Review by: David North-Martino

Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) is a science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow and stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neil and Isabella Sermon.

In the conclusion to the Jurassic World trilogy, Biogen operatives hunt for Massie Lockwood (Sermon) while Dr Ellie Slattler (Dern) attempts to stop a genetically engineered swarm of locust that threaten the ecosystem of the planet.

Better than both Jurassic World and Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic World: Dominion is an engaging if bloated, convoluted and sometimes ridiculous entry in the franchise. You can tell how much I enjoyed the other two films. Bringing back Sam Neil, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, from the original trilogy works better than expected, their chemistry with Pratt and Howard meshes. Although, the parallels between the orignal characters and the newer become maybe a little too obvious.

The CGI oscillates from good to passable with not enough puppetry to make the dinosaurs as visceral as the original series.

There is a long drawn out dinosaur vs vehicle chase scene that also involves a plane that boarders on the absurd. Deus ex machina abounds as dinosaurs just show up to advance the plot or provide some diversions in the form of monster battles.

There is an attempt to complete both the story line from the Jurassic World films and the original Jurassic Park trilogy, and for the most part it works.

The extended version at 2 hours and 40 minutes is a little much even if only 14 minutes have been added. I didn’t watch the theatrical, so I can’t compare and contrast the two.

As it goes, this last film is watchable if only as a one and done diversion, and fun enough. Bringing back the orignal cast does provide pangs of nostalgia and the ending feels like the story is finally complete.

This entry in the franchise did well at the box-office, and they’ll probably be re-engineering a reboot before long.

Jurassic World: Dominion is streaming on Peacock and is still in theaters.

Story Doctoring:

Reduce the characters by a third and add more dinosaur puppetry.

Rating: Three out of five stars.