So after watching the first four movies in this franchise (three of which I had seen more than once, I finally watched this most recent effort. There are similarities and differences between Dominion and the earlier ones.

It held some of the usual elements: a child for us to care when they placed her in danger; the ability of the heroes (even the child) to outrun dinosaurs under a blind panic; walking dinosaur food, also known as bad guys; and references to the original theme park that started it all. They outdid themselves this time - keep an eye out for the Barbasol shaving cream canister.

POf course, there are plenty of differences also. Parts of it weren’t even recognizable as part of the franchise. They juggle plot lines around the dinosaurs, the ethics of genetic engineering, a child clone kidnapping, industrial malfeasance, and what for me was the most interesting subplot and most closely tied to the original film: the struggle for humans and dinosaurs to co-exist under the new planetary paradigm.

Another difference is that there are two romances developing throughout the film.

An improvement is the return of characters we know well: Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm is present long enough to get in a few of his witticisms, unlike in the last movie.

So ultimately I found Dominion to be entertaining enough to stick with it, though the aspects that might have been intended to make me think just sort of got in the way.