Jurassic Park 3 was released four years after the Luke warm reception of Spielberg's (underrated) The Lost World. Spielberg opted to not return to helm another Jurassic film, and directing duties were passed over to Joe Johnston. Jurassic Park 3 see's the return of Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant, from Jurassic Park. Laura Dern also returns as Ellie Sattler, but sadly in a less prominent role.
The story for JP3 is quite simple, Grant is lured by "adventurous" couple Paul, & Amanda Kirby, played by William H. Macy & Tea Leoni, to fly over Isla Sorna, with Grant acting as their guide, for money. However the Kirby's are not rich, and lied to Grant so he could help them find their missing son Eric, who wen't missing weeks ago in a parasailing accident near the island. Of course things go wrong, the plane crashes leaving the Kirby's, Grant, his colleague Billy, and a few others stranded on the island. JP3 can only be enjoyed as a trilling dinosaur spectacle, but there isn't much of anything new, or interesting.
There are some positives aspects in this film, Sam Neill is a fine actor, and he brings credibility to the film, and is still believable as the Grant character. While the rest of the characters aren't all that fleshed out, the film is well acted, with William H. Macy, and Sam Neill being the standouts. There's a few new dinosaurs, Spinosaurus being the main one. Spinosaurus is a neat dinosaur, and the roar for Spinosaurus is also well executed, and is distinctly different sounding from the now famous T- Rex roar. The animatronic dinosaurs/CGI are once again well executed by Stan Winston's team, and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). JP3 is the first film in the series to combine CGI dinosaurs along with practical ones in the same shot, and the blending between the two is well done. The Spinosaurus attack on the river is a thrilling scene, taking place in water, which hadn't been done. There is also a thrilling Pteranodon sequence, offering a ariel attack which hasn't been seen yet in the franchise. The scene is dimly lit, with fog, and creates the best sense of suspense in the movie. The music in the scene is probably my favorite bit of new music in the film. John Williams didn't score JP3, instead composer Don Davis best known for his work in The Matrix films, provides the music, and does a good job, creating new music that still fits stylistically within the franchise.
Though there are positives in JP3 there are many negatives as well. One of the biggest ones I had was the screenwriters not having Grant, and Ellie as a couple. Instead they have a friendship type relationship, and Ellie has a child (with some random guy) who call's Grant "the dinosaur man". It just seems stupid to not have Grant be with Ellie after the events of the first film. Grant's character arch of not wanting children changes after he saves Lex, and Tim, and is seemingly ready to settle down with Ellie, which now seems wasted. The dumbest thing about it is it adds nothing to the characters, or the overall film, and was a stupid decision on the writers part. Grant has a dream on the plane nearing the island, and turns to see a raptor that says "Alan". The scene is very cheesy, and really is just plain silly, right up there with the gymnast scene in TLW. The Spinosaurus T-Rex fight is neat, but having the T-Rex (a fan favorite) lose, and die, just didn't sit right with many fans, myself included.
The characters (while well acted), aren't all that interesting, or all that likable, the Kirby's put peoples lives in danger to find their son, and Billy, decides it would be a good idea to steal raptor eggs to help fund their research back home. There are also many continuity issues in the film, like why the island doesn't look the way it did in TLW, or why the raptors look radically different (some have feather-like quills on their head) from how they did in the pervious films. Where the Spinosaurus was during the events of TLW is suspicious too, the only clue given in the film is when Grant says that Spinosaurus wasn't on Ingen's list. Perhaps the worst part of JP3 is it's ending, which feels insanely rushed, and anti-climantic, almost as if the filmmakers said "This is going on too long, lets wrap it up", but with a runtime just over 90 minutes, the abrupt conclusion seems strange, with the previous films being over two hours long.
Jurassic Park 3 despite is faults, and there are multiple ones, is still an enjoyable flick for what it is, but it's a huge step down in terms of story, and character, and is just an unnecessary edition to the franchise. The story isn't very interesting, or inspired, and the only thing new in the film are the look of the raptors, and a few new dinosaurs. It's explained during a dinner scene with Grant, and Ellie that the raptors were far more intelligent than imagined, and could talk to each other, but much of this could be assumed in the previous films. Spinosaurus makes for a cool looking successor to T-Rex, but seems more like a movie monster than an animal, compared to T-Rex who while running around chasing/eating people, had moments in both Jurassic Park, and The Lost World that showed a naturalistic side of them, like caring for the infant T-Rex. The only real advances in Jurassic Park 3 are technical ones, but effects aren't what makes a film great, it's the story, and characters that drive a film, and that wasn't strong enough in this entry of the Jurassic Park series.
The story for JP3 is quite simple, Grant is lured by "adventurous" couple Paul, & Amanda Kirby, played by William H. Macy & Tea Leoni, to fly over Isla Sorna, with Grant acting as their guide, for money. However the Kirby's are not rich, and lied to Grant so he could help them find their missing son Eric, who wen't missing weeks ago in a parasailing accident near the island. Of course things go wrong, the plane crashes leaving the Kirby's, Grant, his colleague Billy, and a few others stranded on the island. JP3 can only be enjoyed as a trilling dinosaur spectacle, but there isn't much of anything new, or interesting.
There are some positives aspects in this film, Sam Neill is a fine actor, and he brings credibility to the film, and is still believable as the Grant character. While the rest of the characters aren't all that fleshed out, the film is well acted, with William H. Macy, and Sam Neill being the standouts. There's a few new dinosaurs, Spinosaurus being the main one. Spinosaurus is a neat dinosaur, and the roar for Spinosaurus is also well executed, and is distinctly different sounding from the now famous T- Rex roar. The animatronic dinosaurs/CGI are once again well executed by Stan Winston's team, and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). JP3 is the first film in the series to combine CGI dinosaurs along with practical ones in the same shot, and the blending between the two is well done. The Spinosaurus attack on the river is a thrilling scene, taking place in water, which hadn't been done. There is also a thrilling Pteranodon sequence, offering a ariel attack which hasn't been seen yet in the franchise. The scene is dimly lit, with fog, and creates the best sense of suspense in the movie. The music in the scene is probably my favorite bit of new music in the film. John Williams didn't score JP3, instead composer Don Davis best known for his work in The Matrix films, provides the music, and does a good job, creating new music that still fits stylistically within the franchise.
Though there are positives in JP3 there are many negatives as well. One of the biggest ones I had was the screenwriters not having Grant, and Ellie as a couple. Instead they have a friendship type relationship, and Ellie has a child (with some random guy) who call's Grant "the dinosaur man". It just seems stupid to not have Grant be with Ellie after the events of the first film. Grant's character arch of not wanting children changes after he saves Lex, and Tim, and is seemingly ready to settle down with Ellie, which now seems wasted. The dumbest thing about it is it adds nothing to the characters, or the overall film, and was a stupid decision on the writers part. Grant has a dream on the plane nearing the island, and turns to see a raptor that says "Alan". The scene is very cheesy, and really is just plain silly, right up there with the gymnast scene in TLW. The Spinosaurus T-Rex fight is neat, but having the T-Rex (a fan favorite) lose, and die, just didn't sit right with many fans, myself included.
The characters (while well acted), aren't all that interesting, or all that likable, the Kirby's put peoples lives in danger to find their son, and Billy, decides it would be a good idea to steal raptor eggs to help fund their research back home. There are also many continuity issues in the film, like why the island doesn't look the way it did in TLW, or why the raptors look radically different (some have feather-like quills on their head) from how they did in the pervious films. Where the Spinosaurus was during the events of TLW is suspicious too, the only clue given in the film is when Grant says that Spinosaurus wasn't on Ingen's list. Perhaps the worst part of JP3 is it's ending, which feels insanely rushed, and anti-climantic, almost as if the filmmakers said "This is going on too long, lets wrap it up", but with a runtime just over 90 minutes, the abrupt conclusion seems strange, with the previous films being over two hours long.
Jurassic Park 3 despite is faults, and there are multiple ones, is still an enjoyable flick for what it is, but it's a huge step down in terms of story, and character, and is just an unnecessary edition to the franchise. The story isn't very interesting, or inspired, and the only thing new in the film are the look of the raptors, and a few new dinosaurs. It's explained during a dinner scene with Grant, and Ellie that the raptors were far more intelligent than imagined, and could talk to each other, but much of this could be assumed in the previous films. Spinosaurus makes for a cool looking successor to T-Rex, but seems more like a movie monster than an animal, compared to T-Rex who while running around chasing/eating people, had moments in both Jurassic Park, and The Lost World that showed a naturalistic side of them, like caring for the infant T-Rex. The only real advances in Jurassic Park 3 are technical ones, but effects aren't what makes a film great, it's the story, and characters that drive a film, and that wasn't strong enough in this entry of the Jurassic Park series.