Jurassic fans, hold onto your butts – the reunion 29 years in the making, the one you’ve all been waiting for, is finally here. Nearly three decades since Sam Neill’s Dr. Alan Grant, Laura Dern’s Dr. Ellie Sattler, and Jeff Goldblum’s Dr. Ian Malcolm survived the original Jurassic Park breakdown at Isla Nublar, the original Jurassic gang is back in Jurassic World Dominion – Colin Trevorrow’s threequel to his own dino trilogy. And my god, is it good to see the old gang back in action, rubbing shoulders with Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing, while dinosaurs rule the (present-day) Earth. Take a look at their glorious return here.
Be honest – when Alan Grant sighed “Ellie Sattler”, did anyone out there not get a bit of prehistoric dust in their eye? It seems that their reunion is a spin on the pair’s original introduction in Jurassic Park, Alan still working on his old-school dinosaur digs and being pulled in by Ellie to investigate the small matter of dino-clones running riot around North America (and beyond). And there are all sorts of other echoes here to drive kids who grew up on the original out of their minds – Ellie pulling off her sunglasses in the most Alan Grant-ish way, the return of a certain black-goop-spitting Dilophosaurus, and a shot that combines both cast generations in one beautiful moment.
But beyond the return of the legendary characters, there’s plenty more to be excited about – some properly gorgeous wide-open shots that make the most of Jurassic World getting out into the, well, world; a thrilling-looking raptor-vs-motorbike chase; plenty of new dinos in tantalising set-pieces; some tantalising glimpses of DeWanda Wise as an incoming new character; and the lovely news that friendly(ish) velociraptor Blue seems to now be a mum. Awww, congratulations!
Here’s the official plot synopsis, confirming a time-jump from the end of Fallen Kingdom: “From Jurassic World architect and director Colin Trevorrow, Dominion takes place four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed. Dinosaurs now live — and hunt — alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures.”
In short, Dominion looks like a major blowout for the Jurassic World trilogy – and sure to make all the money, as did World and Fallen Kingdom. Get ready for it to stomp-stomp-stomp into UK cinemas from 10 June.