Dinosaurs roam the Earth as a new global threat arises in Jurassic World: Dominion. Following the events that resulted in dinosaurs freely roaming the planet, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) have been living in seclusion with their adoptive daughter Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), the cloned granddaughter of Jurassic Park co-founder Benjamin Lockwood. However, Maisie is kidnapped by poachers, along with the offspring of Owen's trained Velociraptor Blue. Meanwhile, Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) has been tracking swarms of prehistoric locusts destroying the world's crops, except for those grown with seed developed by Biosyn Genetics run by Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott). Ellie reunites with Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and, with the help of Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), are granted access to Biosyn's dinosaur sanctuary to find proof that they are responsible for the locusts.
Jurassic World: Dominion is the concluding film of this trilogy of legacy sequels, with Colin Trevorrow returning to the director's chair after handing off 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom to J.A. Bayona. This final chapter is notable for bringing back the original cast of Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum, who join the new cast headed up by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. The new and old protagonists are kept separate for much of the film, with Owen Grady and Claire Dearing tracking the kidnappers of Maisie Lockwood, where they are joined by dinosaur smuggler Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise). At the same time, Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant travel to Biosyn Valley to uncover the nefarious acts of its CEO, Lewis Dodgson.
It has been nearly three decades since Steven Spielberg first wowed audiences with his adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park and, in hindsight, probably should have been the only film set in this world. While some of the sequels to come out, have been decent, such as Spielberg's 1997 sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park or Colin Trevorrow's original Jurassic World in 2014, most of the now six films in this series have failed to match the epic wonder of Spielberg's original film.
The ultimate missed opportunity of Jurassic World: Dominion is bringing back the original stars of Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum, whose characters of Ellie Sattler, Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm end up relegated in an extended subplot in BioSyn's lab, while Owen Grady and Claire Dearing find themselves having misadventures at a dinosaur black market in Malta. Aside from the black market scene, Jurassic World: Dominion almost makes it inconsequential that the dinosaurs from the now-destroyed island of Isla Nublar are free to roam in the wild. Indeed, the film makes it seem like the swarms of prehistoric locusts are a much more significant threat.
While Jurassic World: Dominion is not a horrible film, the franchise has long since past its peak. Here's hoping that this truly is the final film in the franchise, even if it is a very mediocre conclusion.
