Universal’s crown jewel, which includes three Jurassic Park movies and a further three Jurassic World films, has left an indelible imprint on cinema and has become a box office and merchandising phenomenon, earning around $10billion in revenue to date. Perhaps more impressively, it has forever changed our culture, its visual representations of dinosaurs coming to define their very image for the past thirty years (whether that image is factually correct or not).

Initially released as a Steven Spielberg-directed adaptation of respected author Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name, the Jurassic franchise has mixed themes of environmentalism, the ethics of cloning, and astute commentary on conglomerated big business, with the blockbuster tropes of thrilling action, sharp comedy and wondrous special effects – the work of visual effects house Industrial Light & Magic has redefined visual effects techniques forever, ensuring the franchise’s indelible mark on the industry as a whole.

In this edition of Ranked, we at The Film Magazine are revisiting every film from the Jurassic franchise – all three Jurassic Park films and the further three Jurassic World releases – in order to decipher which of the Jurassic Park / World movies is the worst and which is the best in terms of artistic merit, enjoyability, purpose, meaning and message. These are the Jurassic Park / World Movies Ranked.

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6. Jurassic Park III (2001)

When Joe Johnston took over from Steven Spielberg at the helm of the Jurassic Park franchise following success with his mid-90s family hit Jumanji, he seemed like the most natural fit to continue the franchise’s legacy. The director, who would go on to helm Captain America: The First Avenger among other notable films, was a long-term understudy to Spielberg throughout the 1980s (even acting as director of visual effects on Raiders of the Lost Ark) and was stepping into the franchise just as Spielberg had seemed to lose his passion for it. Unfortunately, Jurassic Park III turned out to be a cursed production, its spot at the bottom of this list due in no small part to the shoot beginning before a script was ever even finished.

Jurassic Park star Sam Neill returned to his role as Alan Grant from the 1993 release 8 years prior, his character a continual reminder of the better film many at the time could catch on TV or home video. Here, his respected palaeontologist is conned into heading to the island of the 2nd movie, The Lost World, to rescue a teenager stranded there as the result of a holiday mishap. Tonally, Jurassic Park III is all over the place – supporting characters as annoying as they are stereotypical, inappropriate jokes made to cover cracks in the narrative, inspired horror elements side-by-side with poop jokes – and it never really gets going like every other Jurassic film does, the pace picking up just once beyond the threshold of the narrative’s inciting incident.

Of all the Jurassic movies, Jurassic Park III is simply the most forgettable. And, while there are moments of genuine inspiration (most notably the bird cage sequence) and points of tension here and there, the film’s lack of awareness as regards its own cheesiness and silliness (both massive steps away from the more earnest Spielberg outings), made this the only franchise entry worthy of being mocked on the internet: a Velociraptor talking directly to Alan Grant is cheesy, cheap and not even played for laughs.

Jurassic Park III is likely the result of “too many chefs in the kitchen”, a situation in which the director, screenwriters, producers and studio all had distinctly different visions of what should have been another mega-hit franchise entry. The result is poor to mediocre, and certainly more boring and unpleasant than the other franchise entries. Jurassic Park III is the film that would end the franchise for some 14 years, and that should be proof enough that it is deserving of the number 6 spot on this list.

5. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Thrusting Jeff Goldblum into the lead role of The Lost World: Jurassic Park after a film-stealing performance in the original film seemed about as logical as Dr Ian Malcolm himself, but tacking on familial interests and a strange romantic angle seemed to remove the mystery surrounding him, watering down his cool-factor in the process. In revisiting his role as the prophet of doom, The Lost World: Jurassic Park became eternally bonded to the character’s cynicism through focusing so much of its narrative on his journey, the movie losing touch of the awe and majesty of the 1993 original as seen through Richard Attenborough’s wide-eyed John Hammond and Sam Neill’s more pure and (reluctantly) kind-hearted Dr. Alan Grant.

Not only was The Lost World: Jurassic Park missing that cool character we’d all come to love as a part of the original’s ensemble of strong, instantly recognisable icons of the screen, but Ian Malcolm was now a father having an existential crisis about his girlfriend going missing while navigating issues of divorce; The Lost World was simply more cynical than any other Jurassic movie.

In the decades since the release of this Jurassic Park sequel, many have placed The Lost World in the lower echelons of Steven Spielberg’s filmography, this 1997 movie marking a point at the height of Spielberg’s fame in which the director seemed much less interested in money-making ventures than he was by passion projects such as Amistad (released the same year) and Saving Private Ryan (released the year following, 1998).

While Spielberg’s legendary blockbuster-leading trademarks are still present in The Lost World (elevating a relatively mediocre script), the bedrock of this Jurassic Park sequel seems to reverse the original film’s stance on armed intervention and mass governmental control by film’s end, and this weak structural base simply fails to provide enough of a springboard for a less-than fully motivated director (even one as great as Spielberg) to overcome. There are glimpses of greatness here – the cracking glass over the edge of the cliff being one particular highlight – but The Lost World is missing the intention and politics of the four films to come, its on-the-nose efforts futile in the face of the deeper realisations of the Jurassic World movies and the original Jurassic Park.

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“Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders…”

Nothing screams 1990s quite like a young Will Smith rapping the theme song to a movie he’s starring in, and there was perhaps no other decade that a conspiracy-adjacent high budget alien comedy could have ever been made let alone have become so popular. The 90s saw a rise in affordable (and impressive) CGI, and a studio system taking risks on some of the highest budget and sincerely “blockbuster” releases in history, and Men in Black (1997) remains one of the decade’s most lovable family friendly oddities. It’s strange, then, to think of the Men in Black franchise as anything other than a product of the 1990s, yet three of its four feature entries have been released in the 21st century, with two released in the 2010s. Originally brought to the screen by former adult film director Barry Sonnenfeld (The Addams Family – 1991), who returned for numbers two and three following relative failure on The Wild Wild West (1999) – one of the biggest financial flops of the decade – and R.V. (2006) respectively, Columbia Pictures turned to Straight Outta Compton (2015) and The Fate of the Furious (2017) director F. Gary Gray to give the franchise a soft reboot in 2019’s Men in Black: International starring Thor: Ragnarok duo Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. Now officially a “universe”, the potential for more world-ending goo guns and intergalactic space worms is perhaps higher than ever, though waiting for Columbia to release a Men in Black movie takes about as long as surviving high school – 7 years on average – so maybe don’t hold your breath.

In this edition of Ranked, we’re comparing the four mainstream sci-fi/action comedies of the Men in Black franchise – films that cross three separate decades and twenty two years in total – to judge which of them can be considered great and which don’t quite hit the general standard of quality movie making, judging each on entertainment value, artistic merit, critical reception and audience perception for this, the Men in Black Movies Ranked.

Let us know your favourite Men in Black movie in the comments at the end of this article, and follow us on Twitter to never miss another list from The Film Magazine.

4. Men in Black II (2002)

If you liked the original Men in Black as a child, chances are that you liked Men in Black II too. Leaning slightly younger than the original, mostly in how it took the edge away from Will Smith’s Agent J (and therefore much of his charm), Men in Black II falls into the trap that many turn of the century sequels did: it tries to do the same again, only bigger. This time incorporating a love interest and themes regarding fate and more romanticised earthly thoughts, Men in Black II lacked the kick and much of the charm of number one, seemingly growing too concerned with elongated and largely unfunny skits involving lesser characters. Even so, it’s not as if this second entry doesn’t adequately quench the thirst of fans who enjoyed the original, Number II offering up more of the creatures, weapons and inventive action sequences that many would expect, ultimately being a worthy albeit less-than-spectacular Men in Black entry.

3. Men in Black: International (2019)

There’s nothing wholly offensive about Men in Black: International. In fact, the leading pair of Tessa Thompson (left) and Chris Hemsworth (right) offer some truly laugh out loud moments and seem to be having a lot of fun. The side characters are somewhat underwhelming, the narrative does become repetitive in its middle third and there’s a twist you can see coming a mile off (though this is done with a nod and a wink to the adults watching, so is far from as frustrating as it could have been), but overall this somewhat forgotten 2019 release is actually quite enjoyable. It’s not nearly as good as the films to come in this list, nor even close to the heights of director F. Gary Gray’s best work, but we’ve seen worse reboots in recent years and it’s unlikely anyone would mind seeing these two stars return for another Men in Black film.

Recommended for you: Every MCU Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie Ranked

Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Director: Edgar Wright
Screenwriters: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Peter Serafinowicz, Rafe Spall, Bill Nighy

16 years after its release, Shaun of the Dead remains one of the best loved British comedies of the contemporary era; a release that, alongside its fellow Cornetto Trilogy entries Hot Fuzz and The World’s End, has had a profound effect on the British cinematic landscape.

The much loved sitcom ‘Spaced’ (1999-2001) launched the careers of its stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, as well as director Edgar Wright. Over the past two decades, the trio have all come to have considerable success on both sides of the Atlantic, with Pegg finding major roles in both the Mission: Impossible & Star Trek franchises, Frost starring in hits like Fighting with My Family, and Wright going on to direct cult favourites like Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World and 2017’s hugely successful Baby Driver.

Rewatching Shaun of the Dead following the success later achieved by those involved is fascinating as it offers glimpses behind the success of the aforementioned trio. The film focuses on Shaun (Pegg) and Ed (Frost), a pair of unhappy late 20s flatmates struggling to get by in London – there is also heavy focus on the struggling relationship between Shaun and his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield). The early parts of the film play out almost like a buddy film, or a rom-com, such is the blend of laddish humour and focus given to Shaun and Liz’s relationship.

Coming fresh off the heels of ‘Spaced’ there are clear comparisons to be drawn, and Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg have mentioned how the show had a heavy influence on the film in many interviews over the years since, but much rather than it being a carbon copy of the cult favourite TV sitcom, these influences are minimal and help to provide the film with a degree of familiarity to those in-the-know, while never being overwhelming to those who aren’t – Pegg’s ‘Spaced’ co-star Jessica Hynes (then Stevenson) appears in a recurring cameo role for example, an element of Shaun of the Dead that is both in tribute to the filmmakers’ days on television but also unique to the film.

In addition, Shaun of the Dead is clearly made as a tribute to zombie and horror films, particularly those of horror icon George A. Romero – most obviously Dawn of the Dead (where this film got its name), itself a second entry into Romero’s own zombie movie series following Night of the Living Dead.

There are frequent examples underlining why Wright is seen as one of the most talented British directors of his generation in Shaun of the Dead. An extended tracking shot in the opening sequence following Shaun from his flat to the local shop is a fantastic piece of cinematography, and the choice to mirror this with the same shot later in the film once the world has been turned upside down by zombies is one that is both intelligently cinematic and truly funny. The misdirects early in the film are of the highest comedic sensibility too, with the use of imagery to evoke the pending zombie arrival providing some fantastic sight gags.

The humour is a huge part of what makes the film work and much of this comes down to the chemistry between Pegg and Frost. We are introduced to several recurring motifs from the rest of the Cornetto Trilogy with gags about shops, fence hurdling and pub fights all reappearing in some shape or form in Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. In spite of this, the screenplay of Wright and Pegg manages to blend more serious moments with its outright comedy, realising a surprising amount depth and character development for a film of its genre.

The use of music is crucial to many of Wright’s films, particularly Baby Driver, and Shaun of the Dead is no exception. Music is used to incredible effect, opening to The Specials’ “Ghost Town” and featuring multiple Queen tracks, “Don’t Stop Me Now” taking on a life of its own as the now iconic soundtrack to the pub brawl in the final act. In keeping with this marrying of music and film, one of the film’s best gags revolves around which of Shaun’s vinyl collection should be used as weapons against the Zombies, he and Ed having a back and forth regarding the importance of certain records as they fight off one of their slow but seemingly unstoppable foes.

Shaun of the Dead has amassed legions of fans in the 16 years since its release, with Empire Magazine placing it 6th in its list of Top 100 British Films and horror icon Stephen King dubbing it “10 on the fun meter and destined to be a cult classic”. It’s clear to see why this opening Cornetto Trilogy film has come to be so beloved and influential amongst comedy filmmakers, the first cinematic collaboration between Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright being a superbly written and acted film that lays an outstanding platform from which the trio have reached to great heights; one of the earliest examples of Wright’s unique brilliance at blending humour and pathos.

19/24

Written by Christopher Connor

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Just Mercy (2020)
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Screenwriters: Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham
Starring: Micheal B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, Rafe Spall, Tim Blake Nelson

Based on the memoir of Bryan Steveson (Jordan), Just Mercy tells the tale of Steveson’s work with men on death row, and specifically the case Walter ‘Johnny D’ McMillian (Foxx), an African American man falsely imprisoned for the murder of a white woman.

There are a few issues with this film, but none of them are the cast. Everyone in this film is excellent, without exception. The actors, despite being well established stars, transform into the characters. Brie Larson is one cast member in particular who is so convincing you’ll be double checking the cast list after you’ve left the cinema. Comparatively, Foxx has been nominated for Screen Actors Guild award for best male in a supporting role for his role as Johnny D; a truly awards-focused performance that lives up to its high expectations. The characters in Just Mercy feel real and most of this can be attributed to the stellar performances of the highly respected names that make up the cast; a number of whom, Larson and Foxx included, better the written material tenfold. 

The story of Just Mercy explores the complexities of morality, the key theme of which being; that just because someone does something bad one time doesn’t make them a bad person. It shows the all too relevant hypocrisy of the American legal system.

One of the issues with presenting a true story, is that it is just that… a true story.

The picture too often falls back on outdated tropes of “true to life” movies; we see characters looking through piles of papers, through heavy legal documents and leather bound books, highlighting and circling important things – the montages could have been lifted from almost any film of this type for the previous 80 years. The last time this seemed relevant and interesting was in Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight back in 2015.

It’s presented as if a lacklustre means of moving the plot forward; a sort of excuse for the narrative that is lazy and, most importantly for us, tiresome – Michael B. Jordan finds something important; he has a look on his face; Brie Larson asks ‘what is it?’; he tells us (without even a hint of attempting to cover the exposition). This would be okay if it wasn’t so central to the movie that characters get important information for the case in brown envelopes and the plot demands that we just wait to be told – several movies over the past few years have dealt with this trope in inventive visual ways, leaving Just Mercy feeling dated. 

There is a clear attempt to create tension in this film, such as the trailer’s key hook ‘What you are doing is going to make a lot of people unhappy’. The issue is that what the character is doing doesn’t make a lot of people unhappy, it doesn’t even ruffle a few feathers. In fact, the only character to suffer any kind of negative consequence is Rafe Spall’s Tommy Champan, an almost stereotypical “southerner” played  by a Brit and painted with broad, racially motivated strokes. 

The biggest disappointment of the film’s lacklustre presentation is that the true story behind Just Mercy is an important one to hear about. The real-life struggle of wrongly imprisoned African American people is one of the greatest injustices of contemporary America, and the film importantly highlights that, albeit in a manner much less effective than the likes of If Beale Street Could Talk or Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th. Perhaps the story of Just Mercy would have been better suited to being an Asif Kapadia style documentary?

8/24

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Director: J.A. Bayona
Screenwriters: Derek Connolly, Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Geraldine Chaplin, James Cromwell, Jeff Goldblum, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, Daniella Pineda, Justice Smith, Rafe Spall, BD Wong

The monsters are out of the closet, they’re off the island and they’re in your bedroom, but these monsters are not the ginormous prehistoric animals you might expect; they are instead suited business men hell bent on profit no matter the cost. Welcome to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, a fantasy intent on giving you the revolution wish fulfilment you’ve been waiting for: the literal killing of the evils of big business; a bloody good movie with the sort of equality mantra that communism could get behind; a “f*ck you” to the current direction of world politics and wealth distribution we could all do with a little more of.

Taking many of the well developed commentaries of the original Jurassic Park movie, and indeed the novel of the same name it was adapted from by Michael Crichton, Fallen Kingdom makes no bones about being a story told from the side of the dinosaurs. In fact, replace really cool Velociraptors and T-Rexes with cows and pigs and you have what is essentially a vegan propaganda piece filled with anti-war commentaries and a strong leaning towards the hippyest of “peace and love” stories you’ll likely see in a blockbuster for the next 20 years, even despite its viciously murderous set pieces and general reliance on guns and teeth to set up its thrills.

As an entertainment spectacle, Fallen Kingdom in many ways exceeds its predecessor – which often felt void of stakes, tried to tell its story from too many perspectives and was so attached to paying tribute to the Jurassic Park trilogy that it sometimes removed you from the story – as it followed an almost Haunted Mansion concept for the vast majority of the piece, with the dinosaurs playing a vital role in bringing the horror, violence and action to the narrative, which itself was much more focused and tightly knit around the singular idea of the original Jurassic World crew of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard trying to protect the ancient animals from a couple of new types of extinction: death by volcano or death by exploitation.

Strangely, Pratt and Howard actually managed to create some sense of chemistry in this movie despite their huge misfire in Jurassic World, with Pratt being given a harder edge more akin to Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones than any of his other famed performances (‘Parks and Recreation’, Guardians of the Galaxy), much to the benefit of the character and his relationship to Howard’s now fully established bad ass animal rights activist Claire Dearing. The duo of course came across a few friends and foes along the way, with the former being largely represented by the similarly as tough and strong willed Zia (Daniella Pineda), performed with a charming moody milennial tone we can all identify with, and her wimpy co-worker Franklin (Justice Smith), who brought many a moment of comic relief yet didn’t feel overplayed or overused, and the villains being more a case of having to embody the evils of big business than offering any real character development yet were inclusive of a couple of worthwhile performances nonetheless (spoilers on who played these roles shall not be included here).

At the base of any Jurassic Park or Jurassic World movie is, of course, the quality of the effects, and despite a few early blips that seemed to put the movie in an almost video game realm of CG overload, Fallen Kingdom was actually most powerful in its moments of more intimate settings, with the film delivering spectacularly through the course of its 2nd and 3rd acts. The CG was so good that it became second nature that the creatures were there.

Just like Jurassic World, Fallen Kingdom is intrinsically linked to many of the problems at the heart of its shortcomings, not least that its studio Universal Pictures now see it as a cash-cow that can make billions of dollars off the back of people wanting to see CGI dinosaur fights and can also create a heap of cash in merchandise and theme park attractions on the back of such moments. As such, there are moments of unbelievably human characteristics for certain dinosaurs that detract from how believable the piece may have been (as silly as that seems) and a continuation of the insanely high level of product placement that plagued this movie’s predecessor and seems to dictate the way certain shots are constructed and/or presented, to the detriment of the quality of the overall piece. In the screenplay, there are also several issues, mostly attaining to underdeveloped characters and using nostalgia-shaped shortcuts.

The biggest criticism that can be levelled at Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom however, is the criminal under-use of Jeff Goldblum’s Dr. Ian Malcolm who utters all of 5 lines throughout the entire film and may leave you feeling you’ve been mis-sold what this movie is set to offer. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen almost all of Goldblum already. So, if he’s your only reason to see this release, don’t bother.

Despite its indomitable flaws, Fallen Kingdom is a sequel that not only makes for a worthwhile follow up to Jurassic World but actually goes one better than Jurassic Park’s sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park by exceeding the original in almost every way and finally putting a certifiable, recognisable print onto a movie franchise that may never be as good as its associated Spielberg-directed universe brethren, but is a whole heap of fun with a positive message and all the dinosaur action you can imagine. This could, and likely should, be a mega-hit of this summer’s box office; a bloody good cinematic experience.

16/24