Film sequels can often be a very dodgy thing. When a film is massively successful, and makes a lot of money, Hollywood will inevitably squeeze as much cash out of the franchise as possible – often at the expense of good filmmaking. Whilst I enjoyed Jurassic Park very much, the second film (The Lost World) didn’t really have the same effect on me – when the dinosaurs got into the city, the whole thing started to get silly. I didn’t expect another film to be made, and was greatly surprised when Jurassic Park 3 was released last year.

The action in the third film is set on Isla Sorna – a second dinosaur island near Costa Rica – where the original dinosaurs were created before populating Isla Nublar. For some reason, despite the potential environmental consequences of the first two films, it seems widely recognised that dinosaurs roam this second island freely, and everyone seems content to let things rest. Our hero, Dr Grant, continues his passionate interest in dinosaurs and archaeology, and is widely renowned for his knowledge in the field. It is apparently this that attracts a wealthy couple of globetrotters, who approach Dr Grant with a business offer. In exchange for making a substantial donation to Dr Grant’s research, the couple require the doctor’s services to act as a guide for the couple, who intend to fly over the island in search of new thrills and excitement. Despite his obvious reservations, Dr Grant finally gives in, and the flight goes ahead. The couple are given permission by the Costa Rican government to fly much lower than would normally be allowed, and before long they are witnessing first hand the wonders of the genetically engineered prehistoric life forms.

The most instantly apparent feature of Jurassic Park 3 is the pace – the running time is little over an hour and fifteen minutes, and the editors have put together a breathtakingly fast film. Whereas the first movie takes near enough an hour’s running time to get things going, this sequel wastes absolutely no time whatsoever, and within minutes of their arrival on the island the visitors get into strife. As such, the film dwells very little on characterisation or dialogue, settling instead for all out thrills and spills – and to be honest, I think this was a wise decision on the filmmakers’ part. The appeal of these films is the dinosaurs and the danger – spending too much time on emotion or intrigue rather distracts the viewers from what they have come to see.

The action is superbly choreographed, and real “edge of the seat” stuff. One of the things I liked about this film was the lack of screaming children on the island – most of the action scenes involve only the adults, so they have a tendency to be faster and more furious than anything we’ve seen before. That aside, there are obvious tributes to the first two films – once again the ‘Raptors chase our heroes round a scientific compound, and once again, our heroes get up their armpits in dinosaur dung. It may all be rather far-fetched, but it’s well put together, and visually very entertaining.

Jurassic Park 3 is NOT better than the original however, despite the claims of the popular press. The rushed screenplay and editing leave many questions unanswered, and despite my attempts to stop myself doing it, I found myself picking holes in the plot. Despite the film’s obvious portrayal that nature has found a way to evolve, I found it highly improbable that the creatures have remained isolated on this island for so long – or that a world government had not taken action to prevent a disaster. Certain things don’t add up either – one of the new dinosaurs is clearly portrayed swimming along one of the rivers. Were that the case, I think it is more likely that he would have swam out to sea and pastures new, rather than waiting for the odd unsuspecting human to land on the island. An accident at the start of the film is never really explained either – if the dinosaurs couldn’t get off the island, who caused the accident?