Jurassic World: Dominion, rated PG-13
***
The film Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg, was released 29 years ago in 1993. Jurassic World: Dominion is the sixth film in the series. The film brings back some characters from the first film. Despite multiple plotlines and locations – very little of which had to do with dinosaurs – and being overly long, I still enjoyed the film.
The film was directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) and written by Trevorrow, Emily Carmichael and Derek Connolloy, based on characters created by Michael Crichton. The film had a budget of approximately $185 million.
The film opens four years after a volcano destroyed the Jurassic Park Island where the dinosaurs were first cloned. The dinosaurs now live and hunt alongside humans all over the world. A large biotech corporation, Biosyn, has established a sanctuary for dinosaurs in an isolated valley in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy.
Claire Dearing, played by Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), lives in a cabin in the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains, with dinosaur trainer Owen Grady, played by Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), and their adopted daughter Maisie, played by Isabella Sermon (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), the cloned daughter of Charlotte Lockwood. Claire and Owen are vigilant in trying to protect Maisie, who was genetically modified by her mother, against those who want to kidnap her. The raptor Blue also lives with them as well, as well as her baby raptor.
Dr. Lewis Dodgson, played by Campbell Scott, is the CEO of BioSyn. Dodgson hired Dr. Wu, played by Emmy nominee BD Wong (Mr. Robot, Jurassic Park), to create large locusts that destroy every food crop in the world, except those sold exclusively by BioSyn. Also assisting Dodgson at BioSyn is Ramsay Cole, played by Emmy nominee Mamoudou Athie (Oh Jerome, No).
Alan Grant, played by Emmy nominee Sam Neill (New Zealand: Earth’s Mythical Islands, Merlin, Jurassic Park), and Ellie Sattler, played by Oscar winner Laura Dern (Marriage Story, Jurassic Park), travel to BioSyn to ask for the assistance of mathematician Ian Malcolm, played by Oscar nominee Jeff Goldblum (Little Surprises, Jurassic Park) regarding the locusts.
When Maisie and Blue’s baby are kidnapped by Dodgson, Claire and Owen head to BioSyn, aided by pilot Kayla Watts, played by DeWanda Wise.
The dinosaurs, the reason everyone goes to the Jurassic films, look great, but are surprisingly a small part of the overall storyline. The music by Oscar winner Michael Giacchino (Up) adds to the film.
Themes in the film include sacrifice, genetic manipulation and environmentalism. Content concerns include dinosaur violence, a brief comment about a character being a lesbian, references to evolution, and some adult language, which includes the misuse of God’s name.
Jurassic World: Dominion isn’t a great film, but it’s a good summer movie to watch with a big bucket of popcorn.
