Laura Dern and Sam Neil return as their “Jurassic Park” characters, Dr. Ellie Sattler and Dr. Alan Grant, in “Jurassic World: Dominion.”
There’s no doubt that “Jurassic World: Dominion” is the best movie in the franchise since the 1993 “Jurassic Park” movie that started it all.
There are several reasons for that. A major one is that the original “Jurassic Park” stars — Sam Neil as Dr. Alan Grant, Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler and Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm — are equally integral to a story that features the “Jurassic World” cast of Chris Pratt as Owen Grady, Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing and Isabella Sermon as Maise Lockwood.
After all, as impressive as the dinosaurs are, the “Jurassic” franchise succeeds because of its human characters.
“Jurassic World: Dominion” explores the best and worst of humanity while still delivering fun, action scenes involving dinosaurs. The details won’t be spoiled here, but it’s safe to say you can expect a chase scene that’s among the best in the franchise’s history.
And it’s not giving away too much to say that “Jurassic World: Dominion” delivers the best ending of any of the “Jurassic” movies.
It clearly is the best of the three “Jurassic World” movies. The first one from 2015 was a creative reboot of the franchise. The second, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” was a good story but not as good as the 2015 film.
Watch “Jurassic World: Dominion” for some Easter eggs referring to the first “Jurassic Park” movie, which remains fans’ favorite of the films from the 1990s and early 2000s.
And that brings up the second reason for the success of “Jurassic World: Dominion,” which topped the North America box office in its opening weekend with a whopping $143.37 million gross. The franchise’s latest movie neatly ties together the plots of the movies, including the return of a villain from the first “Jurassic Park” film.
The third reason for the new movie’s success is director Colin Trevorrow, who navigated the film through the adventures of the “Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic World” casts. The transition in scenes between the two casts is smooth, and when the two casts are united and face the dinosaurs together, they feel like one, cohesive family. That includes DeWanda Wise as a new character, pilot Kayla Watts, who plays a crucial part in the film.
The fourth reason, of course, is the great dinosaurs, complemented by Michael Giancchino’s suspenseful music and the appropriate placement of John Williams’ original, iconic “Jurassic Park” theme.
The fifth reason is Steven Spielberg, who directed the first two “Jurassic Park” films and has kept the franchise alive as one of its producers. His enthusiasm for imaginative stories has benefited audiences for a long time.
email: dmason@newspress.com
