Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)

Once again we have scientists playing god by thinking that they can control nature. Actually as I was leaving the theater I heard one guy complain about being tired of the basis of films being scientists play god and making things go wrong. I hate to say it, but that is the basis of all of the Jurassic Park films in one way or another. This film though had the scientists messing with additional "things" (trying to not give spoilers) that could also have global repercussions. This actually showed that they were willing to mess with anything and dinosaurs were just part of it. The main story is that a company has started to take in all the dinosaurs that got loose while there has developed a black market for dinosaurs. This company ends up releasing a new plague onto the world and are trying to hide the fact that they are behind it. Characters from all the previous movies are brought back showing how the different storylines overlap and have all come together in this film. Driving the characters forward are the hopes to get back two characters that have been kid napped and trying to get a sample to show what the company is doing.

Many of the best characters from the previous movies were brought back and there were many character interactions that people could miss or not understand unless they had knowledge about the previous films. One example of this is the relationship between Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler. In many places in the film I found myself internally yelling at them to just say what they really mean or to kiss and get it over with. Then of course you have Jeff Goldblum portraying Ian Malcolm. I don't want to give too much away, but at one point he makes a flaming spear to try and save the others and your stomach just drops thinking that this is how he ends. Then they also introduce use to some knew characters Kayla Watts who works in the black market but has a heart and decides to help. I was actually wanting some more character development with her, but it never came. Another way that this film links to the past is also in the small details. One of these is a can of shaving cream that you may remember from the first film as a hidden transport for dinosaur embryos. In this film a similar can pops up, you do not know if it is a transport for anything, but the head of the 'evil' company makes a point to grab it when he tries to leave as though it contains something important. It also makes you wonder if this was the company that was the secret buyer in the first film.

Don't do it Ian!!!!!!! His character can kick ass.

Kayla Watts played by DeWanda Wise. I want to know more about this character. Maybe in spin off material (books/comics) we may get to know more about her.

The special effects were about the same as the newer movies in the franchise. At the same time I wish they would bring back more of the animatronics. Yes they can make it look like the dinosaurs have scales with texture, but something that makes them feel alive is just missing. It was nice though to see the different types of dinosaurs they created and doing dinosaurs with feathers was also a great detail. Mommy Geek actually leaned over when the first one came on film and asked me if any dinosaurs really had feathers. I told her yes and from them finding specimens with feathers this is one of the reasons why they think they evolved into birds.

For this film's rating I had to think back not only to the recent films, but the whole franchise. To me this film was the best of most of the films with the exception being the first one. It had twists and turns that you didn't expect while allowing the characters to help drive the plot forward through their interactions with each other and the events of the film. Mommy Geek actually thought that this film was actually the best of all the films. I just couldn't go that far. I will give it 4 stars out of 5 or a B+, because it just lacked some believability in the dinosaurs. 

Maybe it's the shadowing that just made them feel off and not actually there.

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As a side note I also want to talk about an experience I had right before going into the film. Mommy Geek and I went to the AMC Arapahoe Crossing theater to see the film. When we got there I went to sit down in this little lounge area that they have in front of their bar. The bar was closed even though the theater was open. I do not know if the bar is supposed to have different hours then the theater, or if they just don't have the staff they need, but the hours of it being open is not posted and there was no sign saying it was closed. The only reason why I thought it was closed was because no one was manning it. 

My mother came back to join me and she was upset because an employee had told her that the popcorn machine was down. So we sat there waiting for the time when we could go take our seat. A female employee went behind the bar and started to do stuff there. A guy walks up and asked for 2 beers. Instead of just telling him that they weren't ready to open yet she gets very snippy with him in how she said the bar is still closed. He just walked away. If it would have been me I would have walked away and asked for a manager if someone was that rude to me. Both my mother and I just decided to ignore her bad behavior as just an employee having a bad day. Then a few minutes later we over hear her telling her boss that she was fearful of the guy that had just asked her for two beers and was pointing out the guy we had seen interacting with her. She was telling her boss that she felt that he had been demanding and was now not feeling safe with him in the building. Both Mommy Geek and I looked at each other. Mommy Geek asked me why was she lying about what happened. I told her I didn't know. First off I want to say that as a woman and a DEI specialist you would think that I would be all willing to stand up for a woman that had been threatened by a man, but I also support telling the truth and what she was doing was just lying about the whole interaction she had with the guy. I stood up and walked over to the manager that was now also with her behind the bar. I asked the manager if I could talk to her and she said yes. I said that I was a third party that had witnessed what had happened and that her employee was lying about what had happened and that the guy had done nothing wrong. Then the employee that was lying piped up to me "Thank you. Good bye." I told her manager that her doing that to me was just an example of her bad behavior and that she needed to address her employee. No one has the right to lie about a person just because they can't do their job. I think she was lying about him to get him kicked out because he could report her for how rude she had been to him when he had just tried to place a drink order. She was trying to cover her own butt and didn't think that any witnesses would actually stand up. This is why I always tell people that if you see something wrong stand up for the truth. As a DEI specialist I'm always hyper aware of how people treat each other and a female lying about a male sets everything back. It makes women look like lying creatures to males and does nothing to improve the standing of females in our society. I can only hope that the movie theater takes what she did seriously and holds her accountable not only for lying about what happened, but also how she was verbally rude to both the guy and me. I have also left a less detailed account of this experience on their Google reviews since I am a Google local guide and feel that the public need to know about how employees at this theater think it is ok to lie about customers and to provide horrible customer service.

The "closed" bar. They really need signs about every 3 feet on the counter letting people know they are closed and what hours the bar is open.

Picture 1 From: https://twitter.com/JurassicWorld/status/1514620850854514691

Picture 2 From: https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a40214193/jurassic-world-4-future-sequel-spinoff/

Picture 3 From: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_world_dominion

Picture 4 From: https://jurassicpark.fandom.com/f/t/Kayla%20Watts

Picture 5 From: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8041270/

Picture 6 From: https://www.slashfilm.com/765969/every-dinosaur-in-the-jurassic-world-dominion-trailer/

For the film's official site: https://www.jurassicworld.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwnZaVBhA6EiwAVVyv9Ib37JgHmDwi8X8601595b5yw1cJawCfxzbpBTw_nBhyhkanoCcgKhoCkn8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

For the film's YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/jurassicworld

The little poster display they did have in the front that was really underwhelming when they could have had the larger attention getting standee here.

This standee was in the hall on our way to the theater when it should have been up at the front of the theater where everyone could see it.