The Jurassic World movies have been a mixed bag so far. Director Colin Trevorrow’s first film was a ton of fun, with a very game cast led by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, but it was also obviously derivative of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Oscar-winning franchise starter Jurassic Park. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – which saw Trevorrow just writing/producing while Juan Antonio Bayona sat in the director’s chair – definitely didn’t have issues with derivation as it took the story in some very unexpected places all to do with cloning, but that novelty also divided audiences. However, according to Trevorrow, who returns to helm again for the final entry in this sequel trilogy, there is an overall game plan here that will be revealed in Jurassic World: Dominion.
Specifically, as the filmmaker explained to EW, Dominion is going to be “a celebration of the whole franchise”, tying everything together. That even includes Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, the animated kids show on Netflix which is about to start its second season this coming Friday.
According to Trevorrow, the show will “really inform some things, even in Dominion that will connect to discoveries made that I’m really excited about.” But this link doesn’t end with Camp Cretaceous, as Trevorrow feels that Dominion “is a culmination of one story that’s been told”.
When you got to the end of the Jurassic Park trilogy, it may not have been as clear in what the complete story of those three movies was because they were a bit more episodic in the way that they were approached. But this trilogy is not that way. It’s very much a serialized story. What was important for me was, when you watch Dominion, you really feel like you are learning how much of a story that first set of movies was and how everything that happened in those movies actually informs what ultimately is able to happen in this. If kids who are born today are going to be presented with six Jurassic Park movies — you hope the parents will buy them the box set — you hope they are going to get to feel like they watch one long story.
To help sell this “one long story” vibe, Dominion will feature the return of Jurassic Park trilogy stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. And unlike the minor cameo Goldblum had in Fallen Kingdom, the trio will have equal screen time with returning leads Pratt and Howard this time around. Now, I have to point out that we recently heard the very same pre-release rhetoric and revival of classic characters with JJ Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and we know how that turned out. We’re hoping Trevorrow and co do a lot better with Dominion, and based on the short film sneak peek we’ve had so far, they are.
In fact, even if you hated Fallen Kingdom, it’s hard to deny the appeal of its closing moments as hordes of dinosaurs escaped into civilization, forcing human society to find a way to live side by side with these thunder lizards. That’s something Camp Cretaceous is already touching on, but will take centre stage in Dominion.
What these movies are is changing in a way. All of the Jurassic movies have fundamentally been about people who go to an island and there are dangerous dinosaurs there who very well may harm them. As we take it into a new place where it’s about humans and dinosaurs sharing the planet as we do with animals, it gives us an opportunity to make more character stories with people you know and love and care about. That’s really our same exercise on the show.
Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait a bit to see just how Trevorrow’s plan plays out as the COVID-19 pandemic has seen Jurassic World: Dominion delayed by a year to 10 June 2022.
Last Updated: January 21, 2021
Original Heretic
January 21, 2021 at 02:12
My son is counting down the days to the new season of Camp Cretaceous!