You know I was a bit surprised that Steven Spielberg didn't direct this installment of Jurassic Park. I thought that this series was his little pet project (no pun intended) and that he would have liked to have been heavily involved in the making and direction of all of them. Having said that I wasn't disappointed with what I saw but it definitely lacked the `Spielberg' feel. I guess in a way making sequels becomes infinitely harder to do as the surprise element is gone and it's especially true of the Jurassic Park series. Prior to the first movie, no had ever seen a dinosaur on screen so realistically portrayed and that element created a buzz. The subsequent movies had that `been there, done that' feel so where do you go from there? In this case (and Lost World) it means more dinosaurs, more gruesome scenes and more running, which isn't bad as long as you're not expecting anything more.
This installment brings back Alan Grant (Sam Neil) with a bit of a cameo from Laura Dern. Other than that, the rest of the cast is basically new. The movie revolves around Grant being persuaded (promise of huge funding for his digs) by a couple to be their `dinosaur expert' on an alleged vacation fly-by of Isla Sorna (the island from the Lost World). Reluctantly Grant complies, mostly for monetary reasons, and he goes on this supposed fly-by with his research aid. Little does he know, the couple (played by Tea Leoni and William H. Macy) have plans of rescuing their young son who about a 2 weeks prior crash-landed while parasailing near the island and hasn't been heard from since. Grant soon discovers that he's been duped into something he has absolutely no interest in doing and basically does what he can to get off the island as quickly as he can. His morals kick in and he does the right thing but reluctantly.
The storyline is there and was basically well told. Sam Neill has always been a superb actor and he does a very good job here but for some reason or other I felt it wasn't quite up to his level in the first movie. It might have something to do that he's really nothing more than a baby sitter to a bunch of ignorant city folk and if I were in his shoes would have left these people to fend for themselves if they displayed the level of ignorance they did. William H. Macy has always been a good actor and there really isn't a lot you can say negative about his performance, however, I've never been a big fan of Tea Leoni and she really doesn't do anything here for me. She portrays the distraught mother in search of her lost child but comes across dumber than a stick. Who in their right mind, knowing that they're on an island full of vicious prehistoric animals the size of large buildings, goes crashing through the forest aimlessly yelling?? Any sane person would never do that, no matter how distraught they were. Self-preservation would be the first instinct to kick in, especially after surviving a crash landing and a beating from a large vicious dinosaur.
While I wasn't real fond of some of the human actors, the dinosaurs were pretty darn good. The special effects were quite well done and they didn't rely completely on CGI. The mechanic dinosaurs held their own and in a lot of ways made the scenes more real as the actors had something to work off of. I particularly liked the one scene where the mighty T-Rex fought the Spinosaur; something we really haven't seen in the other two movies and it gives us a bit of a possible look at what living back then would really be like.
Overall, I liked it and would recommend it as a matinee but like I said in the beginning, it doesn't have that `Spielberg' feel to it even though he produced it.
This installment brings back Alan Grant (Sam Neil) with a bit of a cameo from Laura Dern. Other than that, the rest of the cast is basically new. The movie revolves around Grant being persuaded (promise of huge funding for his digs) by a couple to be their `dinosaur expert' on an alleged vacation fly-by of Isla Sorna (the island from the Lost World). Reluctantly Grant complies, mostly for monetary reasons, and he goes on this supposed fly-by with his research aid. Little does he know, the couple (played by Tea Leoni and William H. Macy) have plans of rescuing their young son who about a 2 weeks prior crash-landed while parasailing near the island and hasn't been heard from since. Grant soon discovers that he's been duped into something he has absolutely no interest in doing and basically does what he can to get off the island as quickly as he can. His morals kick in and he does the right thing but reluctantly.
The storyline is there and was basically well told. Sam Neill has always been a superb actor and he does a very good job here but for some reason or other I felt it wasn't quite up to his level in the first movie. It might have something to do that he's really nothing more than a baby sitter to a bunch of ignorant city folk and if I were in his shoes would have left these people to fend for themselves if they displayed the level of ignorance they did. William H. Macy has always been a good actor and there really isn't a lot you can say negative about his performance, however, I've never been a big fan of Tea Leoni and she really doesn't do anything here for me. She portrays the distraught mother in search of her lost child but comes across dumber than a stick. Who in their right mind, knowing that they're on an island full of vicious prehistoric animals the size of large buildings, goes crashing through the forest aimlessly yelling?? Any sane person would never do that, no matter how distraught they were. Self-preservation would be the first instinct to kick in, especially after surviving a crash landing and a beating from a large vicious dinosaur.
While I wasn't real fond of some of the human actors, the dinosaurs were pretty darn good. The special effects were quite well done and they didn't rely completely on CGI. The mechanic dinosaurs held their own and in a lot of ways made the scenes more real as the actors had something to work off of. I particularly liked the one scene where the mighty T-Rex fought the Spinosaur; something we really haven't seen in the other two movies and it gives us a bit of a possible look at what living back then would really be like.
Overall, I liked it and would recommend it as a matinee but like I said in the beginning, it doesn't have that `Spielberg' feel to it even though he produced it.