Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Screenwriters: Emily Carmichael, Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, Isabella Sermon, Omar Sy, BD Wong
Dinosaurs, nostalgia and a few modern anxieties collide in Jurassic World Dominion, the third entry in the current Jurassic World trilogy. Colin Trevorrow returns to direct a film that promises the long-teased premise of dinosaurs roaming the wild, but ultimately delivers a densely packed blockbuster that alternates between spectacle, sentiment and political subtext.
The film opens with Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) living quietly with Maisie (Isabella Sermon), as a pharmaceutical company rounds up dinosaurs and relocates them to a fenced reserve in the Italian Alps. When Maisie and the human-raised offspring of Owen’s velociraptor friend Blue go missing, Owen and Claire head to Europe to bring them home. Their journey uncovers illegal markets, billionaire villains and a host of other dangers. At the same time, a novel plague of locusts threatens global food supplies, layering the action with an ecological crisis that raises the stakes beyond individual survival.
At nearly two and a half hours, Jurassic World Dominion is the longest film in the franchise to date, and its running time reflects the sheer volume of ideas and set pieces the filmmakers try to juggle. The movie is energetic and relentless — a modern tentpole designed to maximize thrills and nostalgia. While that approach produces many memorable moments, it also leaves some promises underdeveloped. The marketing suggested a world where dinosaurs truly live freely among humans; the film frequently pulls back from that premise, steering the story toward familiar tentpole beats and controlled environments.
That said, the movie excels at what it sets out to be: a crowd-pleasing, effects-driven spectacle. Visual effects are strong, rendering the dinosaurs with convincing menace and detail. Action sequences are vivid and fast-paced — a motorcycle chase through Malta stands out for its kinetic intensity — and the film sustains a breathless rhythm that keeps audiences engaged. For viewers seeking escapism and high-concept thrills, Dominion delivers in spades.
Where the film earns deeper resonance is through its thematic throughlines. Like its predecessors, Dominion returns to the franchise’s core warning: humanity’s greatest threat is often its own greed and carelessness. The narrative places corporate power and unregulated wealth at the center of the conflict, framing the dinosaur crisis as a symptom of human hubris. This moral backbone, though not explored with the same surgical precision as the original 1993 film, gives the blockbuster emotional ballast and a familiar philosophical anchor.
One of the film’s most effective choices is the inclusion of the original trilogy’s central trio: Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum. Their return provides organic moments of nostalgia without feeling entirely exploitative. The interactions between the new and original cast members are affectionate and often earned, offering fans genuine smiles and occasional cringes that feel appropriate for a franchise built on memory.
Script-wise, the film is busiest when it leans into its characters and ideological concerns. At times the plot resorts to convenience — coincidences and rapid shifts that serve spectacle more than storytelling coherence — but the emotional beats generally land. The screenplay favors breadth over depth, assembling multiple storylines and locations rather than focusing tightly on one central arc. That structural choice results in some fragmentation, but it also keeps the film dynamic and unpredictable.
Tonally, Jurassic World Dominion is an enjoyable hybrid: a reverent nod to the original Jurassic Park mixed with the pacing and excess of modern franchise filmmaking. It is not the singular, world-changing cinematic event the first film was, nor does it attempt to be. Instead, it functions as a well-crafted piece of contemporary blockbuster entertainment — visually impressive, emotionally accessible, and unapologetically designed to satisfy a broad audience.
For viewers who want high-energy set pieces, convincing creature effects, and a healthy dose of franchise nostalgia, Jurassic World Dominion is likely to hit the right notes. It may not fully realize its most ambitious premise, but it offers a rewarding and rewatchable conclusion for fans of the current series, while reminding audiences why the world of dinosaurs continues to captivate.
Score: 15/24
