Why Some Fans Don't Expect Much From Jurassic World Dominion
The "Jurassic World" franchise is set to come to a ceremonious end with the upcoming "Dominion." The threequel is set to pick up after "Fallen Kingdom," which saw the series' iconic dinosaurs living amongst humans. In "Dominion," Chris Pratt's Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire Dearing will team up with the original "Jurassic Park" trio (Laura Dern, Sam Neil, Jeff Goldblum) to restore balance to the shaken ecosystem.
Unlike "Jurassic Park," which kicked off the franchise in 1993, the "World" trilogy has leaned heavily into action sequences and extravagant setpieces as opposed to thrills and horror. This change of direction isn't much of a surprise considering "Jurassic World" functioned as a meta-commentary on how audiences' tastes have changed since the original film.
The trailers for "Jurassic World Dominion" have doubled down on large-scale moments of prehistoric chaos, once again cementing that the "World" trilogy is more action than adventure. Clearly, this is something viewers are enjoying as the previous two films in the trilogy have grossed over $1 billion (via Box Office Mojo). To balance the dinosaur mayhem, the footage from "Dominion" has leaned heavily into sparking nostalgia thanks to the return of the three lead characters from "Jurassic Park."
Despite "Dominion" being treated as the culmination of the entire franchise and a love letter to the original cast, some audiences still aren't enthused about what's coming next.
Fans think Jurassic World Dominion is all spectacle with no substance
In a Reddit post on the "Jurassic Park" subreddit, u/MercuryMorrison1971 wrote that their expectations of "Jurassic World Dominion" are low because "each sequel has failed to live up [to] the first Jurassic Park and they have dropped in quality almost completely consecutively ..." There is some objectivity to the user's statement seeing as the first "Jurassic World" film sports a 78% user rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while its sequel received a measly 48%. Reviewers blasted "Fallen Kingdom" for its disjointed and derivative storytelling, and Rolling Stone, in fact, labeled it one of the worst films of 2018.
u/crobek agreed with the original poster, pointing out how the franchise has leaned heavily into a spectacle, and in their opinion, has abandoned all sense of story, "One thing I've come to realize ... is some people just want to see dinosaurs," they wrote. "They don't care about writing, acting, directing or general narrative, they just want to see ... dinosaurs on screen ... I think these recent films are definitely targeted towards that audience."
Another user voiced their immense dissatisfaction with the upcoming entry, comparing it to another modern franchise: "Very action heavy and nonsensical ... It looks like a movie that's following the Marvel formula which is disappointing." On the other hand, u/RChallenge offered a moderate view. "I suspect it will be perfectly serviceable, much like 'JW', but it won't blow anyone away. Just another film," they commented.
Here's hoping fans of the franchise are swayed when "Jurassic World" Dominion opens on June 10 stateside.