Jurassic World: Rebirth has been in theatres since late June and continues to have showtimes even two whole months later. The movie has received middling reviews, but the money continues to pour in. This is a franchise that many people love. Dinosaurs are universal, and with every installment, we see big numbers financially regardless of reviews. It all started in 1993 when a movie called Jurassic Park changed the way people looked at films forever. It’s been over 30 years, and I expect more and more movies to continue to be made in this franchise. It’s a good time to look back at all the films over the years and rank them. Here are all the Jurassic Park/World movies ranked.
8. Jurassic World Dominion
Jurassic World Dominion is easily the worst in the franchise. They may have had something here by bringing back the original gang; the problem is they don’t give them really anything to do, and they come off as glorified cameos. The movie is incredibly boring and lacks any focus. The decision to add killer locusts also did not help the situation. By this point, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard’s characters didn’t really have anywhere else to go. This one could have been epic with the returning cast, but instead, it falls pretty flat. There is almost nothing redeeming in this movie to talk about.
7. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Unfortunately, Fallen Kingdom isn’t very good either. Many were anticipating this one due to the big success of Jurassic World. This one is probably the most annoying movie in the franchise. The script and side characters are very poor, and the addition of cloning humans was not welcomed. The character of Maisie, the cloned child, is honestly one of the worst characters in the franchise. It’s a subplot that wasn’t necessary, and she makes one of the worst decisions in the franchise: she chooses to release the dinosaurs because she has empathy for them. This is understandable but also highly problematic and irresponsible. She is basically the cause for the beginning of the end of mankind, and it was a dumb decision for the writers to make. This is just slightly above Dominion because it does have some nice visuals, and although annoying, it does keep your attention. An annoying movie is better than a boring one.
6. Jurassic World Rebirth
The newest installment in the franchise is a big improvement over the previous two. Still, it is filled with tons of problems. The biggest issue is how overall generic and forgettable it is. We have come to a point where these movies are really starting to repeat themselves: People need some sort of thing that will help mankind, people go somewhere they don’t belong, and dinosaurs get loose and start eating everyone. It’s the same thing every movie at this point, and it’s tiring.
Scarlett Johansson and her crew are honestly underutilized. For actors who may be our leads going forward, they are pretty boring and don’t do too much. There is a subplot about a father and his kids trying to survive and their story was so much more interesting. When they were on the screen, I was invested, and when it cut back to our leads, I couldn’t care less. The big mutated monster this time around isn’t shown much and doesn’t even look like a dinosaur. I don’t understand how there are so many dinosaurs this franchise has yet to introduce, yet we continue to just show fake mutated ones. The movie, like I said, is better than the previous ones, but that isn’t saying much.
5. Jurassic Park 3
Jurassic Park 3 is not a good movie. It suffers from feeling rushed, and a lot of the characters are underdeveloped. It also has a very short runtime for these types of movies. What ranks this one above the others is that it’s just dumb fun. It has the least substance for sure, and it insults the T-Rex big time, but it’s harmless at the end of the day. Separating Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler was a huge mistake, though.
4. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
This one is also a lot of fun, even though it still has issues. The plot isn’t strong here, with many complaining about the tone going from intense to silly randomly. Jeff Goldblum does a nice return, but Dr. Alan Grant is missed. What makes this one a step up from Jurassic Park 3 is that the dino action is much more entertaining.
3. Jurassic World
Jurassic World was a huge success when it was released, having one of the best opening weekends of all time. It’s no surprise because people love dinos, and it had been a while since we had a Jurassic Park movie. Honestly, it’s pretty good and very entertaining. The pacing isn’t great, and there is less focus on dinosaurs and more on our main characters, but the action is thrilling and the visual effects are fantastic. It’s easily one of the better movies in this franchise.
2. Camp Cretaceous/Chaos Theory
I threw in a twist. Yes, this isn’t a Jurassic Park/World movie, but it’s still worth talking about and adding to this list. Both animated Netflix television series take place during the Jurassic World movies. Why are they on this list? Because in my opinion, these two shows are better than the other movies I mentioned before.
First of all, I understand that with television, you are able to spread out a story, but it still deserves credit for finding an excellent balance in dinosaur action and character development. The characters are interesting. We see a bunch of different dinosaurs every episode, and there aren’t any weird subplots with cloning or locusts. The shows are exciting, spooky, edge-of-your-seat, well-written, and can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. Camp Cretaceous is the original show, and Chaos Theory is the sequel series where our cast is older. If you are a Jurassic Park/World fan, you owe it to yourself to check these out.
1. Jurassic Park
Was there ever any question about what was going to win the top spot? The original Jurassic Park movie is still talked about as a classic over 30 years later. A movie that truly mixed practical effects with early CGI to bring dinosaurs to life. Each sequel since has been trying to capture the magic of this movie and hasn’t come close.
The original movie has something for everyone and works on so many levels. The movie is scary and filled with tension. It is funny and has amazing special effects. The acting is great, and each character is well-developed. It’s a perfect movie that is perfectly placed and will continue to stand the test of time.
What is your favorite Jurassic Park movie? Do you feel they should keep making these movies? Let us know in the comments.
