Focal Point Reviews turn the spotlight onto various films, to show the reader the foundational aspects of the motion picture, and how those various building blocks form its identity.
Logline
The Jurassic World franchise is known for dinosaurs; that’s what sets it apart from other blockbuster flicks. Fallen Kingdom ends with the perfect set up for Dominion. Dino’s reach the mainland and humanity must learn to survive and coexist with these prehistoric animals. This should make for a compelling story, right? Director Colin Trevorrow, along with his co-writers, Emily Carmichael and Derek Connolly thought otherwise. The film opens with an exposition dump explaining how people go about their daily lives now that dinosaurs exist. After the first act, this pivotal piece of worldbuilding is completely ignored. For the rest of the runtime, the film forgets about the dinosaurs and shifts its focus to an uninspired plot about an evil CEO attempting to control the world with mutated locusts. With the embarrassing writing, flat performances, and a severe lack of Dino’s, Jurassic World: Dominion is not the epic finale fans were promised.
Writing
Wrapping up an entire saga of films is no easy task and this was Trevorrow’s second attempt at doing so. He was originally slated to write and direct Star Wars: Episode IX, but was quickly removed from the project after his film, The Book of Henry, was a critical and commercial failure. Dominion was his last chance at redemption, but why did it feel so effortless? This screenplay is one of the most incoherent in recent years. There’s gaping plot holes, out-of-touch dialogue, and inconsistent tones. The writers even included allegories about climate change which ultimately amounted to nothing. Jurassic World: Dominion felt eerily similar to the infamous Pepsi commercial — it attempts to say something but comes across as corporate and fake.
Performances
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Jurassic World: Dominion was the weak performances. With a star studded cast including Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, and Sam Neill, there should be nothing but glowing performances. About halfway through the film, it seems as if all the actors gave up. Every line of dialogue felt monotone, even from the most charismatic actors. However, the evil CEO had the most jarring performance as he felt entirely disconnected from the tone of the film. Not even the legacy actors could salvage this mess. It’s rather peculiar to think about why the entire cast of Jurassic World: Dominion felt so monotonous.
Wrapping Up
Jurassic Park is one of the most beloved films of the 90’s and to see this franchise continuously fall from grace is saddening. The first Jurassic World wasn’t perfect, but it was a step in the right direction. But this film is disgraceful. It’s baffling how a nearly 200 million budget was so easily wasted. Be prepared to trudge through an excruciatingly slow runtime from the dull screenplay and lifeless performances. Fallen Kingdom didn’t ensure this franchise’s extinction, but Jurassic World: Dominion surely did.
Check out my previous review here.