their dialogues seemed overly contrived. However, watching them band together and depend on each other to escape the dangerous prehistoric creatures made me yearn for more scenes that focused on their convergence.

You Gotta Love A Three-Way Dinosaur Brawl

Absolutely, any true enthusiast of “Jurassic Park” understands that the real appeal of this series lies less in the food and more in the fearsome carnivores, with the Tyrannosaurus Rex being the ultimate ruler among them. The prospect of seeing this colossal creature in these films, even if the rationale behind its return seems complex, is something I eagerly anticipate. Its reappearance in “Dominion” was no different, and the fact that it wasn’t alone made it all the more exciting for me.

In the movie’s climax, I found it quite intriguing that the T-Rex was portrayed as a hero, much like Godzilla, by allying with a Therizinosaurus to defeat the Giganotosaurus. The moment when the T-Rex hurled the Giganotosaurus onto the Therizinosaurus’ claws, effectively killing it, made for a more fulfilling final battle compared to the Indominus Rex confrontation in 2015’s Jurassic World, as far as I’m concerned.

I’m unlikely to reactivate my Peacock subscription for another viewing of “Jurassic World Dominion,” unless I develop an interest to explore the extended edition, rumored to be an upgrade. However, I wouldn’t call it a wasted morning watching it, unlike many sequels to the ’90s movie masterpiece, so I’ll give it a small round of applause in my opinion.

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2025-06-26 21:08