Movie Night! 'Jurassic World: Dominion' (2022)

I've got a few books on the go right now and hopefully I'll be able to share some thoughts on those towards the end of the week. Well, that's the plan anyway but we know what I'm like with plans ;o) Lets see what happens but in the meantime... After the way work went yesterday (not too badly but there was a lot of it, all at once, again...) I declared last night a 'Movie Night' and settled down for some 'Jurassic World: Dominion'. The 'Jurassic Park/World' movies are a sweet little guilty pleasure of mine. Some of those movies aren't brilliant, lets be honest, but so long as there's at least one massive dinosaur chasing people before getting munched on by a strangely heroic T-Rex... I'm in :o)

With that in mind (and very much what I needed), I got watching...

It has been four years since the destruction of Isla Nublar and dinosaurs once again roam the Earth. This time though, they're sharing it with a human population that must learn to adapt to it's new neighbours if both species are to survive. And in the middle of all this upheaval, Owen and Claire struggle to hide Maisie Lockwood from the outside world but the outside world is about to intrude into their lives and turn it all upside down...

Did the franchise need one more 'Jurassic World' movie to tie things off? They could have left things hanging with the last movie, and let us all consider what came next, but on the whole, 'Dominion' does tie things up nicely. Did it really need to be over two hours long though? Really? I was happy with the dinosaurs on display but with the best will in the world, there wasn't two hours worth of story; not Maisie's plot and certainly not the plot of some sinister biotech startup to breed prehistoric locusts that would strip the earth of everything except 'sinister biotech company' grain. I'll say it again, really? Seriously, you've got all these captive dinosaurs that are going to advance medical science but you're still going with the genetically engineered locusts... Nope, I didn't buy it either. I suppose it was a good way to get the old gang back together but... Weren't there enough dinosaurs to do that in the first place? Hmmm...

Luckily, Maisie's plot strand lent the film enough impetus to keep it going and the dinosaurs were great as ever. I got all the 'big dumb dinosaur' action that I could possibly want with several 'set piece' moments that were just plain awesome. Say what you want about the rest of the movie but they really get how majestic these animals must have been and really get that across on the screen. I think the key thing though is that just like it's predecessors, 'Dominion' is more than happy to just be a 'big dumb dinosaur' movie that hides behind a pretty shallow discussion around the ethics of this situation. That and a need to tie up any and all loose ends. How happy you are with that will determine how much mileage you get out of this movie.

I knew what I was getting into and felt like I could more or less enjoy 'Dominion' on its own terms. Even I though could have done with a little more in the way of plot, that or chop half an hour off the movie, either would have worked. As fun as it was to watch, 'Dominion' did feel a little bloated.

Is this the end of the 'Jurassic' franchise...? Call me cynical but I wouldn't be surprised if we get 'Jurassic Moon' in a few years, plenty of room up there for a massive theme park ;o) For now though, 'Dominion' isn't a bad place to stop for a bit, there was just a little too much of it for me, that's all.