The original Jurassic Park captivated millions when it was released in 1993 and still holds up as one of the best adventure movies ever. Since then, the Jurassic franchise has had a series of highs and lows when it comes to their sequels.
The newest release, Jurassic World: Dominion, is shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of the summer. With its signature dinosaur action and likable heroes, this entry delivers. The film also sees the return of Laura Dern and Sam Neill as their iconic roles from the original. Here's a look at all the great things in Jurassic World: Dominion.
6 Dinosaurs Roaming The Earth
At the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Maisie was forced to release the dinosaurs into the wild after she, Owen, and the other heroes stopped the dinosaur auction featured in the film's climax. The closing montage showed ominous footage of the deadly and majestic beasts roaming the wilderness and public areas, resulting in a cliffhanger that many fans were excited to see resolved.
Jurassic World: Dominion delivers the promise of showing how dinosaurs coexisting with humans has effected the world. Before this, fans rarely got to see the dinosaurs interact outside the park. Luckily, there are many cool moments showing them all over the world in this film.
5 Returning Cast Members
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As mentioned before, Dominion features almost all the main cast from the first film reprising their roles. Fallen Kingdom blessed fans with the long-awaited return of Jeff Goldblum, so it only made sense for the others to come back for this film. Laura Dern's Ellie Sattler is still working hard as a paleobotanist who now fears the world may be facing a catastrophic food shortage from evolved dinosaur locusts destroying crops.
This revelation is what pushes her to reach out to Sam Neill's character Alan Grant for help. Their long-awaited return is worth the wait when they finally meet up with Goldblum's iconic Ian Malcolm for a nostalgic dinosaur adventure. The film does a good job of balancing the classic characters with Chris Pratt's newer Jurassic World team.
4 Dewanda Wise As Kayla Watts
While it was great seeing returning characters doing what they know best, Jurassic World: Dominion also introduces some new characters to the franchise. One of these is the rogue pilot Kayla Watts, played by Dewanda Wise. Kayla is a pilot involved in the black market transport of dinosaurs. The plot sees Owen and Claire coming in contact with her and needing her assistance.
Kayla is a cynical, rough-around-the-edges type who reluctantly helps. Dewanda plays the part expertly with charisma and natural talent. Her arc in the film resembles that of iconic characters like Han Solo or Indiana Jones where she must learn to be heroic and selfless. Kayla is one of the most interesting new characters in the Jurassic franchise, and fans are hoping to see more of her in future films.
3 The Motorcycle Chase
One of the most exciting scenes in Jurassic World: Dominion sees Chris Pratt's Owen Grady racing through the streets of Malta on a motorcycle. Owen and Claire come to Malta in search of their adopted daughter Maisie, who was kidnaped by evil scientists. When a group of Atrociraptors is released by mercenaries working for the kidnapers, Owen must evade in a thrilling motorcycle chase scene
The claustrophobic streets of Malta, mixed with the agility of the motorcycle versus dinosaur chase, makes for a truly exciting sequence similar to ones seen in action films like Mission Impossible. Colin Trevorrow directs the chase incredibly well, and unfortunately, none of the other action scenes in the film are this good.
2 Consistent Themes
One thing the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies do well is show how dinosaurs aren't really the scariest things in these films. A consistent theme, starting way back in the original novel, is how humanity playing God or trying to control nature always results in mayhem. Dinosaurs returning to the world is a scientific marvel, but the franchise shows how humanity forcing this just leads to corporate greed and abuse of power.
In Jurassic World: Dominion, the antagonist Dodgson is the leader of a genetics company called ByoSin who aims to use their genetically altered prehistoric locusts to manipulate agriculture and food supply. Obviously, this would cause drastic problems with the ecosystems and causes Ellie Sattler to take action. This main plot line reflects the original film's story of corporations exploiting dinosaurs.
1 Feathered Dinosaurs
When the original Jurassic Park released in 1993, no one had a problem with how the dinosaurs looked. The incredible practical effects mixed with cutting-edge computer graphics made for some of the most realistic dinosaurs people had ever seen. At the time however, most people assumed dinosaurs were similar to giant reptiles. In fact, a lot of scientists believed they're actually more akin to birds.
Now considered more common knowledge, a lot of fans were wondering if the Jurassic films would ever address this issue. To many people's surprise, there actually is a feathered dinosaur in Jurassic World: Dominion. A pyroraptor with razor sharp teeth and fiery red feathers makes a grand appearance. Fans hoping for more scientific accuracy can finally see these beautiful creatures on the big screen.