Sci-Fi Experiment Dominion: Dinosaurs vs. Aliens Is Far Smarter Than You Think

Tackling stimulating subjects like mass extinction and resource wars with nary a human character in sight, Grant Morrison and Barry Sonnenfeld’s Dominion: Dinosaurs vs. Aliens is a cerebral sci-fi experiment that’s far more ambitious than it sounds.In other words, the cross-platform project — with comics, motion comics and a movie trilogy in the works — is the opposite of what its sensational title implies.

Sonnenfeld, whose kinetic cinematography for Coen brothers classics like Raising Arizona and Miller’s Crossing, executive production of cult TV standout The Tick and helming of oddball film franchises like The Addams Family and Men in Black have carved him a Hollywood niche matched in peculiarity by Tim Burton and only a few others, said Morrison’s done wonders working with the project’s giant reptiles.

“It is amazing how he has created specific characters, emotion and culture for the dinosaurs, without using dialog,” Sonnenfeld told Wired.

Rather than simply a Cretaceous showdown of spectacular conflict between two expendable entertainment standbys, Dinosaurs vs. Aliens serves as a philosophical treatise on manifest destiny, genocide and indigenous revolt. Instead of another popcorny blockbuster thrown onto Hollywood’s disposable entertainment pile, it’s a pointed critique of overreaching civilization at the edge of oblivion.

But that’s what you should expect from outliers like Sonnenfeld and Morrison, whose exemplary work on comics — from the obscure Animal Man, Doom Patrol to the established Superman, Batman, Justice League, X-Men — have redefined the form. The pair’s work in comics, film and television typically drags what pop culture considers “normal” through the looking glass and into the engrossing zone. …

via Sci-Fi Experiment Dominion: Dinosaurs vs. Aliens Is Far Smarter Than You Think | Underwire | Wired.com.

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