On a tropical island, new transgenic mutated dinosaurs break out of a secret laboratory. Five years after the events of Jurassic World: Dominion (2022), former ex-military covert operative Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) is recruited to lead a team to the lab’s island to retrieve DNA samples from the largest remaining prehistoric specimens in a bid to combat heart disease in the human population.
After Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) released dinosaurs onto the planet, Jurassic World: Dominion had little to do but create a new threat in mutated locusts which disrupted crop supplies. This standalone entry restricts healthy dinos to the earth’s equator and simplifies things by retreading tried and true grounds in-line with the original Jurassic Park (1993) filmed on filmstock, use of John Williams’ iconic score, list of familiar dinos, replaying the evils of the corporate world and using a B plot of a young family getting into familiar and perilous situations.
Directed by Gareth Edwards, known for Monsters (2010) and Godzilla (2014), the movie references classic giant prehistoric monster movies such as King Kong (1933), One Million Years B.C. (1966) The Land That Time Forgot (1974) while incorporating disturbing monster visuals from Return of the Jedi (1983) and H.R. Giger’s Alien (1979), updating the look and changing the tone from action adventure to a horror.
The A-Team of ex-mercenaries, ex-military, pharmaceutical reps and palaeontologists are charmless, generic characters despite their acting chops.
Verdict: A reductive legacy sequel which does not move the story forward. Watch the original instead. 2 stars.
Luke McWilliams, themovieclub.net Viewed at Dendy Cinemas.
