I can't say my hopes were high about seeing this film - after all, actor William H. Macy publicly proclaimed that the script was "made up as we went along" and second sequels rarely work. But, being a sucker for monster fare, I wearily trudged along to the cinema and parted with my hard-earned cash seeking a good time. I got what I paid for with this enjoyable, if lame-brained, old-fashioned adventure yarn with plenty of action and minimal plot.
Forget the stultifying first sequel, THE LOST WORLD, as JURASSIC PARK III kicks into high gear with lots of impressive special effects and plenty of dangerous situations for our characters to get themselves into. While not as classy or intelligent as the first film in the series, JURASSIC PARK III offers the audience lots of loud roaring, explosions, people being eaten, and chases which is all a good monster movie should really offer. There's plenty of adrenaline-pumping adventure as our movie "heroes" attempt to hide and escape from a whole plethora of dinosaurs, old and new, including the tried-and-trusted velociraptors (who can now talk), plus new creatures like pterodactyls and spinosaurus which keep things fresh and interesting.
For a PG film, the movie has a slightly hard edge with a bit of blood and mayhem and a couple of guys getting chomped for good measure, although by now the clichéd formula is strictly aiming to be family fare. Sadly, there isn't any plot other than a contrived method to get all the people on the old island again, although on the plus side this means there isn't any dragging at the beginning - the action starts straight away and never lets up.
Sam Neill thankfully returns to the series (he was sorely missed in the last instalment) and steals the show as the mild-mannered Alan Grant; once again putting in a totally honest and likable performance, a great old-fashioned hero character. William H. Macy - a strong character actor in the likes of FARGO - is however wasted as a parent searching for his son, as he has nothing to do other than act the wimp and bond slightly with his ex-wife in slightly nauseous sentimental scenes. Tea Leoni (DEEP IMPACT) plays his wife, and once again sickened me with her terrible performance of a totally stupid and obnoxious character who does insanely stupid things like shout for her son with a loudspeaker. Alessandro Nivola (the baddie's brother in FACE/OFF) is actually quite good and subtle though as Neill's assistant, although somewhat bland with it. Trevor Morgan is the child actor who isn't irritating, while the supporting cast of "red coats" (you know, the guys in STAR TREK who you just knew were there to get bumped off) are fairly unmemorable - and there's no character building in the movie. Laura Dern's return is a cheat, little more than a cameo appearance for name value only.
Sadly the series shows strong signs of being dumbed down for a modern audience, with the scientific bits being explained carefully for the stupidest viewer. Similarly, scenes in which the actors search through excrement for a vital object or hear a mobile phone ring inside a dinosaur just seem to be silly. Aside from Neill, most of the characters do unfeasibly stupid stuff, like one guy stuffing a raptor egg into his backpack to make some cash. To make matters worse the stupid people are the ones to survive, whilst personally I would have liked to see Leoni and Nivola get torn in half by the spinosaurus.
Dumb actions aside, JURASSIC PARK III offers up some most excellent CGI work which is definitely an improvement over the stuff used in THE LSOT WORLD, even if overly familiar now and the shock/wonder value of the original JURASSIC PARK has disappeared. Expect lots of over-the-top situations (the dino/crane fight in particular got me), stunts, cool violence, and action in a slim but satisfying package, and JURASSIC PARK III delivers in spades. For the undemanding thrill-seeking audience, expect no more than a constant stream of well-directed action.
Forget the stultifying first sequel, THE LOST WORLD, as JURASSIC PARK III kicks into high gear with lots of impressive special effects and plenty of dangerous situations for our characters to get themselves into. While not as classy or intelligent as the first film in the series, JURASSIC PARK III offers the audience lots of loud roaring, explosions, people being eaten, and chases which is all a good monster movie should really offer. There's plenty of adrenaline-pumping adventure as our movie "heroes" attempt to hide and escape from a whole plethora of dinosaurs, old and new, including the tried-and-trusted velociraptors (who can now talk), plus new creatures like pterodactyls and spinosaurus which keep things fresh and interesting.
For a PG film, the movie has a slightly hard edge with a bit of blood and mayhem and a couple of guys getting chomped for good measure, although by now the clichéd formula is strictly aiming to be family fare. Sadly, there isn't any plot other than a contrived method to get all the people on the old island again, although on the plus side this means there isn't any dragging at the beginning - the action starts straight away and never lets up.
Sam Neill thankfully returns to the series (he was sorely missed in the last instalment) and steals the show as the mild-mannered Alan Grant; once again putting in a totally honest and likable performance, a great old-fashioned hero character. William H. Macy - a strong character actor in the likes of FARGO - is however wasted as a parent searching for his son, as he has nothing to do other than act the wimp and bond slightly with his ex-wife in slightly nauseous sentimental scenes. Tea Leoni (DEEP IMPACT) plays his wife, and once again sickened me with her terrible performance of a totally stupid and obnoxious character who does insanely stupid things like shout for her son with a loudspeaker. Alessandro Nivola (the baddie's brother in FACE/OFF) is actually quite good and subtle though as Neill's assistant, although somewhat bland with it. Trevor Morgan is the child actor who isn't irritating, while the supporting cast of "red coats" (you know, the guys in STAR TREK who you just knew were there to get bumped off) are fairly unmemorable - and there's no character building in the movie. Laura Dern's return is a cheat, little more than a cameo appearance for name value only.
Sadly the series shows strong signs of being dumbed down for a modern audience, with the scientific bits being explained carefully for the stupidest viewer. Similarly, scenes in which the actors search through excrement for a vital object or hear a mobile phone ring inside a dinosaur just seem to be silly. Aside from Neill, most of the characters do unfeasibly stupid stuff, like one guy stuffing a raptor egg into his backpack to make some cash. To make matters worse the stupid people are the ones to survive, whilst personally I would have liked to see Leoni and Nivola get torn in half by the spinosaurus.
Dumb actions aside, JURASSIC PARK III offers up some most excellent CGI work which is definitely an improvement over the stuff used in THE LSOT WORLD, even if overly familiar now and the shock/wonder value of the original JURASSIC PARK has disappeared. Expect lots of over-the-top situations (the dino/crane fight in particular got me), stunts, cool violence, and action in a slim but satisfying package, and JURASSIC PARK III delivers in spades. For the undemanding thrill-seeking audience, expect no more than a constant stream of well-directed action.