Before Jurassic World Dominion concludes the dinosaur blockbuster saga, here are the major things to remember from the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies. Jurassic Park was created by the late author Michael Crichton, whose bestselling 1990 technothriller about genetically engineered dinosaurs populating a theme park was adapted into a Hollywood blockbuster by Steven Spielberg. The monumental success of Jurassic Park spawned five sequels, a canonical animated series on Netflix, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, several video game adaptations, theme park rides, and endless merchandise.
Spielberg's original Jurassic Park changed much about Crichton's original novel and, starting with the 1997 sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, all of the movies were set in Spielberg's movie continuity instead of Crichton's. In fact, Spielberg's The Lost World bears little resemblance to the similarly-titled sequel novel Crichton penned before his death. Along with the iconic dinosaurs, specifically the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Velociraptors, who have factored into every film, Jurassic Park introduced four primary characters who would go on to impact the entire Jurassic saga: John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), the late CEO of InGen and creator of Jurassic Park, paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). Although all three only teamed up once in Jurassic Park (prior to Jurassic World Dominion reuniting the trio), Malcolm and Grant alternated as the lead protagonists of The Lost World and 2001's Jurassic Park III, with Sattler cameoing in the latter film.
In 2015, Colin Trevorrow soft rebooted Jurassic Park, which led to a billion-dollar box office haul that reignited the dormant franchise. Retitled as Jurassic World, Trevorrow's movie introduced new heroes in Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard). Jurassic World not only showed the theme park as a fully-functioning success (before it was inevitably destroyed by the dinosaurs) but Trevorrow also upped the dino ante by creating hybrid prehistoric creatures, starting with the Indominus Rex, to serve as the movie's dinosaur supervillains. Further, the concept of dinosaurs being weaponized for military purposes became a part of the Jurassic franchise. 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom finally removed the dinosaurs from their isolated islands and into the real world, literally altering the fate of the planet in Jurassic World Dominion.
Jurassic Park (1993)
The movie that started it all, Jurassic Park is still regarded by fans as the best of the franchise. Jurassic Park debuted the core concepts that carry through the entire saga: InGen's technology to clone dinosaurs from prehistoric DNA retrieved from flies trapped in amber, the island of Isla Nublar 90 miles from Costa Rica, main characters John Hammond, Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm, and Ellie Sattler, and the basic template of humans fighting for their lives against dinosaurs and often being eaten. Two other important characters Jurassic Park introduced are Hammond's grandchildren, Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim Murphy (Joseph Mazzello), who return as adults in Jurassic World Dominion. The iconic musical score by John Williams is another major reason why Jurassic Park remains beloved by generations of audiences.
Jurassic Park is also a parable about how the power of genetic engineering, if wielded checked and with hubris, inevitably leads to disaster. However, that lesson not being heeded is precisely why Jurassic sequels were able to be made. By being set on Isla Nublar, Jurassic Park set the template of the dinosaurs being isolated in their own closed-off world that humans had to travel to in order to be chased by the prehistoric creatures. This trope held until Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom, when Isla Nublar was destroyed by a volcanic eruption and the dinosaurs were brought to the mainland United States. In addition, Jurassic Park established that the original dinosaurs bred by InGen were female but, thanks to amphibian DNA being mixed into their genomes, the dinos were able to breed. Thus, "life found a way," which is another of the Jurassic saga's major themes.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Steven Spielberg returned to direct The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Instead of being set back on Isla Nublar in the remains of the Jurassic Park theme park, The Lost World introduced a new island, Isla Sorna AKA Site B, which was retconned as the location where the dinosaurs were bred before being brought to Isla Nublar. In The Lost World, a dying John Hammond tasked Ian Malcolm to go to Site B, where the chaos mathematician learned that InGen intended to take the dinosaurs away as the main attraction of Jurassic Park: San Diego. The Lost World's thrilling finale saw a T-Rex rampaging across downtown San Diego, which is a precursor to dinosaurs proliferating all over the world in Jurassic World Dominion.
Although The Lost World introduced several new characters including paleontologist Dr. Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), photojournalist Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn), and Malcolm's daughter, Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester), none of them returned in any Jurassic sequels. Meanwhile, Lex and Tim from Jurassic Park make a brief appearance. The Lost World would mark Jeff Goldblum's last Jurassic appearance until he returned to cameo 21 years later in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom prior to Goldblum reprising Ian Malcolm as part of the main cast of Jurassic World Dominion.
Jurassic Park III (2001)
With Jurassic Park III, Joe Johnston became the first filmmaker other than Steven Spielberg to direct a Jurassic movie. Sam Neill returned as Dr. Alan Grant, who was swindled by Paul (William H. Macy) and Amanda Kirby (Tea Leoni) to lead an expedition to Isla Sorna to rescue their missing son Eric (Trevor Morgan). Jurassic Park III memorably introduced a new dinosaur supervillain, the Spinosaurus, which debuts by quickly killing one of the franchise's iconic T-Rexes. As a purely malevolent creature, as opposed to dinosaurs reacting as animals would, the Spinosaurus provided the blueprint for Jurassic World's hybrid dinosaur villains like Indominus Rex and the Indoraptor.
Jurassic Park III is the second and the last film to be set on Isla Sorna as Site B wouldn't be revisited again by the Jurassic films. However, Jurassic Park III also introduced the Pteranodons and the winged reptiles would become key antagonists in Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. As a lone teen surviving on a dinosaur-filled island, Jurassic Park III's Eric also created the template for the six teenage heroes doing the same on Isla Nublar in Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.
Jurassic World (2015)
Jurassic World soft rebooted the franchise and, for the first time, showed the dinosaur theme park successfully functioning and entertaining thousands of parkgoers. While Jurassic World follows the beats of Jurassic Park's story, Colin Trevorrow's film introduces several important elements that would carry through and change the overall franchise. Along with new protagonists Owen Grady and Claire Dearing (who are on-again/off-again lovers), Jurassic World revealed that Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) and his Masrani Global Corporation are the new owners of InGen before Simon is killed in the film. Jurassic World's creation of Indominus Rex is also the franchise's meta-commentary that audiences have grown bored with traditional dinosaurs, hence breeding a literal monster.
Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong), the idealistic young geneticist who was introduced in Jurassic Park, returned in Jurassic World as a darker, villainous character who is the mastermind behind the evil hybrid dinosaurs. In addition, Vic Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio), InGen's head of security, embodied the prevalent idea of dinosaurs being weaponized for military purposes. Grady's trained Velociraptor trio led by Blue also effectively made the raptors heroic characters for the first time, while Jurassic World also debuted the massive, aquatic Mosasaurus. By the end of Jurassic World, the original T-Rex from Jurassic Park also makes a triumphant comeback, ruling the ruined park and Isla Nublar once more.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
None of the Jurassic movies made as many monumental changes to the franchise as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Taking over the director's chair, J.A. Bayona elevated the action that saw Isla Nublar permanently destroyed by the eruption of the Mt. Sibo volcano. Further, Fallen Kingdom retconned the very origin of Jurassic Park by introducing billionaire Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), the heretofore unknown business partner of John Hammond and co-founder of InGen and Jurassic Park. Meanwhile, Claire Dearing left her job at Masrani Global to found the Dinosaur Protection Group, a start-up dedicated to protecting the cloned dinosaurs as endangered species. The Mosasaurus also gets loose and swims into the open sea in Fallen Kingdom's prologue, setting the stage for what was to come in the film. Jeff Goldblum's cameo as Dr. Ian Malcolm previewed his full comeback in Jurassic World Dominion.
The second half of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom completely upended the direction of the franchise, setting up Jurassic World Dominion. The dinosaurs rescued from Isla Nublar by Lockwood's mercenaries are sold at an illegal dinosaur auction, which means InGen's proprietary cloning tech is now in the wild as well. Meanwhile, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing encounter the newest and deadliest hybrid dinosaur, the Indoraptor, in Lockwood's mansion. In addition, Fallen Kingdom dropped the bombshell that Lockwood's granddaughter, Maisie (Isabella Sermon), is actually a clone of his deceased daughter, introducing the fact that perfect human clones exist in the Jurassic universe. Finally, Maisie released the captured dinosaurs into the wild, which allowed the prehistoric beasts to spread all over the world.
Jurassic World: Battle At Little Big Rock (2019)
Directed by Colin Trevorrow, Jurassic World: Battle at Little Big Rock is a short film that premiered on FX in 2019 prior to being released online. Set one year after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Battle at Little Big Rock centers on a blended family on vacation faced with the reality of rampaging dinosaurs in their midst when an Allosaurus and a Nasutoceratops fight in their campground. Battle at Little Big Rock also ended with a montage of other dinosaurs spread throughout the world and terrorizing civilization, setting up the events of Jurassic World Dominion.
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (2020 - 2022)
Netflix's Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous was designed as a canonical entry point for young audiences. But as the animated series, which spans 4 seasons with a fifth and final season premiering on the streaming service on July 22, continued, Camp Cretaceous was cleverly integrated into the Jurassic movie canon. With the premise of six teenagers trapped on Isla Nublar as a result of Jurassic World, Camp Cretaceous provided an intriguing new perspective on the events of Colin Trevorrow's soft reboot.
As Camp Cretaceous progressed, the teenage heroes learned of a new hybrid dinosaur, the Scorpios Rex, and of another island of prehistoric creatures built by a rival company, Mantah Corp. Camp Cretaceous ingeniously linked up to the prologue of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and the animated series also promises to have ties to the events of Jurassic World Dominion before it's done.
Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World Dominion is set four years after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. By this point, the dinosaurs have spread all over the world into major cities and rural areas. Further, InGen's dinosaur cloning technology is also now in the hands of various outlets, including rival company BioSyn headed by Lewis Dodsgon (Campell Scott), a character who was played by Cameron Thor in Jurassic Park. Jurassic World Dominion's prologue also retcons the very origin of Jurassic Park by establishing that a T-rex was killed by a Gigantosaurus 65-million years ago, and it was the blood from this T-rex that was extracted from a fly trapped in amber by InGen. Therefore, the T-rex in Jurassic Park is the clone of the Tyrannosaur that was killed 65-million years ago.
The trailer for Jurassic World Dominion establishes that Blue the Velociraptor was able to breed but her young raptor was taken, which prompts Owen Grady to promise to get the child back. In addition, Owen and Claire Dearing are now raising Maisie Lockwood as their adopted daughter. As the global dinosaur crisis escalates, threatening the safety of human life on Earth, it necessitates the return of Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler, and Dr. Ian Malcolm, who team up with Grady and Dearing. In addition, the human heroes face the biggest and deadliest carnivorous dinosaur yet, the Gigantosaurus. Jurassic World Dominion will mark the end of Colin Trevorrow's trilogy and of the greater, six-film Jurassic Park movie cycle, but how well Dominion caps off everything Steven Spielberg began remains to be seen.
