Movie Review: Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

Jurassic World Dominion (2022) co-written and directed by Colin Trevorrow

Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) are hiding out in the northwest of the United States, raising Maise Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), a genetic clone of her mother who is of great interest to the scientific world. They want to protect her from becoming a lab rat; she's fourteen and wants to experience the rest of the world, not just her cabin in the woods. Some dino poachers discover her while they are looking for other interesting creatures (since the whole world has dinosaurs running around). They kidnap Maise and also Beta, a juvenile raptor who is the clone offspring of Blue, the raptor with whom Owen shares a special bond. Owen swears he will get both back, leading Claire and Owen down a trail of clues that end at Biosyn, a multi-national tech company that's researching dinosaurs, presumably for the benefit of mankind.

On the other hand, Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) is investigating a swarm of mega-locust sweeping through the American heartland. She suspects they are designed by Biosyn, especially since the locust only eat grains that aren't grown from Biosyn's genetically modified seeds. She wants to go to Biosyn's main research facility in Italy to get evidence. She enlists her old friend Alan Grant (Sam Neill) who helped investigate the first Jurassic Park and has gone back to paleontology. Alan agrees to go since Ellie has an invitation from Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), who is a celebrity intellectual in residence at Biosyn. The two plot lines eventually cross in Italy where they have the usual shenanigans dealing with the local dinosaur populace and the despicable corporate baddies.

While I understand the desire to have two plots to get the Jurassic World characters to come together with the Jurassic Park characters, the movie bogs down in lost plot threads and introducing all-new characters while it tries to maintain a high level of action and excitement. The action scenes are fun and thrilling; the special effects are top-notch. The story suffers from having too much to do in the time in between. The filmmakers seemed like they wanted to make a statement about bioethics and corporate ethics but viewers only get the same old stuff that's been in the other Jurassic movies. The bad guys are boring and one-dimensional for the most part. The dinosaurs and the action are the real attraction in this film.

Mildly recommended--this is the typical dumb popcorn summer blockbuster.