Under the lens is a review series for the busy working professional, they take a deep look at films by focusing in on one or two particular areas of the picture that helped to define it for better or for worse.
Jurassic World Dominion is a 2022 sci-fi thriller, directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World, Book of Henry) and stars Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Chris Pratt, Sam Neill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Mamoudou Athie, BD Wong, and Isabella Sermon. It is the 3rd film in the Jurassic World franchise and the 6th film in the Jurassic Park Saga. The story begins four years after the destruction of Isla Nublar, dinosaurs now live–and hunt–alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures in a new Era.
UNDER THE LENS: Man’s Hubris
Mans’s Hubris: Leading up to the release of Jurassic World Dominion, it was announced that this film would not just end the Jurassic World trilogy but also the whole of the Jurassic Park saga. This was a tall order, and we have seen other franchises try this and fail, such as with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ending The Skywalker Saga. Jurassic World Dominion brought back fan favorites Ian Malcolm, Ellie Sattler, and Alan Grant from the original trilogy and had them go on a globe-trotting adventure with our other heroes. The best part was these were not mere cameos, but full plot lines, the film took the franchise back to the original idea of man’s hubris in our attempt to control nature.
The first picture sought to expand upon Hammond’s original goal of taking control of DNA and takes it to its natural conclusion. We see the return of the villainous Lewis Dodgson whose attempts to steal InGen’s tech resulted in the destruction of Jurassic Park, now he is the CEO of BioSyn, who has taken control of the Dinosaur’s problem, building a secure facility for them in Italy. However, we learn that much like InGen, BioSyn has ulterior motives and has resurrected locusts from the Cretaceous age with a goal of altering their DNA to only consume non-BioSyn seed, thus giving Dodgson control over the worlds food supply.
Of course, as Ian Malcolm predicts it goes horribly wrong, and see once again that man’s hubris results in destruction. What I liked most about this film was it showcases the ultimate, end result of the Jurassic Park Saga, where genetic manipulation would lead. In the end, BioSyn did not care about the Dinosaurs or bringing them back, they only cared about the control their DNA would bring, and how they could use the past to control the future. Hammond was an idealist but in the world of genetics, there is no room for idealists.
The Jurassic Park Saga has shown time and again that man is the most dangerous predator, but our hubris and arrogance are always our downfall and undoing, and how our efforts at control almost always lead to chaos and lack of control.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Seeing Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler get back together was a wonderful fix to one of the worst mistakes of the series.
- Bringing back BioSyn was a nice callback to the first novel.
- Having feathered Dinosaurs that could swim created some excellent visuals.
QUOTABLE QUOTE
Alan Grant: Why do we dig? Because paleontology is science, and science is about the truth.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Do you feel that mankind today is headed in the direction we saw in the film? Have you seen any examples of man’s hubris? What did you think of it?
CONCLUSION
Overall Jurassic World Dominion is a rollercoaster adventure that never lets up from the moment it begins to its end credits. The picture attempts and ultimately succeeds at being a fitting conclusion to the story that began in Jurassic Park. It was fun catching up with the old heroes of the franchise and seeing them interact with the new characters, Jurassic Park began the saga with a lesson about man playing God, and it seemed fitting that it also ended the same way. We have seen some bumps along the way over its 6 film story, but I am very happy that it ended strong.
That being said the picture is not perfect, the plot can get bogged down with its many characters and set pieces, and a few of the plots were resolved with a deus ex machina. However, I never felt the picture lost its way, and I was fully satisfied with the story told, which was not what I expected. If you are a fan of the Jurassic Park Saga, you owe it to yourself to see this, it’s absolutely loaded down with easter eggs for the devoted fan and will leave you with a smile on your face.
