It’s not exactly a merciful end, but Jurassic World: Dominion concludes the middle trilogy in the franchise that Steven Spielberg launched in 1993 with Jurassic Park (a Jaws-lite that—compared to what followed—registers as its own sort of masterpiece). Dominion tries to bridge the eras by featuring both “new” stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard and original cast members Sam Neill and Laura Dern. (Jeff Goldblum has been cashing checks pretty much throughout.) The result is a convoluted, overstuffed narrative that operates like two parallel movies until they converge for an extended climax. You probably get more dinosaurs per minute here than any other installment, but the only encounter that really registers is a velociraptor chase across the rooftops and streets of Malta. The extended sequence comes a talon away from offering the image of a raptor riding a motorcycle out of a cargo plane, Fast and Furious-style, which would have been the World movies’ crowning achievement. Directed by Colin Trevorrow, returning from Jurassic World.
(6/27/2025)
