Jurassic World Dominion ends – in part – the Jurassic Era that began in 1990 with the novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton which in 1993 became one of the most popular films by Steven Spielberg was followed by: The Lost World in 1997 always by Spielberg, based on the second novel of the same name, and 2001’s Jurassic Park 3 directed by Joe Johnston. The original trilogy has decided, starting from 2015, to give rise to a new Jurassic saga focused on the events of the famous Jurassic World park with the events narrated in Jurassic World (2015). 

Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom (2018), and Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) directed by Colin Trevorrow. Along with the six films, it is worth mentioning the presence of a delightful Netflix original animated series: Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous still under construction with four seasons under its belt. With Jurassic World 3, the second trilogy comes to its conclusion in a completely unexpected way. We previewed the film and this is our no spoiler opinion.

The events narrated in Jurassic World: Dominion takes place four years after the destruction of Isla Nublar, dinosaurs live and hunt together with humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether humans remain the dominant predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures.

It is well known that the Jurassic World saga never shone, but despite the ailments of the previous films, the films were ultimately enjoyable and particularly entertaining, albeit far from the concept of “Jurassic Park”. With the ending of the second film, the cards on the table were particularly interesting given the “return” of the dinosaurs to the civilized world, which had immediately winked at the finale of The Lost World in which a t-rex sowed panic in the city, sequence among the most popular of the entire film saga. 

Dominion, starting from these premises, introduces us to a world in which humans, animals, and dinosaurs have learned to coexist in a sort of forced ecosystem with many difficulties. If at the base the concept is interesting and full of creative ideas, the realization and the inventiveness dedicated to the project do not meet expectations in any way, not even thanks to the return of the original cast.

Laura Dern, Sam Neil, and Jeff Goldblum return for the first time since 1993 to chase – and be chased by – dinosaurs but losing quite a few hits. In a period in which the nostalgia effect is abused, Il Dominio, while being able to focus in part on this aspect, decides almost completely to leave it out, leaving the iconic characters of the saga at the mercy of the action without a real backbone or a precise characterization. 

The fault of this is undoubtedly a screenplay aimed much more at entertainment than history. Dominion is in all respects the sequel to the Fallen Kingdom, the story of the young Lockwood, the granddaughter of the co-founder of Jurassic Park, is resumed and deepened, but everything is dealt with in a completely different way from what the films of the saga original and the sequel saga we were used to.

Watching Jurassic World: Dominion will seem to be in front of an action film, in the style of Mission: Impossible or The Bourne Identity with the addition of some dinosaurs in the background. The “human” events have the upper hand, overshadowing what really interests this saga. To make matters worse, those creatures take over so out of focus given the fold of the film that they seem completely useless to the development of the plot. 

Creatures that, due to the continuous genetic changes carried out by humans, have considerably changed their original form, so much so that they seem like real “Fantastic Beasts”. The very realization of the latter leaves in some moments decidedly disappointed if you think about the perfection that the dinosaurs had in the previous films, especially in the first two films of the original saga. 

However, there are still some good action scenes starring the loving Velociraptor chasing the increasingly static Chris Pratt on a motorcycle on what should be the island of Malta that ends up resembling a Moroccan city. The fast pace, a good dose of action, and some well-made sequences are not enough to revive the fortunes of a film whose direction is not very clear. 

Several times during the film, one wonders if what one is watching will actually have a more or less significant value on the implication of the story, a problem that a final chapter should not have. The same characters, completely at the mercy of events, are not very empathetic and devoid of any interest both in staging their story and in transmitting their emotions, a feeling that in turn is reflected on the viewer who comes out weighed down and bewildered.

Jurassic World: Dominion is an odd and hasty conclusion to a trilogy that, although it had never shone over the years, had nevertheless managed to entertain and make spectators dream with the presence of the iconic dinosaurs. The last chapter of the saga decides to take an unexpected path by completely detaching itself from the other films, staging a decidedly out-of-focus story for the type of franchise proposed. 

The same characters, old and new, seem to disappear in the face of a story that prefers to exceed from the visual point of view rather than that of the story. Good action scenes, tight editing, and a few moments of nostalgia (which, if used well, could have made a difference) are not enough to make this final chapter a memorable film.