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Jurassic World Dominion Review: In a bloated climax, Chris Pratt’s film ‘takes off more than it can chew’

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2 years ago

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Jurassic World Dominion Review: In a bloated climax, Chris Pratt’s film ‘takes off more than it can chew’

“Is it possible for humans and dinosaurs to coexist?” Jurassic World Dominion’s lone question is a last-ditch attempt to milk the nostalgia gold bestowed to it by Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic Jurassic Park. The third instalment brings back the beloved franchise’s OG trio – Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler, Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant, and Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcom – with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard reprising their roles as raptor trainer Owen Grady and former Jurassic World park manager Claire Dearing. Is the film’s conclusion, however, on par with that of a dinosaur? Let’s see what we can find out!

Jurassic World Dominion takes set four years after the destruction of Isla Nublar in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, with two parallel narratives merging at Biosyn Genetics, a corporate dinosaur laboratory with malevolent ambitions of an oncoming ecological disaster. Dinosaurs now coexist with humans, and a little cloned human named Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) is kidnapped by Biosyn Genetics CEO Dr. Lewis Dodgson’s (Campbell Scott) goons because she is “valuable intellectual property.” Owen and Claire, Maisie’s adoptive parents, go on a globe-trotting odyssey to save her, facing terrible dinosaurs and cunning people. Maisie is intrigued by her enigmatic origins and family history. Gnarly, massive locusts, on the other hand, represent a severe threat as they wipe away crop fields, threatening a global famine.

The locust outbreak, which has ties to Biosyn, brings Ellie and Alan back together, along with Ian, who has intimate knowledge of the nefarious business. As one might assume, the past and present collide to untangle the Biosyn mess, while the dinosaurs become hunkier and nastier than ever imagined. Steven Spielberg expertly interweaved the terrifying dinosaur danger with emotionally complex characters in Jurassic Park. Colin Trevorrow, on the other hand, fails to capitalise on either in Jurassic World Dominion. The dinosaurs, who deserve to be the ultimate tourist attraction, are overshadowed by a bloated plot that offers plenty of thrills but at the cost of a soul.

When it comes to the performances in Jurassic World Dominion, it’s the original trio who bring some much-needed energy to a chaos-driven tale, especially Jeff Goldblum, who continues to steal the show with his dry humour remarks. Laura and Sam maintain their endearing chemistry, but Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard’s relationship, as well as their close-up shots, feels skewed throughout. The duo works hard to make you care about Owen and Claire, but the character development is almost non-existent. They never emerge as the hero of the story that is supposed to be about them! Isabella Sermon, likewise, suffers from a lacklustre concept, while Campbell Scott’s shady Steve Jobs-like villain is hilarious. Dr. Henry Wu is played by BD Wong, and dinosaur smuggler Soyona Santos is played by Dichen Lachman. Surprisingly, it’s series newbies Kayla Watts as Han Solo-rescue pilot DeWanda Wise and Ramsay Cole as Biosyn Head of Communications Mamoudou Athie that pique our interest with their intriguing characters.

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With a cash cow in their hands, Jurassic World Dominion writers Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly take the Jurassic Park franchise’s devoted following for granted. The movie plays more like an action-thriller than a riveting sci-fi movie about dinosaurs, taking obvious inspiration from other big franchise players like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, James Bond, and countless others. Furthermore, the plot overuses the nostalgia theme, which may alienate new fans while OG loyalists continue to demonstrate their support. It’s the polar opposite of what Spider-Man: No Way Home gave its audience, focusing on fan service rather than a compelling past-meets-present story. Regardless, don’t be surprised if Jurassic World Dominion becomes a box office smash!

When it comes to action sequences in Jurassic World Dominion, the explosive adventure in Malta is a definite “edge of your seat” highlight, with Owen and Claire racing to the finish line in motorcycles and pickup trucks while facing horrific dinosaurs and awful humans. It’s here that you see the ramifications of a possible co-existence between humans and dinosaurs, with the latter being displayed to the former’s whims and fancies in the guise of a brutal black market set-up. There are a few of these sequences, but the momentum is short-lived, and the confusing plot is wholly to blame. It never delves deeply into the “co-existence” issue, as promised in prior instalments. While the CGI dinosaurs are more elegantly rendered this time around, something to marvel at especially, the anticipated duel is lacklustre at best, with T-Rex and Giganotosaurus, an even more carnivorous threat.

In the end, Jurassic World Dominion is a forgettable ‘extinct’ conclusion to a renowned saga. “Life manages to find a way.” Unfortunately, Jurassic World Dominion does not!

 

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Cricket

KL Rahul dangerously close to Laxman territory; to be perished for Sarfaraz Khan and Shubman Gill

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2 weeks ago

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October 22, 2024

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KL Rahul dangerously close to Laxman territory; to be perished for Sarfaraz Khan and Shubman Gill

To accommodate both Sarfaraz and Gill and stick with their five-bowler formula, a batter from the Bengaluru Test must make way. Ergo Rahul and the predicted axe

VVS Laxman went through the first half of his illustrious 15-and-a-half-year international career with the proverbial axe hanging over him. Despite his magical stroke-play and a well-founded reputation for rallying the lower order to bat above itself, he was forever the first name that sprang to the decision-makers’ minds when they had to drop someone to accommodate someone else. It wasn’t until the second half of his stint with the national team that he had ‘job security’, which automatically manifested itself in an array of glorious, match-turning knocks and earmarked him as one for a crisis.

KL Rahul is now dangerously close to approaching the Laxman territory, though at least in this instance, a case can be made out, perhaps, for why he often seems to be playing for his place. Almost a decade after his Test debut in Australia in December 2014, he has yet to nail down a permanent spot, a result of glaring inconsistency and repeated dalliances with injuries that have left him with a modest average of 33.87 from 53 Test appearances.

Unlike Laxman, who was thrust to the opener’s position for three years from 1997, successive team managements have worked overtime to create space for Rahul. He started off in the middle order in Melbourne against Australia, opened in the next Test in Sydney when he made a sparkling century, continued in that position for a good nine years – around the large pockets when either injuries or lack of form relegated him to the sidelines – and now seems to have found his calling in the middle order, where he was tried out in an almost last throw of the dice in South Africa last December.

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In his limited time at the No. 6 position, Rahul has been a revelation. On a spiteful surface in Centurion in his first innings back in the middle order, the classy right-hander made a marvellous 101 – Virat Kohli’s 38 was the next highest score – in India’s 245 all out. Two Tests later, against England in Hyderabad, he waltzed to 86 of the best until a hamstring strain kept him out of the last four Tests.

On his comeback last month against Bangladesh, Rahul showed why he is rated so highly, and therefore why he so frustrates when he chooses to shackle himself mentally, with uninhibited shot-making when India were pressing for a declaration (Chennai) and looking to make up for lost time with a frenetic batting approach (Kanpur) in the two Tests. Kanpur was especially mesmeric, 68 flowing off his bat in a mere 43 deliveries. It was the best of Rahul.

Axe hangs over Rahul’s head for India vs New Zealand 2nd Test

And yet here we are, two innings later, wondering whether he will, or should, feature in the playing XI in Pune, where India take on New Zealand in a must-win second Test from Thursday.

Shubman Gill, him of three centuries in his last six Tests, missed the Bengaluru defeat to the Kiwis with a stiff neck. Replacement batter Sarfaraz Khan made the most of own good fortune with a delectable 150, which makes it near impossible to drop him now that Gill is fully fit. To accommodate both Sarfaraz and Gill and stick with their five-bowler formula which has worked beautifully in the last few years, a batter from the Bengaluru Test must make way. Ergo Rahul and the predicted axe.

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One of the few men to have led India in all three formats internationally, Rahul didn’t help his cause with scores of 0 and 12 at his home ground, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. In the first innings, he was strangled down leg-side by William O’Rourke while in the second, he received a peach from the same paceman operating with the second new ball and was again caught behind. Rahul was one of 11 failures in India’s first-innings 46 and one of seven wickets to fall in 93 deliveries to the second new cherry, but failures past and the logjam created by Gill’s availability have combined to identify him as the most susceptible to the axe.

It’s a cross impossible to bear, but also impossible to ignore just because it is so heavy, so overarching. Rahul is beyond gifted and makes batting appear oh-so-simple, but his struggles to embrace sustained run-making can’t be wished away. He is the eternal team man, much like his celebrated namesake also from Karnataka – both kept wickets admirably in 50-over World Cups 21 years apart, both made attractive and impactful runs during the tournament and both tasted bitter defeat at the hands of Australia in the final – but ‘eternal team man’ can sometimes be an euphemism for the ‘most dispensable’ and Rahul can be excused for thinking that those two lines have blurred beyond repair. Of course, if he is brutally honest to himself, he will acknowledge at least to himself that he too must bear culpability for the blurring of the lines.

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