The Claire Detail In Jurassic World Dominion That Has Fans Scratching Their Heads
The "Jurassic World" trilogy came to its grand conclusion with "Jurassic World Dominion" seven years after bringing the "Jurassic" franchise back from extinction in 2015. The film, which sees the gang fighting to coexist with the dinosaurs roaming the Earth following the destruction of Isla Nublar, dominated the box office, earning $750 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo). Despite this, it's far from a roaring success with critics. With only a 30% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, it remains the worst-reviewed entry in the entire "Jurassic" saga on the site.
Many critics found that the magic that made Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic so beloved had far exceeded its lifespan by this entry. Peter Bradshaw from the Guardian believes that the film "is overwhelmingly mediocre and pointless, contrived and lifelessly convoluted to the point of gibberish." Even if "Jurassic World Dominion" didn't impress with its story and direction, at the very least, its action has to be worthwhile, right? After all, the previous "Jurassic World" movies both have at least a few noteworthy action-packed moments that justify our insatiable appetite for dinosaurs on the big screen. Well, one detail involving Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire Dearing even left fans disappointed when it came to that aspect of "Dominion."
The return of Super Claire
After Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire's adopted daughter, Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), is kidnapped by Biosyn, the couple tracks her to Malta, only to find that she'd already been put on a plane heading to the tech company's headquarters. In the course of their investigation, they are forced to outrun and outsmart a pack of Velociraptors sent after them by dinosaur smuggler Soyona Santos (Dichen Lachman). It's a fun chase scene, but Claire's actions during it have raised questions.
On a Reddit thread sharing "Dominion" reviews started by u/SanderSo47, u/dondonbow questioned, "Why on earth could Claire jump that far in Malta!? First she outruns T-rex in heels and now this," referring to a moment during the chase scene where Claire jumps from one building to another without struggle.
Users questioned Claire's near-superhuman abilities in avoiding dinosaurs in implausible scenarios. Most commenters poked fun at it, including u/Sierra419, who pointed out, "Those raptors were faster than a dirt bike at full speed but not as fast as her climbing stairs and jumping rooftops like a Jedi." Redditor u/AsianSteampunk referenced Bryce Dallas Howard's role in "Spider-Man 3," saying, "If anything, she was Gwen Stacy once." Some users were simply frustrated by her character. Redditor u/c340 found her underwhelming in all three films while u/PattyIceNY found Howard's performance lackluster, especially when next to Laura Dern's Ellie Sattler.
Although Howard stood her ground on her infamous heels in "Jurassic World," the team did make changes to Claire's footwear for the sequel, which seemed to be a sign that they were attempting to make the action scenes more believable. That may not have been the case for "Dominion," but hey — at least she isn't wearing heels.