Jurassic World Dominion | The end of wonder ★★★

It took us a while after the screening, but we finally found what the first parts of Jurassic Park and of Jurassic World have more compared to the other films of the series: an amusement park.

Pascal LeBlanc
The Press

Without it, there’s no place to marvel at dinosaurs. Our favorite aspect of this universe then disappears almost entirely.

One of the most beautiful scenes of Jurassic World Dominion happens when the D^D Ellie Sattler (always great Laura Dern) pauses for a moment to pet a baby nasutoceratops. His eyes and his smile light up his face and ours at the same time. Beyond the action and the tension, it is the emotion that we are looking for when watching these films. Dinosaurs are not just monsters. They touch us and inspire respect through the immeasurable mark they have left over time. As a spectator, these majestic creatures fascinate us as much as they frighten us. Indifference is not an option. That’s what we thought…

The screenwriters of Dominion have decided that the humans in their history must now cohabit with the dinosaurs. Parasaurolophus run with horses. Stegosaurus cause road trips. Mosasaurus attack fishing boats. After five feature films, this choice may be logical, but no longer magical.

In fact, Colin Trevorrow’s film – which returns to close this second trilogy after the very weak Fallen Kingdom by JA Bayona — deplores without great subtlety our relationship with nature. In this allegory, it is the turn of Lewis Dodgson (destabilizing Campbell Scott) to take himself for God. At the head of the genetic engineering company Biosyn, he wishes to control the world without worrying about the life that inhabits it. A way of confronting our own environmental and social issues. The idea is not bad — nor original — but too strong and, ultimately, incidental. Because the main objective of the story was ultimately only to bring together two trios of beloved characters in mountains populated by dangerous dinosaurs.

Meeting and realism

We are still happy to see them again. Especially those first encountered in 1993. The nostalgia kicks in, but there’s more to it. The chemistry between doctors Sattler, Grant (Sam Neill) and Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) still operates and their passion still moves. Even if there are many of them, the nods to their past interactions remain sympathetic. You might wonder why they’ve gotten themselves into the woods again, but our entertainment outweighs our questioning.

The same can’t be said for Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and their newly adopted daughter Maisie Lockwood (Isabelle Sermon). They love each other and love dinosaurs. Their quest makes even more sense than that of our beloved scientists. And even if Bryce Dallas Howard is excellent in the art of being afraid and that Chris Pratt can raise his hand in front of a velociraptor like no one, their characters interest us very little. The latter is particularly erased in this final chapter.

But when everyone is reunited — with charming new friends Kayla (DeWanda Wise) and Ramsay (Mamoudou Athie) — and the big dinos are coming from everywhere, we don’t hide our pleasure. The suspense works thanks to lighting effects and music by Michael Giacchino — where the hell is the John Williams theme? — but mostly because of the striking realism of the dinosaurs. As with the original, mechanically animated specimens were built, in addition to those created digitally. They have never looked so real! However, we prefer them camouflaged in the forest rather than chasing a motorcycle through the streets of Malta – this James Bond moment is rather missed.

Which brings us back to wonder. It’s not seeing a dinosaur walking in the middle of town that rekindles our fascination for these creatures. It’s to see characters like Doctors Sattler, Grant and Malcolm still looking at them with their childlike eyes.

Stock

Jurassic World Dominion
(VF: Jurassic World – Domination)

Colin Trevorrow

Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern

2:26 a.m.
Indoors

★★★