ReviewJurassic World Dominion movie review: Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum reunite for legacy sequel, and it feels like time the dinosaurs go extinct again

There’s so much going on in the latest Jurassic Park sequel you feel like Ethan Hunt or Indiana Jones should be in charge, not three ageing former zookeepers

Mercenaries, shady scientists, mutant locusts – the dinosaurs seem almost an afterthought in a production that’s lost sight of what makes the series special

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Chris Pratt in a still from Jurassic World Dominion (category IIA), directed by Coin Trevorrow. Bryce Dallas Howard and Laura Dern co-star

Published: 2:43pm, 2 Jun 2022Updated: 4:11pm, 2 Jun 2022

2/5 stars

Hollywood’s love affair with legacy sequels continues as Jurassic World Dominion reunites original stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum on screen for the first time since 1993’s Jurassic Park.

In this third and possibly final chapter in the blockbuster franchise’s sequel series, the dinosaurs have escaped their island enclosures and now live among us. Returning director Colin Trevorrow hopes to dovetail both existing trilogies into a single satisfying conclusion, but this latest instalment struggles to recapture the magical sense of awe and wonder that once enraptured audiences.

Four years after the calamitous events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, a cutthroat black market for exotic prehistoric reptiles has emerged, prompting governments around the world to grant exclusive rights for their containment and protection to shady corporate entity Biosyn.

Mercenary groups are also scouring the planet for teenage clone Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), whose DNA may hold secrets for Biosyn’s genetic scientists, led by a returning BD Wong. When Maisie is kidnapped, together with semi-domesticated velociraptor Blue’s own infant, former Jurassic World employees Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) give chase.

Simultaneously, Ellie Sadler (Dern) is investigating giant swarms of mutant locusts, and recruits Alan Grant (Neill) to join her on a visit to Biosyn’s island research facility, where Ian Malcolm (Goldblum) is now a consultant.