What's the Deal with 'Jurassic World Dominion?' North American Premiere Draws Mixed Reactions

The buzz around Universal's Jurassic World Dominion is peculiar. Despite great box office returns abroad in South Korea and Mexico where the film was released ahead of its American debut, word has now been trickling in from critics who saw the third Jurassic World film at its North American premiere in Los Angeles on Monday, June 6th.

With reactions ranging from glowing to calling the film "overindulgent and pointless," most reviewers seemed to at least agree that the standouts included the nostalgic reunion between original Jurassic Park cast mates Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, and Sam Neill, the dinosaurs, and star Bryce Dallas Howard's performance. However, in what seems to indicate that the whole not being a sum of its parts, many reviewers were still unafraid to call out the film for feeling hollow and engaging in faulty logic.

So, what's going on with Jurassic World Dominion?

After viewing Jurassic World Dominion's release strategy and juxtaposing it with reviewer reactions, my thought guess is that the film released first internationally to position Jurassic World Dominion as a possible contender alongside Top Gun: Maverick as the movie for the summer.

By skipping U.S. reviewers and going straight for the international box offices, Jurassic World Dominion can drum up hype and bring in box office returns before the film reaches U.S. shores and has to deal with reviewers possibly showering the film with criticism - as they have started to do already - and ultimately deterring theater audiences.

Keep in mind that when Jurassic World Dominion hit international box offices, Top Gun: Maverick had yet to be released in those territories. They had no competition.

Along similar logic, because Jurassic World Dominion went abroad first before its American release, they didn't compete with Top Gun: Maverick in its opening weekends. In fact, the finale of the Jurassic World trilogy won't begin to actually compete with the Top Gun sequel until this Friday, June 10th, when the film will begin its U.S. wide theatrical release.

All this is to say that this is all my speculation - I don't admit to being in the head of Universal executives. However, if you are getting confused by the discourse surrounding Jurassic World Dominion, then I hope this will help you decide whether the film is worth a trek out to the theater. If a studio seems to have such a lack of confidence towards one of their blockbuster films, as interpreted through pure release and marketing strategy, I think it's safe to say perhaps Jurassic World Dominion is one to regard with extreme skepticism.

Jurassic World Dominion releases in theaters on Friday, June 10, 2022.

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