Despite mixed reviews, Jurassic World: Dominion is absolutely crushing it at the box office. With a worldwide total of over $700M, it's clear the dinosaur franchise still has a following of dedicated fans. Moviegoers can't seem to get enough of terrifying chase sequences, epic music, and jaw-dropping special effects. The Jurassic World trilogy have have closed a chapter, but at this rate, nobody will be surprised if the franchise isn't done quite yet.
While producers of the early Jurassic Park films could be forgiven for making small errors in the dinosaurs' historical accuracy, it's hard to forgive the creators of the more recent movies to make the same mistakes. Some fans think the look, feel, and actions of the CGI and animatronic creatures in Jurassic World: Dominion is still too outrageous to be believable.
They Live In The Mountains (And In Back Yards)
Early in the movie, viewers discover that Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) have been living together, hiding out in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The premise of Jurassic Park: Dominion is that dinosaurs co-exist with humans, so naturally the couple has raptors constantly coming in and out of their backyard.
Taking the dinosaurs out of their original tropical habitat right out the gate was jarring for some viewers. One Reddit user believes it's unrealistic that Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neil) could still be digging for dinosaurs when they literally live in people's back yards. The setting of Isla Nublar was so iconic in the original film that some fans have a hard time seeing dinosaurs in any other habitat.
They're All The Same
Jurassic Park: Dominion is almost 2 1/2 hours long and it's loaded with dinosaurs. The problem is that after a while, they all start to look and feel the same. Some fans on Reddit there were just too many predators in the movie and that the writers didn't give each one enough individual detail or explain how they were different from each other.
As pearlz176 writes: "They're all just generic monsters. In the original franchise, they clearly mention the same of each species and their attributes. But now, they're just carnivores running at you." Among all of the other things that didn't make sense about Jurassic World: Dominion, it's hard to care about each dinosaur's role in the movie if viewers can't even tell them apart.
Carnosaurs Can Be Trained Like Raptors
One of the premises of the Jurassic World franchise is that Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) is somewhat of a raptor-whisperer. He's found a way to train the creatures using his movements and sound cues to a point where the dinosaurs won't hurt him as long as he approaches them in a non-threatening way.
Some users took issue with the notion that other dinosaurs seem to be able to understand similar commands in Jurassic World: Dominion, with little to no explanation as to why. Redditor Charrikayu says: "At one point, come out of their holding cages at a dinosaur trafficking ring and Chris Pratt puts his hands up to stop them as if they're trained circus animals." Apparently, the trilogy skipped a step between the second and third installments.
Giganotosaurus Wasn't Scary Enough
One of the cool new dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Dominion was Giganotosaurus, a massive carnivore with sharp teeth and razor blades all over its head and back. Though intimidating to look at, the creature's story arc was cut short when the Tyrannosaurus bit its neck and thrust it into the claws of the Therizinosaurus. A pretty anti-climactic end for a predator that terrorized the cast in some decent chase scenes in the movie.
Reddit users didn't think much of the Giganotosaurus' appearance either. User GrandWhistle563 claims: "As soon as I saw it I immediately realized it was animatronic." Iccotak added: "The lipless dinos really bother me." Giganotosaurus was more of a big letdown than a big lizard.
The Raptors Are Still Too Big
Back when Jurassic Park came out, many fans believed the raptors were historically inaccurate. The biggest criticisms were that they were too big and they didn't have feathers. Jurassic World: Dominion brings back Blue, one of the hybrid raptors that Owen trains to understand basic commands.
It makes sense that Blue is the same size as the previous films, but according to some Redditors, the other raptors are still too big. User Striking-Platypus-72 writes: "Raptors have still apparently grown to five times their normal size." The fact that the raptors are not the size of a chicken really bothers people.
They Understand Promises
Redditors had a lot to say about the dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Dominion and one of the most common complaints was that it was silly for Owen to make a promise to a raptor. Early in the movie, Owen promises Blue that he will find her offspring, Beta, and bring her back home safely. It's a complex thing for a dinosaur to a promise and Owen's ability to connect with raptors is a plot hole that's never really been fully explained.
There was one user who says it's "absurd" that Owen would be friends with a dinosaur and that he would promise to bring her baby home. NoStressAccount seconds that notion, making it clear that there's no love for Owen and Blue's unorthodox relationship on Reddit.
They Didn't Even Affect The Plot Of The Movie
At the conclusion of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, viewers learn that freed dinosaurs live in the wild. Humans are expected to co-exist with them and Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) explains that it's the beginning of a new neo-Jurassic age. It's an interesting premise that could've had potential but instead, Dominion's main plot revolved around genetically modified locusts.
For some Redditors, the problem with the locust angle is that it makes the dinosaurs in the movie completely irrelevant. This frustrated Redditor says: "The dinos in our world story writes itself, and they chose to do corporate locusts. It's baffling." Hickspy seconds that notion, stating: "The entire movie is a conspiracy about locusts. The dinosaurs are relegated to the background of their own franchise."
The Feathered Dinosaurs Can Swim
At this point in the Jurassic World franchise, the science as to what some genetically-engineered dinosaurs can and can't do is getting hazy. Dominion even acknowledges its own silliness at one point, but that didn't stop some Redditors from pointing out the fact that dinosaurs with feathers shouldn't be able to swim.
Some Redditors praised the inclusion of feathered dinosaurs in the movie. User TypesBeforeThinking says: "Appreciated the practical dinosaurs and getting to see some feathered dinosaurs was neat." Others thought the movie pushed the historical logic too far. Reddit user BigFang said they felt "uneasy" at the sight of a feathered dinosaur being able to swim as it "doesn't seem natural."
They Were All Carnivores
Dinosaurs were a mix of carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores, but the majority of the ones in Jurassic World: Dominion are carnivores. Of course, this is for dramatic effect and to ramp up the action sequences, but some fans took to Reddit to note that it's hard to decipher what each species of dinosaur ate from fossils alone.
User TheTrueSaltedLlama notes: "We have no idea which dinosaurs were carnivores and which were herbivores. Teeth and claws don't prove anything, as evidenced by plenty of creatures on Earth today: Howler monkeys and Giant Pandas have enormous sets of sharp canine teeth, for example, and yet eat only plants." Well said, but the idea of people being chased by slow-moving herbivores doesn't seem very compelling to watch.
They're Still Not From The Same Era
One of the many qualms fans have about the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World movies is that there are many dinosaurs co-existing that aren't from the same era. For example, some may be from the Jurassic period, while others are from the Cretaceous period. The teaser trailer even showed some of these inaccuracies.
User Pennywise_2405 disagrees with the logic of the Tyrannosaurus Rex co-existing with the Giganotosaurus, stating: "These two didn't live at the same time, nor on the same continent." The user adds that having them together was "a poor choice overall." Historical accuracy is still something that seems to elude the writers of the Jurassic World films.