Jurassic Park is one of the best franchises on my list. Boy in love with dinosaurs, collector of illustrated books, toys and everything you can imagine, I very early appreciated the three feature films. Amazed, delighted and impressed by the lizards on my TV, I grew up with the trilogy marking my childhood and accompanying me into adulthood. With Jurassic World I was able to see what I had never seen before: See the giants on the big screen (when Jurassic Park 3 came out, I hadn’t even reached the age of three yet).
With the resurgence of the franchise, obviously also came the expectation of reliving it all, with technology that could deliver even more wonders. I must say that, unlike many former fans, I don’t completely dismiss the attempts seen in Jurassic World, but I also agree that its titles never came close to the greatness reached in 1993, in Spielberg’s film.
Well, Domain follows this same path. Like the two films that preceded it, the film offers good entertainment, but it is not able to put on the screen the quality that was only present in the classic trilogy, which continues to count with the three best franchise releases. In this storyline, Dominion slips a lot in its storyline, but it does well in honoring beloved characters and presenting new paths in the Jurassic Saga.
a problematic scenario
In a world divided by humans and dinosaurs, the film chooses to present a brief summary, in the form of a television news, to explain the consequences of this forced coexistence. In a scenario easily seen as threatening to the human species, the film feels the urgency to quickly present the solution to get things back to normal. The film even takes advantage of the idea of humans and dinos side-by-side, delivering action sequences and situations unconventional in the saga, but it also doesn’t shy away from easily embracing the explanation that arrives. to put the animals in a habitat that belongs only to them. again, especially when it comes to super predators – so it’s much easier to escape the irreversible consequences the script should follow if you let them run wild.
Jurassic World : Dominion (Universal Pictures/Reproduction)
With tech giant ByoSin emerging as the company responsible for creating a new dinosaur sanctuary, the plot also quickly begins to expose its fragility. While here we have a good parody of what we see in the real world and a good sour review for the corporate giants, the film spoils the vision by delivering an extremely plain and poorly crafted script. Additionally, the stereotypes also seem to lend even less credence to the film’s narrative, though some work better than others.
In the case of Maisie, the clone girl introduced in Fallen Kingdom, we see an extremely clichéd teenager who serves as tremendous plot fuel. Moreover, not only does the girl’s personality and behavior follow well-worn clichés, but virtually everything involving her follows the same path, including the development of her relationship with Claire and Owen.
solutions absurdes
The aforementioned attempt to offer a critique of corporatism is already misplaced when the film presents the trigger that triggers further investigation. Without spoilers, I’ll just say that the reason Ellie Sattler decided to investigate ByoSin sounds a lot like something found in titles worthy of the famous Afternoon Session, and it turns out to be even more terrible. at the end of the film, when also used in a totally pig, speaking in terms of the script, to contribute to the output of the production. In fact, the need for Ellie Sattler to seek evidence to incriminate ByoSin is extremely laughable, as the company’s involvement in something terrible is more than open from the first minutes of the film, but world governments seem be controlled by people. unable to say that 1+1 is 2.
Along the way, we still notice the long-term disbelief of its main characters. It seems like the movie doesn’t see them in real-life conditions to come up with solutions to their problems, which results in a gigantic series of screenplay conveniences that, at times, can offend the audience. The narrative is supported by so many unsatisfactory solutions that at a certain point you end up accepting them, because you understand that this is how the film unfolds. Among these solutions, a good example is the addition of a new character, with a lot of potential, but who has no plausible motivation to risk his own life during the journey. It does not mean anything.
A more versatile film
Jurassic World : Dominion (Universal Pictures/Reproduction)
Fortunately, the film also has its successes. One of the main ones is being the most versatile film in the franchise. As I mentioned before, the movie manages to take advantage of the fact that dinos are on the loose all over the world, allowing it to deliver an action sequence worthy of franchises such as Mission: Impossible, as well as to present new approaches to the saga, such as the case of the presence of dinos in an underground world. In Malta, the film manages to showcase the franchise’s most differentiated pacing to date, even featuring spy elements and borrowing a bit from 007 as well.
At other times, we also have Alan Grant out of his “natural habitat” in the saga. We don’t see him lost among the dinosaurs, but rather, alongside Ellie, on an undercover mission – with a good “investigative journalism” imprint – which also serves as a more varied approach.
Also knowing how to deliver beautiful action scenes, the film manages to overcome the many problems of its screenplay. Unafraid to put humans and dinosaurs face to face in completely new situations, the film even lets itself be carried away by a few exaggerations, like a character literally stabbing a super predator with hatred. The important thing is that, despite some situations that seem forced, the action manages to entertain and excite, with the great cgi also being a big contributor to that fact.
Escape forced nostalgia and honor classic characters
Speaking of the characters in the “World” trilogy, Claire is definitely stronger and more important than Owen, with her actions having a greater bearing on much of the film. Despite still being sold as the protagonist in some ways, Owen hasn’t had quite as much of an impact here. As for the new trilogy, Claire is at the heart of the film.
Jurassic World : Dominion (Universal Pictures/Reproduction)
Already talking about the classic trilogy, what we see is good use of Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant, with Ian Malcolm falling a little behind, but still counting on moments that honor the character. Fortunately, the film escapes nostalgia for nostalgia, which I considered a risk. There are moments of fan service, but these aren’t unbridled, and when they do, they’re introduced nicely into the bigger picture. Also, the development and “ending” of Ellie and Alan’s journey is quite satisfying and even redresses some injustices, in my opinion, committed by the previous films.
The verdict
Jurassic World: Dominion stumbles a lot on its storyline, but it holds up when you think about entertainment. For the Jurassic saga, weak scripts are nothing new, and fortunately we have elements here that manage to compensate for this problem. The good use of classic characters also serves to console fans who were hoping for a more satisfying plot.
Seeing dinos never gets boring, especially with the excellent cgi featured here. Versatile in delivering some truly thrilling action sequences, the film manages to keep audiences entertained despite its serious flaws.
Note: 7/10
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