"Jurassic World: Dominion" is ready to conquer the world – and depending on who you ask,
that might be a bad thing.
Critics have seen the "Jurassic Park" super-sequel – and not everyone likes what they saw.
"We made a terrible mistake."
When Michael Crichton first wrote his novel "Jurassic Park" back in 1990, he probably
didn't imagine that it would become a cinematic franchise that would keep audiences coming
back for decades.
After the first trilogy of movies ended with 2001's "Jurassic Park III," it looked like
that was it for the likes of Alan Grant, Ellie Satler, and Ian Malcolm.
But like the very dinosaurs themselves, Universal revived the franchise in 2015 for "Jurassic
World," which centered on an improved, supposedly safer, version of the park.
Of course, those safety measures (once again) couldn't contain these prehistoric beasts.
And the end of its sequel, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," drastically changed the status
quo of the entire planet as dinosaurs escaped out of a Northern Californian compound to
truly walk the earth.
This poses a tantalizing question — what would the modern world look like if dinosaurs
roamed free?
Obviously, this idea is at the very heart of the franchise, and it's clear that these
creatures are such a powerful force that it's almost impossible for humans to coexist with
them.
"Jurassic World Dominion" is here to escalate things even further.
The trailers from the sequel promised a globe-trotting adventure, with Owen Grady and Claire Dearing
racing through different continents trying to escape giant beasts.
And just to make things more exciting, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum are all
returning to their roles from the original movie.
Thankfully, the first reactions from critics recently arrived online, so let's take a look
at whether "Jurassic World Dominion" is worth your time ... or if it's a giant pile of dino-dung.
"Bigger.
Why do they always have to go bigger?"
Unfortunately, a lot of critics weren't impressed by director Colin Trevorrow's second "Jurassic
World" outing, with many blasting it for a simple plot and poorly thought-out character
arcs.
Obviously, the main draw here is the dinosaurs and the carnage they're inevitably going to
cause, but a captivating human story is necessary to make audiences care about the action unfolding
on-screen.
Gizmodo and iO9 reporter Germain Lussier called it the worst entry in the entire franchise,
saying,
"It's too long, it's wildly repetitive & the dinosaurs are window dressing for multiple
uninteresting, unrelated stories.
The actors do their best but [it's] all just overindulgent & pointless.
One of, if not the, worst in the franchise."
It seems that many think the story from Trevorrow and Derek Connolly tries to do too much, but
achieves nothing by the end of the film, which is definitely disappointing.
Meanwhile Variety and The A.V.
Club critic Courtney Howard tore into the film by saying it doesn't follow the concept
it's selling the audience, to instead focus on other (and less engaging) storylines.
She tweeted,
"It ignores the premise it should've had from the start, instead synthetically engineering
2 entirely different, uninteresting & hollow stories that it struggles to connect."
This a sentiment echoed by Thrillist critic Esther Zuckerman, who simply says,
"Jurassic World Dominion is easily one of the stupidest movies I've ever seen."
"See?
Not so bad."
But not everyone is feeling so negative about the film.
Some critics think it's a unique adventure with interesting ideas.
Fandango's Erik Davis noted how impressed he was with the horror-tinged dinosaur scenes
— which is always great to hear since Steven Spielberg's original movie had its fair share
of scares.
The critic also praised the increased presence of Jeff Goldblum's iconic Ian Malcolm, while
noting that the movie achieves in being, in his words, "A solid finale."
That's a vastly different reaction to those calling it the worst of the franchise!
But Davis isn't the only one who is hugely impressed with the sequel.
Collider's Perri Nemiroff noted that she loves how Bryce Dallas Howard gets much more to
do this time around, saying,
"[Jurassic World Dominion] rocks an excellent mix of practical & digital effects.
Dinos look GREAT.
Dimetrodon scene is ... right up my alley.
Bryce Dallas Howard runs away with the movie – & new trilogy for that matter.
Claire experiences one heck of an arc & Howard soars with it."
In fact, Variety's Jazz Tangcay thinks the film masterfully uses the original trio to
its advantage while balancing the fine line of nostalgic crowd pleasing.
She tweeted,
"It's non-stop Dinosaur action.
And Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill's return hit the nostalgic spots.
I just love them."
Whether "Jurassic World Dominion" will divide fans as much as it has with critics remains
to be seen, it's entirely possible that audiences will be more receptive to the adventure because
of the dino-action, rather than looking for well-plotted character arcs.
One thing's for sure – no matter what the critics think, it'll probably do just fine
at the box office.
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