2022’s Jurassic World: Dominion could finally deliver the Jurassic Park sequel fans have always wanted. That’s not to say that the prior Jurassic Park follow-ups don’t have their fans. After all, the Jurassic World movies have each made over $1 billion at the box office just by themselves. Yet, for those who adore iconic director Steven Spielberg’s original 1993 classic, there’s never really been a follow-up that ended up fully satisfactory. That’s even true of The Lost World, Spielberg’s own 1997 Jurassic Park sequel.
A big part of that is the splintering of the ingredients that first made Jurassic Park a hit. As amazing to behold as John Hammond’s bio-engineered dinosaurs were, Jurassic Park‘s success also had a lot to do with its three lead characters. The trio of paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), his fellow paleontologist and girlfriend Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and chaos-obsessed mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), help make Jurassic Park the classic it is, as all three actors play their roles to perfection, and have great chemistry onscreen in various combinations.
Unfortunately, due to various factors, the magic found in the combination of Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm has never been truly reproduced in any Jurassic Park film. They’ve all appeared in some capacity since, but never all at once. That’s a wrong that’s finally set to be righted in Jurassic World: Dominion, but that’s not the only reason that this new installment is highly anticipated. Several pieces have fallen into place that could definitely make this the best Jurassic Park sequel to date.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park is a mixed bag, but perhaps its coolest sequence is when a T-Rex rampages through San Diego. To date, it’s the only real taste franchise devotees have gotten of the chaos that could be wrought by putting dinosaurs among everyday society, and that looks to be a big focus of Jurassic World: Dominion. Fallen Kingdom ended with the dinos being released into the wilds of America, setting the stage for the potential carnage to come. Based on the Battle at Big Rock short film and the prologue of Jurassic World: Dominion, it looks like dinosaurs targeting humans will be common.
As if the returning leads from Jurassic Park and the promise of dinosaurs running amok on the mainland wasn’t enough, the prologue also offers the franchise’s first trip back to the actual age of the dinosaurs, specifically the Cretaceous period. This is the first glimpse of “real” dinosaurs, and not genetic recreations, to date in the Jurassic franchise, another thing many have long asked to see. After Jurassic World, which was a loose retelling of the original movie, and Fallen Kingdom, which lifted a lot from The Lost World, Jurassic World: Dominion looks ready to end the second trilogy by heading down paths never before followed by the franchise, instead of retreading old territory. If Battle at Big Rock and the prologue’s T-Rex attack on a drive-in are any indication, Jurassic World: Dominion might also finally recapture the combination of terror and wonder that Steven Spielberg originally created.
- Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)Release date: Jun 10, 2022
About The Author
