The first reviews for Jurassic World: Dominion are in, and if the critic’s reaction is anything to go by, this series might be about to go extinct. The third Jurassic World film has scored a dismal 38% on Rotten Tomatoes – the lowest score for any Jurassic Park movie.
Things aren’t any better on Metacritic either, where the action movie also scored a 38 out of a hundred. The majority of critics seem to agree that the fundamental problem with this prehistoric series is that it’s simply run out of ideas, coasting instead on nostalgia and praying that an overstuffed script will see them through.
“Dominion is the final entry into a trilogy that, at no point, ever knew what it was doing,” wrote Clarisse Loughrey for The Independent, later adding she hopes when the series is inevitably revived that they figure out what they want to do with it. Rolling Stone’s David Fear pulled no punches writing it was an “extinction-level event for the franchise” that killed all remaining goodwill towards the series.
Even the decision to bring back the old Jurassic Park cast couldn’t save it. “The only joy in this movie comes from its precise mimicry. It has no identity of its own,” IndieWire’s Siddhant Adlakha wrote. “Which becomes depressingly apparent when the franchise’s old and new characters finally come face to face.”
Still, the reviews aren’t all bad. The BBC’s Nicholas Barber seemed to have fun with the film, giving it an impressive four stars. “Jam-packed with silliness, spectacle, intrigue, romance and just about everything else,” Barber wrote.”Jurassic World Dominion has regular popcorn-spilling scares.”
Brian Truitt of USA Today went even further, describing the film as the best since the 1993 original. You’ll forgive our incredulity there, Truitt. If you want to know more about Jurassic World: Dominion, check out our interview with one of its stars Mamoudou Athie.
Jurassic World: Dominion is in theatres from June 10.