Jurassic World Dominion: Critique 2/5

*****SPOILERS*****

 

Problems on Malta

 

There’s a dinosaur black market on Malta.

 

There are many pits for raptorfights (like cockfights/dogfights). These carnivores are all chained to the wall. One pulls themselves free. How was it so easy?

Any animal whose life is about fighting for pure survival is particularly prone to reacting aggressively to every stimulus. This applies to these fighting raptors. (This is before even factoring in their predatory natures). So, one would expect these fighting raptors to be properly secured to keep people safe.

Yes, one would expect the chains to get jostled. The dinosaurs would definitely try to tug themselves free. The fights would result in pulling and straining of the chain. As such, all this would be compensated for with better chains to make sure they’re properly secured.

Unsecured dinosaurs would attack the people and then escape. An increase in dinosaur-related injuries/death on Malta would make the authorities investigate, leading to the discovery then closure of the black market. But to have an actual dinosaur rampaging the streets? The authorities would be even more incentivised to find the cause!

This would create a loss of income and freedom (because jail) for the sellers and buyers. There would be retribution on those who caused this (i.e. the dinosaur securers). Hence these securers would keep people safe from the dinosaurs to keep themselves safe from the people: by properly securing the dinosaurs.

Hence this raptor breaking free so easily just isn’t feasible.

 

The dinosaur black market was a complete disaster.

Some compies were inside a cage. They not only poked their heads out of the bars but the front half of their torsos, too. The thickest part of their body, no less, meaning they could have easily escaped! This problem would be solved if the compies were chained inside the cage. But later on, this cage is knocked over and these compies scamper free. This couldn’t have happened if they were chained. If they weren’t chained, they couldn’t contained to the cage. As such, there’s no way the compies would have just sat in the cage as docilely as they did.

The dinosaurs in the black market were animatronics and models. They look cheap. They look unrealistic. The animatronics and models in Jurassic Park, made decades ago, look so much better than the ones in this film. There’s no justification for a regression in quality.

A tall carnivore comes out of its containment. Owen holds his hand up, like he does with Blue to ensure her obedience. However, his hand, head and eyes are at neither the right height nor angle for the carnivore to see and hence respond to the hand. But even if all these factors were correct, Blue only responded to this hand gesture because she was trained to do so: the black market dinosaurs haven’t, meaning using this gesture for them is pointless. (However, it’s sensible to think this is just a natural reaction Owen has to predators. This doesn’t negate the faulty height or angle, though.)

 

There are problems after the black market, too.

Claire hits a raptor with a pole. Its sound was a clanging, as if the metal pole had hit another bit of metal. The raptor definitely isn’t made of metal. So this clanging sound was a bizarre choice.

When the truck goes across a stinger, the truck tips over. This doesn’t happen with stingers. If the driver tried to avoid the stinger, tipping would make sense: this clearly wasn’t what happened here, though. Now, the truck tipping over was necessary for the raptors to escape, and the raptors escaping was necessary for the plot. So, if the truck tipping over was unfeasible, then the following plot events are likewise unfeasible.

Claire uses a taser on Santos who goes flying across the room. What? Why on Earth would that have happened?

 

All-in-all, this film didn’t let Malta serve.

 

 

Callback After Callback

 

All films in this franchise reference the previous movies. How this film did it was inadequate.

In Jurassic World, callbacks to previous films were many but they weren’t overwhelming. The film’s identity wasn’t swallowed by the past. However, this was not the case for this film.

Don’t get me wrong, the callbacks in this film themselves were executed well, but the sheer number was overbearing. The impact of them altogether overall was the issue. The closer this film got to the end, the more concentrated these callbacks were. Frankly, they were packed beyond sensibility. Events became dictated by this checklist of things to mention rather than the actual plot itself.

If these references had been spread out more, they wouldn’t have become a parasite at the end of the film. It drained all the life out of the movie. Instead of building to this big conclusion, the plot just fizzled out. The filmmakers managed to film’s identity despite having new dinosaurs, settings and people. Managing this would be impressive if it were a positive skill.