The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.
Advantages:
Flapping, running, roaring, hunting, singing, dancing dinos that look more real than you do .
Disadvantages:
The weighty philosophical monologues on the nature of survival, humanity's power to tamper, evolution, and the social/ethical implications of genetic engineering are bit heavy going sometimes .
Recommendable
Yes:
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
Soundtrack
How does it compare to similar films?Satisfactory
How does it compare to others by the same director?Good
Well, I'm a recently married horror writer, so my mood swings between the macabre and the blissful a...
Well, I'm a recently married horror writer, so my mood swings between the macabre and the blissful at the moment! Very confusing indeed. I've been away a month to get married and such, but will be more active again soon.
Member since:11.07.2000
Reviews:92
Members who trust:69
Nah, not really.
There should have been absolutely nothing right about this film. The director who made the original film such a success has taken a back seat on the third film after making a dog's dinner of 'The Lost World' (Spielberg really should have known better, but that's another review). The composer who created one of the finest horror themes of the nineties with the original theme to JP has stepped down along with his director. Of the original cast, only one returns for a full role, with the excellent Laura Dern on board for a quick cameo. Of prime concern, the writer who created the novels from which the first two films nominally came from has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of this film.
So, why did I find myself thoroughly enjoying my evening with 'Jurassic Park III'? It should have been a disaster, and it wasn't. Took me by surprise, and no mistake.
A summary? If you must. A jobbing scriptwriter finds an incredibly contrived excuse to get Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill) to the very last place on earth his character would wish to go after his experiences in JP1. Divorced couple William
H. Macy and Tea Leoni dupe him and his student Billy (Alessandro Nivola - there for young girls to ogle, mostly) into helping him track down their missing son on Site B (the island from the second film) by telling him they will be doing a fly-by of the island, and require a guide. Grant is naturally horrified when they land on the island. Almost instantly, the meticulously planned search and recover mission, organised by pet mercenaries toting guns of unlikely size, goes utterly pear-shaped. The plane is destroyed, the mercenaries are digested, and Grant is left to guide the tourists to the coast, find the boy along the way, and generally get chased about by CGI creations. That's about all you need to know. I assume you've seen one of the previous films? Well, so does the screenplay, which ignores all that back-story about genetic experiments, theme parks, and the right to play God with nature. You don't really need to know why this island is packed full of dinosaurs. Just accept that it is.
And it works very well. It's obvious that this is no Spielberg film, as his fine control of suspense is lacking. Joe Johnston does an amiable job behind the camera though. While there are no moments of dazzling finesse, there are also no derivative remixes from the first film. The cast puts in as sterling a set of performances as the writing allows, though only Neill really looks comfortable (perhaps picking up a character that was well written in a previous film is easier than starting with poor fare from the word go). We're not really here to see the actors though. We're here for the dinosaurs.
Well, there are a lot of them, and they're looking good. The technology has come a long way since the first film, and this shows. You really don't get much more convincing than this (hang on though - didn't I think that about the dinos in JP1?). Watch them run, kill, roar, swim, fly, hunt, and, in one particularly strange scene, demonstrate their fine grasp of the English Language. The T-Rex makes a brief appearance, only to be swiftly dispatched by the big nasty for this film, the Spinosaurus (like a T-Rex, with a really big nose). You've probably been hearing about the Pteranodons too. I suspect that if there's a memorable scene in this film, it's the attack of the Pteranodons. One that might be a bit too much for the kiddies.
I mentioned earlier that Michael Crichton has nothing to do with this project, but actually that's something of a half-truth. A good few of the scenes in this film are actually scenarios from Crichton's original novel 'Jurassic Park', that didn't make it into the first film. The Pteranodons are a good example, as is the boat trip, and the Spinosaurus attacking the boat (except, in the book, we were still happy to be menaced by a Tyrannosaur). So for those of you who read the book and were disappointed not to see Grant surviving some of these moments in the first film, expect a spooky sense of déjà vu.
After about an hour and a half of running around, getting eaten, escaping dramatically, and so forth, everybody gets bored and the film stops with jarring force. One moment there are Raptors all over the place, then there are some helicopters, then the credits are rolling. Very odd. I was particularly entertained by the blasé response of all involved as, making their escape via helicopter, the gang notice that some of the Pteranodons are migrating overseas to the mainland. 'Off to find new nesting grounds,' claims Grant, with a smile. Oh yes, very bloody charming that. Don't use your great big bloody military helicopter to shoot them down before they can establish themselves on the mainland, by the way, because that would just be cruel. Doh!
As a sequel, this is actually adequate though, and an enjoyable way to switch off your mind for a bit. Do try to remember to switch it back on before attempting anything dangerous afterwards, such as crossing roads or bathing. You have been warned.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Action/Adventure - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Jack Ging, Marla Heasley, Lance Legault, Melinda Culea, Mr T, Dwight Schultz, Dirk Benedict, George Peppard, Carl Franklin
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
I'm glad I'm not the only one who found this film strangely enjoyable. Although I did find the 'mobile-phone-in-the dinos-belly' joke a bit too much! lp
sirmitchalot 09.08.2003 13:13
I didn't think no. 2 was that bad
kingtemple 17.08.2001 12:50
Good op mate, ill wait for the vid to come out. Keep writing, stay healthy! -Kingtemple 'esquie
As long as you expect nothing more,Jurassic Park IIIis a satisfying popcorn adventure. A ... more
little cheesier than the first twoJurassicblockbusters, it's a big B-movie with big B-list stars (including Laura Dern, briefly reprising herJurassic Parkrole) and...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Surpassing expectations to qualify as an above-average sequel,Jurassic Park IIIis nothing ... more
more or less than a satisfying popcorn adventure. A little cheesier than the first two Jurassic blockbusters, it's a big B movie with big B-list stars (including ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Surpassing expectations to qualify as an above-average sequel,Jurassic Park IIIis nothing ... more
more or less than a satisfying popcorn adventure. A little cheesier than the first two Jurassic blockbusters, it's a big B movie with big B-list stars (including ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) devoted his entire life to the study of ... more
dinosaurs but he never imagined he'‚´d have to be face-to-face with them...again. Eight years later InGen'‚´s debacle as well as the political and economic ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![Jurassic Park 3 [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78089635.jpg "Jurassic Park 3 [DVD] [2001]")
![Jurassic Park 3 [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78509469.jpg "Jurassic Park 3 [DVD] [2001]")
Aug 13th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
![Jurassic Park 3 [DVD] [2001]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78487402.jpg)
