Es gibt Filmreihen, die eine ganze cineastische Welt für sich beanspruchen. Wenn wir den Begriff Dinosaurier hören, denken wir nicht erst an IN EINEM LAND VOR UNSERER ZEIT oder DINOSAURIER – IM REICH DER GIGANTEN, sondern an JURASSIC PARK und JURASSIC WORLD. Nahezu konkurrenzlos bekommen wir nun den Abschluss der zweiten Trilogie, welcher dennoch auf eine große Community zurückgreift und damit einen absoluten Erfolgsgaranten darstellt. Zugegeben sehen wir keine Vollkatastrophe und die niedersten Bedürfnisse des Publikums werden bestens befriedigt. Auch ist JURASSIC WORLD: EIN NEUES ZEITALTER deutlich mitreißender und harmonischer als der vorherige Teil. Dennoch agiert das Werk weit unter den eigentlichen Möglichkeiten und spielt die Herausforderungen einer weltweiten Dinosaurierverbreitung nicht wirklich aus. Ein klarer Handlungskern ist nur schwer erkennbar, die Figuren bleiben allesamt blass und 2,5 Stunden Film sind wohl etwas zu viel für die recht dünne Story.

Stattdessen setzt man darauf, dass alte Stars den Charme der Spielberg-Filme wieder aufleben lassen und dem Publikum ordentlich Fanservice anbieten. Das nun noch mehr einzigartige Dinosaurier im Mittelpunkt stehen, die teilweise überragend visualisiert wurden und allesamt auch in der Realität existiert haben sollen, ist jedoch ein absolut richtiger Schritt gewesen, der dafür sorgt, dass wir am Ball bleiben und auf gelegentliche Nickerchen zwischen den diversen Filmreferenzen verzichten. Als Abschluss der Trilogie ist dieses Werk zwar vollkommen akzeptabel, doch sollte in Zukunft wohl eher ein neues Saurier-Franchise eröffnet werden.

Jurassic World: Ein neues Zeitalter ©2022 Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

Jurassic World: Ein neues Zeitalter ©2022 Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

After the JURASSIC PARK trilogy had an enormous influence on the development of film and left its mark on several generations, a new attempt was made in 2015 to continue the series. Even though the following two films were much more criticised, the numbers absolutely speak for themselves and already the first part of JURASSIC WORLD brought Universal Pictures a windfall that the studio would never have thought possible. With almost 1.7 billion US dollars in sales, it is still the 7th highest-grossing film of all time, and the second part is just 9 places behind it, even though it did not pass the 50% mark on Rotten Tomatoes, either with audiences or critics.

Away from the film world, the two film series also had a positive effect on world events. Although palaeontologists criticise the inaccuracies of the works, especially to the effect that the DNA extraction that forms the origin of the entire plot is not even possible. However, according to the professor of palaeontology, Stephen Brusatte, interest in the subject has increased significantly throughout the population and, just as TOP GUN caused an increase in recruitment, JURASSIC PARK has made possible an enormous increase in financial and personnel resources in the field of dinosaur research. For JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION, screenwriter Colin Trevorrow is now also returning as director, after making way for J. A. Bayona for the second part. But he’s not the only returnee, because in addition to Jeff Goldblum we also see Laura Dern and Sam Neill from the original trilogy, as well as Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howards from the other films.

This is what it’s all about

Saving the dinosaurs from the sinking of Isla Nublar changed everything. They have now spread all over the world as the black market business in the creatures booms. Humans must increasingly learn that the time of the dinosaurs is back and all species must exist in common harmony. Of course, this brings many new dangers, but also unexpected opportunities. For example, a species of prehistoric creatures suddenly appears that could eat people’s crops and, in perspective, cause a food shortage. In order to save the homosapien world from extinction, Dr Alan Grant, Dr Ellie Sattler and Dr Ian Malcolm must return to join Owen and Claire in a battle to reach the top of the food chain.

Review

Slowly, the big production studios seem to have realised what the problem with past scripts was. Already Warner Bros. has recently proven with GODZILLA VS. KONG, Warner Bros. has already proved that the fans‘ complaints are being heard and that drama-heavy stories are completely superfluous when the actual core of the film is shown all the more present. Instead of miserably long human conflicts, the two oversized monsters beat the crap out of each other a whole three times, causing the cinema hall to shake and the audience’s joy to rise. With JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION, Trevorrow also rows back properly and displaces the relationship dramas in favour of even more dinosaur action in every conceivable form. Significantly more dinos find their place in the film and offer a wide creative range, which is also much more reduced and no longer ties itself to any mutant laboratory experiments that show limitless strength.

Jurassic World: Ein neues Zeitalter ©2022 Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

All elements play an essential role, even if fire is only included as a small gimmick alongside water, land and air dinosaurs, so that the film doesn’t drift into lunacy at the same time (which already happens far too often elsewhere). Somewhat shocking with regard to the primeval creatures is the enormous difference in quality of the animatronic realisation. With a total of 27 different dinosaurs, on the one hand we get more creatures than ever before, but at the same time we have to accept that in close-ups some of the creatures have been developed to an outstanding degree and blend into the world like real creatures, but in a half-length shot they appear very creepy and unrealistic, especially in their movements. Especially fast movements, as we see from Blue, often look as if the design team had not finished on time and had only delivered a half-finished animation. Nevertheless, it is commendable that Trevorrow has dispensed with made-up creatures and only integrated dinos whose existence has been scientifically proven.

Old but Gold?!

The new old main characters represent a completely different kind of dinosaur. While originally Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard were the focus of all the films, their appearance is really overshadowed by the old stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, who no longer only contribute a small cameo appearance as supporting characters, but play themselves into the limelight of the whole plot and also bring much more authenticity to the events. The acting performance itself, on the other hand, is balanced among all the actors and no one stands out particularly, which is also synonymous with the fact that all the stars remain quite inconspicuous. The two generations act largely self-sufficiently from each other and each seems to have been given the task of incorporating some of the most legendary adventure films of the past decades. So Pratt and Howard go on a neo-Sonesque rescue mission while disrupting underground dino deathmatches, and the old guard follow in the footsteps of INDIANA JONES and his ventures.

Jurassic World: Ein neues Zeitalter ©2022 Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

Of course, an antagonist who threatens the entire world can’t be missing either, because after all, small crises are simply no longer appropriate in today’s film world. So the production team must have wondered how total evil could be captured in just one person and had the incredibly creative idea of basing the villain on Steve Jobs, as if this had never happened before. And as if a T-Rex roaming wildly through nature wasn’t dramatic enough, it of course requires a dramaturgical tip from the crafty Jobs-verse, who obviously hasn’t yet seen the film PERCY, in which the handling of today’s agriculture is comprehensively criticised. In addition, a global threat naturally requires the protagonists to spread out all over the world and survive the most diverse climatic conditions, so that we as the audience are not always confronted with one and the same landscape.

Jurassic World: Ein neues Zeitalter ©2022 Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

Dinos on a World Tour

In particular, the excursion to Malta remains very much in the memory. Instead of presenting a real image of the capital, Valletta, the film prefers to rely on a wishful thinking of the place, which in the cinematic interpretation completely dispenses with tourists who otherwise overpopulate the entire city. Nevertheless, cinematographer John Schwartzman, who has made films like ARMAGEDDON and PEARL HARBOR on the one hand, but also LAST CHRISTMAS and FIFTY SHADES OF GREY on the other, provides us with some great shots, which were largely taken on real locations and thus dispense with excessive studio production. The pompous music by Michael Giacchino, who most recently accompanied THE BATMAN and SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, also fits in perfectly with the work, along with John Williams‘ classic JURASSIC PARK theme. However, since JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION consists almost entirely of chases, we also get a much more choppy score than in previous instalments. The sound effects in particular rely on excellent surround sound.

Conclusion

Finally, it should not go unmentioned that JURASSIC WORLD enters the ring without much competition, as there have hardly been any dinosaur films worth mentioning in the past decades apart from this series, while there is nevertheless a large community that enjoys such works. This point will certainly ensure that the conclusion of the second trilogy will also be an enormous success, which admittedly is not a complete disaster either and can definitely satisfy the low needs and, above all, appears more rousing and harmonious than the previous part. Nevertheless, JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION operates far below its actual potential and does not really play out the challenges of a worldwide dinosaur spread. A clear plot core is difficult to discern, the characters all remain pale and 2.5 hours of film are probably a bit too much for the rather thin story. Although perfectly acceptable as the conclusion of the trilogy, a new dinosaur franchise should probably be opened in the future.