My mother was raised on Jaws, Clash of the Titans and Alien so as soon as I was deemed old enough, I watched a lot of films with big creatures with lots of teeth and even deadlier one-liners. This vividly explains my love for the Jurassic Park franchise, as their freaky dinosaurs and enjoyable characters make for an exciting watch every time.
When the Jurassic World films came out, I was sceptical, as I knew nothing could recapture the magic of their predecessors. However, I do not believe that to be the point of these films. They are weaker and less complex than their 1990’s predecessors, instead of moral issues, they focus on making the dinosaurs bigger. A trait that is clear within Dominion too. However these films are fun, and underneath all the convoluted and weird aspects of the plot, a genuinely good time can be found.
To say this 2-and-a-half-hour movie took a while to get going is an understatement. Following the plot of the last movie and the integration of dinosaurs within modern society, I expected action from minute one. Instead, we got what felt like a documentary following large locusts for the first hour of the film.
These acts focus on building the characters and reintroducing the classic characters from the original films, a task I’m not entirely convinced they managed to achieve. This was due to weird editing and the introduction of the villain, Dodgson (Campbell Scott), who has as much menace as a mildly annoyed squirrel.
This film really shines in its final act, largely due to diligent fan service, tying in prior films and giving a delightful nod to the far superior originals. This final hour is immensely fun and relentless in its pace as the looming threat of dinosaurs chasing the protagonists never lets up.
The dinosaurs themselves are back in top form as there is a wider variety of new and old dinosaurs. Incorporating both the realistic and nerve-wracking practical dinosaurs of the 1990s and the new, horrifying and yet largely CGI dinosaurs. As far as human characters go, they are overshadowed, not by the terrifying lizards, but by lounge lizard extraordinaire Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), who steals the show in every scene he is in.
Despite this film’s quips and scares, it is hard not to notice the blaring faults this movie makes. Although fun to mock, they do leave it light-years behind its original predecessors. However, due to my love for these films, I am happy being a little biased and stating that it was hard not to enjoy myself throughout the film. Especially once the action started to kick in. Is this the best Jurassic film? No. Is this film good? No. Is this film fun? Absolutely.
3/5
Image Credits – The MovieDB