If you know me, you know I’m living my best Jurassic Girl Summer. It is well earned, after all, the final installments of both Jurassic World and Camp Cretaceous premiere this summer! Today, let’s focus on the former- Jurassic World Dominion. I’ve been excited for this movie since I first heard about it back in 2020 on the Universal Hollywood Studio Tram Tour and ran out opening day to go see it. Before we get into the section of the post where we talk about the movie itself, I just have to add that my movie theatre went all out. They had a huge display, an employee in an inflatable dinosaur costume, and a “collectible” popcorn bucket and soda combo (super cute Dominion design with Blue and Beta, but when I say bucket, I mean BUCKET. Definitely added to the experience, in my humble opinion).
Ok, so now we’re at the point where there will be some spoilers, so if you’re not into that thing, set a reminder to come visit this post after you watch the movie!
I know the film doesn’t have stellar reviews, but I genuinely liked it. I’m a huge fan of the Jurassic franchise and have enjoyed all the movies on some level, but this one I found to be fun and a nice breakaway from some of the repetition of the earlier films while still maintaining so many of the tropes and themes that the films are so well known for. I felt like the movie also drew from some other well-known films for inspiration in some of the scenes. The secret black market scene, for example, screamed “Star Wars” vibes to be, and Owen’s motorcycle chase, as well as the scene in the amber caves, definitely seemed like it visited Indiana Jones.
While there were some differences, the most notable was certainly the focus of the film: on locusts rather than dinosaurs. While I LOVE my dinosaurs and most certainly do not want a locust encounter anytime soon at either of the Universal Parks, I do believe it was a good move. It was certainly not as action-packed as your traditional dinosaur chase, it did add a horror element in some scenes, which also helps to distinguish Dominion from its predecessors, and helped to open the door for more possibilities in the Jurassic franchise. As we’ve seen in Camp Cretaceous, there is a point where dinosaur chases do get redundant. So, by introducing a new natural antagonist, we’re able to continue to delve into the world of the characters we love while taking a new turn. In another sense, we’re able to portray the overall theme of questioning humankind’s hand in the natural world with a different, yet similar, storyline.
The crossover of the Jurassic World and Jurassic Park characters was certainly a main point of the movie’s marketing, but in all honesty, I was slightly more excited by the new characters of the film. Yes, it was great to see the two franchises merge into one, but Kayla Watts and Ramsay Cole immediately grabbed my heart with their courage and strength. By the end of the film, the group of 7 was truly unbeatable. Of course, Dodgson was one of the main villains of the film and clearly symbolized some figureheads in our current society (generally, there is some debate, but I viewed him as mirroring the head of some modern technology companies), I felt he had some of the most comical moments in the story (see: right before the evacuation alert). The humans were great, but of course, we all know Blue and Beta were the star of the show for me.
Jurassic World Dominion concludes the Jurassic saga, though the storyline is not complete. Later this month, the final season of Camp Cretaceous premieres on Netflix. Additionally, some of the producers of Jurassic World have shared that they’d like to experiment with what could be spin-off’s of the main franchise, which could be particularly interesting now that Dominion has broken the mold of “dinosaur eats man.”
If you’ve seen Jurassic World Dominion, let me know what you think in the comments below!
Have a terrific day!
