Jurassic World: Dominion, the third and final installment in the Jurassic World series, immerses viewers in the world of prehistoric dinosaurs in the modern world once more. But despite the movie’s high anticipation and delightful cast and dinosaurs, it lacks the impact needed to properly conclude a series as influential as Jurassic World.

The film enraptures its audience with the world they’re all familiar with: one filled with rogue dinosaurs released into the wild. The audience is able to meet returning heroes Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) again as they embark on a mission to eradicate a new threat that terrorizes the near future of mankind. It follows the concept that previous Jurassic Park and World movies all had in common: bioengineering and genetics. In Jurassic World: Dominion, this focus is more emphasized than it was in the past few films. After all, the main antagonists of the piece were created by a grievous error in mutations. 

Upon closer look, Jurassic World: Dominion does an excellent job sneaking in little easter eggs. It manages to replicate the all-familiar logo of the franchise — a head of a dinosaur encircled by a ring — in a dramatic dinosaur sanctuary fight at the end of the film. Not to mention, the producers also slip in an allusion to the era of the extinction of dinosaurs through a captivating display of falling flames and destruction that ties into the preceding scene seamlessly. It gives the audience a sense of deja vu, knowing that the film’s world had circled back to a visual of the Cretaceous Period’s end.

Though some scenes are breathtaking, for a series centered around dinosaurs and action, there isn’t a lot of either. The movie does introduce a few new and returning dinosaur species, such as our beloved velociraptor Blue who appeared in the last two Jurassic World movies, but they don’t play as large of a role as they did in the previous movies. In one scene, the Giganotosaurus chases after the main group of characters, but it is soon forgotten after they escape its maw. At the end of the film, when the same dinosaur appears again, it ignores the humans and proceeds to join a fight between two other creatures. Through the film, it seemed as if dinosaurs are used mainly for that extra sprinkle of suspense; the main focus of the plot was mostly centered around the characters and actual, substantial plot, a pleasant surprise compared to the storyline from previous movies. 

However, Jurassic World: Dominion occasionally fails to follow through on themes mentioned in the trailer and at the beginning of the movie. For example, the film supposedly explores the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans from the trailer. However, I didn’t seem to see much of that in the actual movie. It was somewhat touched upon in the first few minutes, accompanied by scenes of innocuous prehistoric creatures being domestic with civilians, but the whole living together in harmony theme was soon forgotten. The closest the film gets to explaining how dinosaurs are treated by humans in the outside world is a scene where they show dinosaurs being used for entertainment or killing in a black market. 

The visuals of this film, though, are enticing, as different scenes reflect the beauty of the sanctuary where the creatures reside for protection. The movie opens up with a shot of land covered with snow and surrounded by forests, bringing a sense of tranquility to the audience. The following scene, where the dinosaurs are rounded up like cattle, disrupts this peace, thereby creating an unforgettable introduction due to the striking, contrasting features between both of the shots.

Watching the last installment to the Jurassic World series felt somewhat anticlimactic due to the shortage of action scenes, yet fulfilling, knowing that the characters can be at rest after everything they’ve been through in the trilogy and more. It was a thrill to be able to catch the conclusion to the production of a series I’ve been watching since my childhood. Certainly, if you’re an avid Jurassic Park fan, you should catch its finale; if you’re not, but still have kept along with the franchise, you should still give it a shot and witness the denouement of this epic series. 

Editor’s Note: This article is a review and contains subjective opinions, thoughts and critiques.