With the Jurassic World trilogy now complete, here’s how this writer ranks all six movies from worst to best.

6. Jurassic World: Dominion

To call the latest instalment a disappointment would be an understatement. The return of the three lead characters of the original Jurassic Park plus being the conclusion to the latest dino-driven trilogy pushed expectations high. Unfortunately the end product was underwhelming in every sense.

Not much of what happens in Dominion seems to have much point to it. The “bad guy” Lewis Dodgson is awkward instead of menacing. The opening scene with Claire and her cohorts rescuing a dinosaur is a pointless exercise that brings back two characters from Fallen Kingdom only for them to never be seen again for the rest of the movie. The action sequences are clunky and poorly choreographed. Few plot points are thoroughly explained or examined and everything feels rushed and brushed over despite the 2.5 hour run time.

As a result Dominion commits the ultimate action movie sin: it’s boring. It’s a movie that tries to do too many things and ends up doing none of them well.

Many consider Jurassic Park: The Lost World the biggest disappointment in the series because it failed to live up to the original, but Dominion has taken that title comfortably. What a let down.

5. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

The second movie of the second trilogy takes itself far too seriously and rehashes numerous elements of previous films without adding anything of substance.

While the third act introduces some of the best tension since the original movie and almost dabbles into horror territory, overall its Jurassic-movie-by-the-numbers adherence to formula makes it fairly predictable, right up to the Indoraptor’s cliched death plunge.

The auction scenes are great because it’s always nice to see entitled rich people get eaten alive.

However Fallen Kingdom loses further points for the unnecessarily slow death of a Brachiosaurus on a dock during the volcanic eruption. That was just mean.

4. Jurassic Park III

This could have easily come in at 5 given how flawed a movie it is.

The third instalment was the first to commit what would become a recurring gimmick in subsequent movies: the insistence on producing a new dinosaur to threaten the dominance of the T-Rex. The Spinosaurus was formidable in this respect but failed to save a weak screenplay.

Much of the action makes no sense, the talking dinosaurs in Alan Grant’s dream are just laughable and the premise to the whole movie is paper thin.

Only some witty dialogue between Tea Leoni and William H Macy breathes life into what is otherwise a very dull script that deviates little from the standard action movie formula. JP3 seems like little more than a movie made simply because the studio thought they could make more money off the IP.

3. Jurassic Park: The Lost World

It was always going to be an impossible task.

Following in the footsteps of the juggernaut that was the original Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton wrote a worthy successor in The Lost World.

Unfortunately, the screen adaptation went awry (particularly in the ridiculous third act) and the magic of the first movie was never recreated for the sequel.

It’s not all bad news. TLW has a strong cast and some wild action sequences that are always exciting if not always believable.

2. Jurassic World

After a 14 year hiatus the Jurassic franchise roared back to life in 2015 with Jurassic World.

While not without its faults it breathed life back into the series by showing us a new, modern version of Hammond’s original vision and it’s inevitable downfall.

The ethical questions the original Jurassic Park were tackled again with the Indominus Rex symbolising the very thing Malcolm had warned about from the beginning.

Some of the awe and wonder that hadn’t been seen since 1993 was back in Jurassic World and the final battle between the Indominus, T-Rex and Blue was one of the best action sequences of recent times.

Just like the trilogy preceding it, Jurassic World set a bar it’s subsequent instalments could not reach again.

1. Jurassic Park

The original is often the best and the Jurassic Park/World franchise is no exception.

The adaptation of Michael Crichton’s brilliant and brutal novel ushered in a new era of special effects and changed movies forever.

However, JP did not rely on CGI or puppeteering to carry it. It was a tense, slow burn that conveyed menace and danger in a way no Jurassic film has been able to do since.

The pacing and patience is what makes Jurassic Park great. Think of the scene where the T-Rex attacks the car and compare it to any other film in the series. Nowhere else is this much time taken to reveal the beast and then face off with it. It is man versus monster, up close and personal in a way none of the following movies were able to match. It is a relentless white-knuckle ride that still holds up nearly 30 years later.

Jurassic Park is a triumph of filmmaking that never feels slow even though it never rushes itself. The CGI served the story, which is the reverse of many movies since.

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Agree with our ranking of the Jurassic movies? Think we’re stupid and don’t know what we’re talking about? Let us know in the comments.