To start off, let me say this: I love the dinosaur movies, so Jurassic World: Dominion was right up my alley. Will everyone like it? No. Is it meant to make everyone like it? No! It’s a movie that preys on nostalgia like a velociraptor preys on white men with too much confidence. (Seriously, look at who they target throughout this franchise. Clever girls.) And yes, that’s a good thing. There are so many nods to the original Jurassic Park movie and so many moments that will have you going “Oh hey, I remember that” for no real reason other that to be nostalgic, and that’s fine! That’s what this entire trilogy is about.
Not to be that person but I did see a couple of first reactions talking about how this movie doesn’t pay off what the trilogy was leading up to. And, personally, I don’t get that reaction. The franchise promised a world with dinosaurs in it, and that’s pretty much what we got after Fallen Kingdom, and it just continued on in Dominion. What this franchise also promised was a world that upholds that original park to a higher standard and praises Dr. Ian Malcolm, Dr. Alan Grant, and Dr. Ellie Sattler, and that’s exactly what Jurassic World: Dominion does, and I love it for it.
The storyline is, in my opinion, better than Fallen Kingdom and makes sense, even if it’s overstuffed at times, but again, I didn’t care much about what was being told to me because I was in nostalgia heaven. At one point in this movie, Ian Malcolm is standing in the same outfit he had on in the first movie and is unbuttoning his shirt like he does in Jurassic Park, and I will truly think about it for the rest of my life.
But now that I’ve shared why it is frankly a perfect movie for fans of this franchise, let’s get into some light spoilers about what to expect out of Jurassic World: Dominion.
**Spoilers for Jurassic World: Dominion lie ahead.**
The movie takes place four years after the events of Fallen Kingdom, where Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) are living in the woods and taking care of Maisie (Isabella Sermon). What all this leads to is a convergence of franchises when Maisie is taken by a company called Biosyn, where Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong) wants to examine Maisie and the raptor Blue’s baby (who they call Beta) to figure out how to stop an ecological disaster that he created.
This brings us to the original trio through Ian Malcolm, who is working at Biosyn as a speaker and who calls Ellie and Alan to come and investigate what Biosyn is doing. So, as Owen and Claire are fighting to get Maisie back, Ellie is teaming up with Alan and Ian again to try to stop the world from collapsing around them.
Is it just giving us moments with our favorite characters we’ve been waiting years to see? Yes. Would this movie make more sense if they all knew each other or were connected outside of “Oh hey, you know about dinos”? Yes. But guess what? It’s perfect even though some of it feels forced, because it’s bringing me Ellie, Alan, and Ian again and mixing it with a new trilogy that I pretty much enjoy.
I am also obsessed with whatever is happening between Ian Malcolm and Mamoudou Athie’s Ramsay Cole, who work together, but Ramsay is clearly the brains of the operation. Everyone seems to be shocked when Ramsay is either helping them take down Biosyn or turning on Biosyn, and it’s honestly great to watch all these characters who are praised for their intelligence be confused by Ramsay doing the right thing.
Ellie, Maisie, Kayla, and Claire
What I do love about this movie is how all the women in the film are strong all on their own without really having to be part of some larger thing. Kayla (played by DeWanda Wise) comes into the story when she feels guilty over watching Maisie get kidnapped, and she’s pretty much the only reason Owen and Claire survive and get to Maisie again at Biosyn. Pair that with Ellie and Claire teaming up to get the power online where they need it, and it’s a movie that has a lot of iconic moments for these female characters without really throwing it in our faces that they’re women being badass.
But then again, that’s what I loved about Ellie in Jurassic Park, so just having more of those moments with other female characters? Makes it all worth it. I love Jurassic World: Dominion because I’m a sucker for a dino flick, and honestly? There’s nothing wrong with that.
(featured image: Universal Pictures)
