Jurassic World: Dominion - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Jurassic World: Dominion



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Very few series have been able to keep pumping out movies for almost 30 years, and even more importantly, maintain at least a modicum of the viewership numbers. I originally thought that it was INSANE to bring us back to Jurassic Park with Jurassic World, but that film actually turned out to be a moderately entertaining big budget blockbuster with more dinosaurs, new characters, and the excitement of better CGI and technology to pull off the otherwoldly nature of the premise. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdon back in 2018 struggled to hold up after the rather good Jurassic World, and ended with a gigantic cliffhanger amidst a storm of mediocre critical reviews. And while we all knew that Dominion was coming, Covid-19 pretty much delayed the film a full year and a half by all reports, letting audience members cool down and forget about the middling nature of the previous film.

Well, we’re back, and this time without some of the baggage. And by baggage I mean the premise that we’re actually telling a Jurassic World movie as the film deftly bypasses the hand off from the previous movie, and just tells a generic “mad scientist genetically engineering killer bugs for profit” and shoehorns dinosaurs into plot. Not to mention the fact that they decided to pull out the nostalgia bait by bringing in the main characters from the Jurassic Park franchise in to get people to say “ooo look! I remember them!” and pull off another Spiderman: No Way Home.

The film picks up a few years after the end of Fallen Kingdom. The dinosaurs have all escaped from the dead theme park that was Jurassic World, and are scattered around the globe, TRYING to live with humanity. Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is trying to rescue illegally poached dinosaurs, while Owen and her raise the genetic clone of Hammond’s grand daughter that the minds behind Jurassic World want SOOOO badly.

Simultaneously Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) is called in to investigate a plague of giant mutated locusts that are eating EVERYTHING in the world up outside of the genetically modified Bio-Syn GMO grain. Pretty sure that Bio-Syn is behind everything, Ellie engages the help of Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) to get into the Bio-Syn facility and prove that Bio-Syn is the cause of the plague. Luckily for them they have an in with Bio-Syn’s leading psychology professor who is…..drum roll please… Dr.r. Ian Malcolm!!! (Jeff Goldblum).

While Dr. Sattler and Grant are reacquainting themselves with their old movie buddy, Maisie Lockwood (said genetic clone) is kidnapped by Bio-Syn mercenaries along with the raptor Blue’s child in an effort to modify the locusts even further, making it so Bio-Syn owner Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott) can control them completely.

So yeah, it’s a race against time with Owen and Claire hunting for Maisie, and Ellie and Alan hunting for the mysterious locust proof AT the Bio-Syn facility which is where a vast majority of the escaped dinosaurs from Fallen Kingdom are being kept for observation. The end result is a movie that really has very little to do with dinosaurs at it’s core, but are shoehorned in because...well… It’s a Jurassic World movie. The entire dinosaur plot line could have been axed completely and it would have been a perfectly serviceable mad scientist film. But instead we get attack raptors (yes, trained attack raptors), MOST super duper apex alpha beta omega predator dinosaurs (which naturally need to face off against the T-Rex just cuz), and a whole ton of memberberries as the old cast meets the new cast for the first time.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, some violence and language




4K Video: Video:

Dominion comes to Blu-ray with a very impressive 2160p presentation in the ever more popular 2.00:1 aspect ratio (it and 2.20:1 are becoming increasingly common). Comparing to the Blu-ray the 4K UHD offers a substantial improvement in resolution, overall clarity and distinctly better black and color levels thanks to the HDR/Dolby Vision applications. The film was shot on a mixture of 35mm and 65mm film, and the results are gorgeous. There’s a nice thin layer of grain throughout the entire image, and it looks incredibly organic and filmic in a world of digital productions. The image shares a robust array of differing locations, with different color gradings for each one. We get the typical cold blue with the Bio-Syn facilitiy, warm browns and golds with the over seas rescue attempt, and general green and dark hues in the middle of the jungle. Fine detailing is exquisite, and the CGI is so good it’s sometimes hard to tell what’s real and what’s not. I did notice some banding in a few dark shots, and a few instances of softness (inside of the illegal dino bazaar), but overall an exceptional picture.







Audio:

Universal is one of the “good” studios who chooses to put the next generation DTS:X track on both the Blu-ray and the 4K UHD, so whichever version you buy (or review you read) rest assured they are both of equal quality.

It’s amazing to me how Dolby and DTS have switched once more in the popularity of their next gen formats. During DVD Dolby won everything with DTS being a sporadic addition to films, while on Blu-ray DTS took over with DTS-HD MA and Dolby’s TrueHD faded into the background over the years. Now with DTS:X and Dolby Atmos it’s once again switched feet. DTS:X is the clear loser in terms of popularity while Dolby Atmos dominates the next gen audio codings on 4K UHD discs and Blu-ray. Either way, this new DTS:X mix is absolutely UNBELIEVABLE. Dominion sports probably my very favorite next gen audio mix in the last several years, if not the entire format’s life. The mix is quite literally that good.

It’s an even balanced mix that doesn’t soup up the bass to insane levels to keep bassheads happy, but instead opts for a much more balanced mix that is as close to auditory perfection as you can get. The entire film is abuzz with surround activity jumping all the way around the room, overhead, in front, and behind at the drop of a hat. The locust swarm is by far one of the most chillingly delicious moments in the entire film as you literally feel surrounded on all sides by fluttering wings and buzzing mandible. The chase sequences overseas are just a cacophony of activity, ranging from heavy motorcycle use, to the Michael Giacchino score (which is sadly not near the quality of the original John Williams works). Now, for the bass. I know I said that this isn’t an over aggressive bass bomb, but I want to clarify that by saying that I’m simply stating that they didn’t sacrifice the rest of the sound mix JUST so we could have earth cracking Godzilla style bass. The bass is absolutely incredible, and blends seamlessly with all of the action. Deep waves smash you back into your seat as the T-Rex battles it out with Gigantosaurus, and the sheer ferocity and power during the escape from Bio-Syn is unprecedented. Simply put, this is the demo disc that you put in to just get immersed in perfection. I can not say enough good things about the mix.










Extras:

• EXTENDED VERSION – An extended cut of the film with 14 minutes of additional footage featuring more dinosaurs, action, iconic character moments and an alternate opening
• BATTLE AT BIG ROCK – Directed by Colin Trevorrow, the short film takes place one year after the events of JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM in Big Rock National Park.
• A NEW BREED OF VFX – VFX supervisor David Vickery and the magicians at ILM discuss the incredible visual effects work featured in JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION.
• DINOSAURS AMONG US: INSIDE JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION
• TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME - Cast and filmmakers discuss the evolution of the franchise and the special union of characters from JURASSIC PARK and JURASSIC WORLD.
• UNDERGROUND DINO MARKET - Join filmmakers for a tour of the amazing dino market set and discover how they brought it to life.
• MAYHEM IN MALTA - A behind-the-scenes look at the Atrociraptor rooftop chase and Owen's harrowing motorcycle ride through the narrow streets and alleyways of Malta.
• SCARY REAL
-- SPIT TAKE: THE RETURN OF THE DILOPHOSAURUS - Live-action dinosaurs supervisor John Nolan and his team reveal how they created the impressive Dilophosaurus animatronic.
-- INSIDE THE DIMETRODON - Learn how the filmmaking team operated the terrifying Dimetrodon animatronic and hear from Laura Dern and Sam Neill on what it was like working with it.
-- CREATING A PLAGUE - Laura Dern and Bryce Dallas Howard discuss the enormous locusts featured in JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION and the creature effects team reveals how they were created and deployed.
-- PASSING THE BATA..N- Discover the craftsmanship behind the realistic-looking Beta animatronic and hear from Chris Pratt and Isabella Sermon on why they enjoyed working with it.
-- GIGA-BITE - Go behind the scenes with the cast of JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION as they are introduced to the biggest star of the film, the Giganotosaurus, for the very first time.
• FINAL NIGHT - Witness the emotional final night of filming with the cast and crew of JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION.

Final Score: ​

Jurassic World: Dominion is a movie that you LITERALLY have to turn off your brain and set it aside to enjoy. It’s a dumb fun film, but definitely more on the dumb side. I had to rewind the film at some point after making a mental note to not take it so seriously (the movie literally disobeys it’s own rules every 10 minutes or so) and then I had a much more enjoyable time. It WAS also really neat to see Lewis Dodgson be the villain for the series being that he was the guy who kick started the hullabaloo in Jurassic Park 30 years ago (he was the guy who paid Wayne Knight’s character to smuggle out the Barbasol can of dino DNA samples) and bring things back full circle. At the end of the day Jurassic World: Dominion is the weakest and dumbest of the new trilogy, but a moderately entertaining adventure movie nonetheless. The 4K UHD is absolutely unbelievable in the video/audio specs, and it has a decent set of extras as well. Definitely in the “fun, but cheesy romp” recommendation category.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Isabella Sermon, Campbell Scott
Directed By: Colin Trevorrow
Written By: Emily Carmichael, Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly
Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS:X (DTS-HD MA 7.1), French, Spanish DTS-HD HR 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 147 minutes (Theatrical) / 161 minutes (Extended)
Blu-ray Release Date: August 16th, 2022

Recommendation: Fun, Cheesy Romp

 

[Epoxy1]

Totally agree with everything you stated. The movie tries a bit too hard and a couple of the subplots could have been deleted with no impact on the story what-so-ever, but the audio track makes the entire experience worth watching. Sadly, Universal only sent me the Blu-ray, but in all honesty, it looked and sounded great despite having lower resolution and no HDR.