For years we waited for the arrival of ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’, coming to be defined by the own Colin Trevorrow What “the movie i’ve been waiting to make“. It seemed to have everything going for it and when it came down to it, it hasn’t exactly thrilled critics or the public. Of course, there are those who have really enjoyed it, but the general feeling has been one of more or less pronounced disappointment.
Watch out for spoilers for ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ from here on out.
For my part, the main thing I asked of the film is that it make this Jurassic world real and that most of ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ be related to the dinosaurs messing around in open space and with people around them. At the moment of truth, there are hardly a few minutes before they bet on insurance again and focus everything on a very specific place that causes a turn almost towards a spy movie, but always respecting the usual master lines of the saga.
chaining bad decisions
I’m getting too far ahead of myself, though, as the film falls into various vices long before it’s fully clear that it’s going to be just more of the same. From questionable decisions like playing too much with the idea that velociraptors are both cute and deadly to the fact that the return of the protagonists of ‘Jurassic Park’ only serves to remind us why all its sequels have not lived up to the jewel of entertainment signed by steven spielberg in 1993.
The most striking thing is that in this regard there is a very illustrative brief moment in which Ellie (Laura Dern) comments that one never gets used to the existence of dinosaurs and that it continues to be fascinating every time one comes across one of them. That is something that the sequels left aside and this new trilogy only tried to recover in an erroneous way with the mixtures of dinosaurs that seemed to come from the minds of some kids freaking out when choosing which of all of them is the coolest. And all so that later those creations end up being quickly set aside and making it clear that the originals are better.
Still, seeing Dern together again, Sam Neill and Jeff Godlbum yes it is a joy, but in many moments it gives the feeling that they are simply there so that ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ can say it. His contribution is based on pure nostalgia, with the odd shot obviously designed to coincide on screen with the protagonists of the new trilogy, thus seeking to create an iconic moment. It’s a pity that there is much left to see seeing the images in isolation than during the film itself.
In addition, ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ is also the most lower the most terrifying side of the saga. That had already gone down in the previous two installments, but here the tension is conspicuous by its absence and you never think that there is a real danger for any of the protagonists. It is true that there are menacing dinosaur mouths here and there, but this is the softest adventure in the entire saga and there is no courage to sacrifice any important character here. That even in a few years his presence will be needed again.
The law of least effort
In fact, reducing everything to a comfortable minimum also affects the actors, especially a Chris Pratt here totally devoid of that mischievous charisma for which he rose to fame with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and which, it is fair to say, was already softened in ‘Jurassic World’. And it is that as an action hero he can be more or less reliable -there we have ‘The War of Tomorrow’-, but what makes him stand out is introducing humor -hopefully he will do some pure comedy again like the sensational series ‘Parks and Recreation’- in their characters or ends up being one more.
For the rest, it is true that ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ works as a culmination for the portrait of capitalism that the saga has made, starting with a more friendly approach and using the character of Richard Attenborough as a great visible head, to then gradually uncover its darkest side. If in ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ you could even buy dinosaurs! And they were too cheap, really.
Here he even flirts with the idea that the great villain of the show is a kind of lookalike of Steve Jobs, but they soon neutralize it to be just another case of greed. And the worst of all is that along the way they end up destroying one of the most important characters in the entire saga. I mean Henry Wu.
The character played by BD Wong It was the great link between ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Jurassic World’, to the point that at the time it was spoken of as a direct sequel to the original. After showing his most ambitious and despicable face in the previous two installments, here he opts for a strange and totally out of place arc of redemption that seems more the result of a narrative need than something that is fairly convincingly justified.
Better turn the page
I could put more drawbacks to the film like the bad fit of DeWanda Wise giving life to a kind of female Indiana Jones, how quickly they get rid of other characters or the catastrophe that ends up being everything related to the cloning subplot introduced in the previous installment, but there comes a point where the only feeling that awakens the film is reluctance.
It’s not like it’s a disaster, simply what should have been the great climax ends up being a discreet throwaway pastime. He may try to disguise it with crazy ideas on paper, to make you smile here or there and that Trevorrow doesn’t film badly -there he has one of his best assets, but then there is no really memorable scene-, but when it comes to the truth it’s too close to being an empty, soulless show.