Jurassic Park star Sam Neil says he believes that the critically panned third film in the series got “unfair” treatment from critics, and was a “pretty damn good” film.

Neil is set to reprise his role as Dr Alan Grant in the forthcoming Jurassic World: Dominion, the first time he will play the character since the 2001 film.

Speaking to Collider, Neill reflected on the film’s legacy, saying: “I was just talking to someone earlier in the day who said, ‘I really like Jurassic Park III and it gets an unfair [treatment].’

“And I said, ‘Thank you very much.’ I agree that the last 10 minutes are way too easy and way too hurried, but I think up to that point, it’s pretty damn good.”

Neill went on to say that it was only by Jurassic Park III that he felt like he could adequately play his character.

“For me, by the time I got to number three, probably a bit late in the day, I’d sort of worked out how to play that character, which I hadn’t really quite gotten around to in the first one,” he said.

“I was still trying to work out, how do you play that guy in the hat? Something that comes completely naturally to someone like Harrison Ford. Not naturally to me.

“It’s a special skill. You’re not just playing a character,” he continued. “You need a whole skillset. You need a whole armory to play an action hero and I wish I had known what those skills were when we did the first one, but there we are!”

Jurassic World: Dominion, the third film in the reboot franchise, was confirmed back in 2018 and will see the return of cast members Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and Daniella Pineda – as well as a handful of stars from the original saga, including Neill and Jeff Goldblum.

The film’s June 2021 release date has been pushed back a year to the same month in 2022 due to coronavirus-related delays.