When I read the Jurassic Park books as a teenager, I had already seen the first Jurassic Park movie a couple of years earlier. I really enjoyed those books, and they made an big impact on me - I read everything I could get my hands on from Michael Crichton. But the movie was bigger. It still looms in my memory as a huge event in my childhood. I remember the cinema (the Savoy), the plastic dinosaur set we bought, and the fast food afterwards. I loved the movie - I was probably around the perfect age for it - even though I was a bit young to appreciate some of the weirder Jeff Goldblum stuff. The characters, the story, the dinosaurs!

Laura Dern and Sam Neill in Jurassic World Dominion. Copyright Universal Studios

So, almost 30 years later and Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World Dominion is the final film in the Jurassic World trilogy and the sixth movie overall. The screenplay was written by Trevorrow and Emily Carmichael. It enjoyed a decent box office but was widely panned by critics. And although I don’t necessarily disagree with them, I will say that this was a fun movie - I enjoyed it despite its many plot flaws and some call-backs that were often a little too on the nose (another upside down 4x4? The torch and eye scene, etc).

The one good thing about this movie though was definitely getting the original three cast members back together for this last Jurassic World movie - Sam Neill’s Alan Grant, Laura Dern’s Ellie Sattler, and the great Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm. There were some other reappearing characters from some of the other more recent sequels, but Omar Sy’s Barry was one standout. But for the original cast, although we’ve seen them separately in some form in the various other sequels, this was a great chance to get them all back together and in similar situations to the ones they found themselves in the original. A blatant attempt at fan pleasing nostalgia? Sure. But I didn’t care. The characters felt like old friends, and I was happy to be in their company for a few hours. This was easily the best part of the movie. What about the rest? A fun 3-star summer blockbuster.

There is, however, a special mention for Trevorrow’s recreation of the Jurassic Park Logo towards the end of the movie, but then this really would have been a short review!

One Good Thing is a series of small reviews where I focus on one good thing about a piece of art. Even if I hated it. Probably especially if I hated it. It’s probably too easy to focus on the bad things about movies, books, and TV shows, so this will focus me to look for the good that is sometimes there.