Jurassic World Dominion brings back the much-beloved cast of the original Jurassic Park (Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum) film and unites them with the modern protagonists (Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas-Howard) for another wild dino ride. Seeing the legendary Neill return looking as if he’s barely aged a day since his last adventure in 2001’s Jurassic Park III is an absolute delight for fans, and the throwbacks don’t stop there.
Following the events of Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, dinosaurs are now free and roaming the world - no longer confined to any park and society is trying to learn how to adapt to this. Dr. Lewis Dodgson - a minor antagonist from Jurassic Park - returns with his company Biosyn which now puts endangered dinosaurs in a “sanctuary”, which is basically another park. While the film briefly explores life around the world with dinosaurs in the wild, it’s mostly spent in the Biosyn facility, giving us a parallelto the antics of the original cast from the first film.
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While the new cast have cemented their roles in the Jurassic World series, it’s the original trio that make Dominion great. Some might consider it to be fan service, but there’s just a special kind of magic that only Sam Neill as Alan Grant can bring to the Jurassic films ever since the original 1993 adventure. On top of that, it’s the first time we’ve seen Laura Dern have a major role in the series since Jurassic Park as she was majorly sidelined to just a couple of scenes in Jurassic Park III. The only criticism I have around the original cast is how Jeff Goldblum wasn’t really playing the character of Ian Malcolm, but rather just playing himself. It’s a strange shift that might take audiences a bit out of the action. Despite this though, every moment they were on screen I was filled with pure nostalgic joy.
Unfortunately, I can’t say the same with the newer cast. As I wasn’t a major fan of Jurassic World and Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, I had very little attachment to their involvement. I also wasn’t majorly interested in their story involving Maise Lockwood - the clone girl from Fallen Kingdom. There was only one scene during their adventure which was an enjoyable watch as it involved exploring the wider world with the dinosaurs being among society. It was interesting to see how certain aspects of society reacted with dinosaurs among them, and the scene also consisted of a lot of chaotic dinosaur fun. Barring this though, the real magic is around the story of Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler and Ian Malcolm investigating the Biosyn facility.
The Biosyn facility is where Dominion really shines, as it’s a classic Jurassic Park adventure. A facility pushing the scientific boundaries that could threaten mankind with all kinds of terrifying dinosaurs within it. It’s here where Director Colin Trevorrow really knows what the fans want - a dinosaur movie where the cast are trapped and have to escape this incredibly grim facility. I can’t delve too much into this, but this truly felt like a sequel to the original Jurassic Park.
It’s honestly quite a shame that Jurassic World Dominion is the epic conclusion to the series, as it feels like it has finally found its footing with it. Despite its few flaws, fans of Jurassic Park will find themselves enjoying the original crew on a new adventure and all the throwbacks to the original film.
Featured Image Credit: Universal PicturesTopics: TV And Film