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| Courtesy of Universal Pictures |
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Jurassic Park as
a ten-year-old in 1993 with its thundering DTS sound system logo and T-Rex
stomping you could hear from the theater lobby while trying to buy a
ticket. The senses of fear, awe and
wonderment in Steven Spielberg’s loose adaptation of Michael Crichton’s science
fiction novel of the same name are still as palpable now as they were almost
thirty years ago. Science-fiction/horror
as an exercise in pioneering technically proficient special effects driven
filmmaking whose practically and CG rendered vistas hold up remarkably well to
this day, it remains a game changer for the cinema world entire which redefined
the scope and possibilities of the summer Hollywood blockbuster. As a child being let loose in this violent
scary funny exciting roller coaster ride, it was a bit like being in an arcade
wanting to try every game in the place.
But as with every strike of lightning in a bottle printing an
endless stream of money, studios get greedy and proceed to milk the cow dry of
whatever life it has left to give. After
Spielberg’s own direct sequel The Lost World also based on Crichton’s novel
followed by a third entry by Honey I Shrunk the Kids director Joe
Johnston, the franchise fizzled out in 2001 while raking in well over $300
million at the box office. Despite
efforts to keep selling the brand, like Jeff Goldblum’s Dr. Ian Malcolm wryly pointed
out in the first film ‘dinosaurs had their shot and nature selected them for extinction’. This is a series whose brand and inspiration
more or less ran its course.
Circa 2015, a new trilogy “inspired” by the first set of
films and a canonical chronological of the original series featuring a new cast
of characters now known as Jurassic World, was introduced to moviegoers. Helmed by newcomer Colin Trevorrow, the film
outgrossed the original film even after adjustment for inflation and went on to
become the third most successful film of all time. Immediately the film catapulted Trevorrow
from fledgling indie director to top Hollywood player. Critics (myself included) were hard on the
film’s merits (or lack thereof) in its efforts to repeat the beats of the 1993
Spielberg film scene by scene only louder and sometimes more violent. Nevertheless, it spawned a sequel which saw
Trevorrow take a step back from directing to focus on what would’ve been his
first Star Wars film.
After being let go from Star Wars over creative
differences and the failure of his film The Book of Henry, it came as a
surprise to hear Trevorrow was back in the director’s chair for what is ostensibly
the closing chapter of this new Jurassic World series. Even more surprising was that after two
sequels, Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment somehow or another cajoled
three of its primary surviving cast members from the 1993 film, Sam Neill,
Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, back into it, making this the series’ The
Force Awakens kind of endeavor. Prompted
by a 2021 IMAX-exclusive prologue (actually deleted footage from the final cut)
and numerous movie tie-ins such as Progressive Insurance commercials, Jurassic
World Dominion in a way becomes the very thing Dr. Ian Malcolm warned
against: selling of a brand at all costs.
While the film takes place years after the island of Ilsa Nublar
has been destroyed and humans coexist with dinosaurs and other forms of life on
Earth and a subplot involving an evil corporation intending to unleash
genetically engineered locusts to create a global food crisis and control
trade, as with the first Jurassic World (when you get down to it) is
once again retreading tried old ground.
The once majestic T-Rex footprint at this point has been overrun repeatedly
by tires and shoes. What I’m saying is
whatever life and inspiration this series once had (and still has in the 1993
film) has been trampled upon and crushed out of it. Whereas Spielberg’s film still can have you
on the edge of your seat, Trevorrow’s mercenary, perfunctory nostalgia-pornographic
dirge closing this franchise for good is a tiresome if not draining slog.
While Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard still seem to
care, Laura Dern and Sam Neill look trapped in this movie looking desperately
for a way out while Jeff Goldblum does his thing on autopilot echoing the
humiliations of Independence Day: Resurgence. Campbell Scott as the villainous Dr.
Lewis Dodgson (“we’ve got Dodgson here!”) does his best playing a riff on
Arliss Howard’s InGen CEO from The Lost World but ultimately strong cast
or weak cast, everyone’s efforts get lost in the mire of its staggering 146 minute
running time. As the film piles on dino
chase after dino chase, quick saves and last-minute escapes, the thing becomes
a monotonous bore made for moviegoers more keen on having popcorn fights than
paying attention to whatever is happening onscreen.
Technically speaking the film’s set pieces and production
design are great, with every dollar on the screen shot beautifully by The
Rock cinematographer John Schwartzman and Michael Giacchino dials up the “excitement”
notes while also finding room to rechannel just a few reminders of John
Williams’ iconic score. As a home
theater or Dolby Cinema demo, its prime material for selling 4K televisions and
Dolby Atmos sound systems. And that’s
it, just stop right there. If there’s a
reason for you to freely watch this let alone spend money on it, it is a
textbook example of how you can take a beautiful baby like Jurassic Park
which can still fill a theater and enthrall an audience and then turn around to
embalm it alive. Not even familiar faces
can bail out this sinking ship, just let it drown already.
--Andrew Kotwicki
