Review: Jurassic Park III (2001)

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Review Jurassic Park III

Jurassic Park III

Rating

Director

Joe Johnston

Screenplay

Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

Length

1h 32m

Starring

Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Téa Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan, Michael Jeter, John Diehl, Bruce A. Young, Laura Dern, Taylor Nichols, Mark Harelik, Julio Oscar Mechoso

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Review

When scientists began research to bring dinosaurs back from extinction, it was done on a secret island off the coast of Costa Rica. On Isla Nublar, scientists issued forth a new era. A new era of research, a new area of tourism, a new area of terror. “Jurassic Park” did a lot for the visual effects, action adventure film. Now the third installment of this aging series, simply titled “Jurassic Park III,” gets back to basics.

Dr. Grant (Sam Neill) is once again tricked into visiting Isla Nublar where the adventure began back in 1993. This time, he’s helping a couple find their son who is lost on the island itself. Amanda (Tea Leoni) and Paul (William H. Macy) Kirby have promised Grant and his assistant Billy (Alessandro Nivola) a sizable grant to keep their dig open.

Together they trek their way across Isla Nublar searching for Erik (Trevor Morgan) before the dinosaurs find him. They soon discover that the island has thrived in the past eight years. Every creature has flourished on the island and has made every inch its own.

While dilophosaurs are the only creatures not back from the original, there are new ones not in the original, including a larger-than-T-Rex dinosaur, pterodactyls and more. Not only do we get to see some sights we only saw from a distance in the original, we get to see new parts of the island we never thought we’d get to see.

“Jurassic Park” was the brainchild of author Michael Crichton whose book became the basis for Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film. Spielberg went to great lengths to preserve the wonder and terror of the book. In 1997, Spielberg took Crichton’s sequel “The Lost World” and turned it into a feature film. The result was less impressive, but modestly entertaining.

Spielberg, taking time off to direct “A.I.” and other prestige films, decided against directing the new film and instead turned to “Jumanji” filmmaker Joe Johnston to breathe new life into the now-trilogy. Johnston has done just that. With his experience, he was the most likely candidate to direct this visual effects oriented blockbuster.

The film takes many queues from the previous films, including visions of awe and terror. While the second film was less entertaining and more effects driven, more humanity was painted onto this third canvas. Every element from acting to effects mirrored that of the first film.

Johnston may not have elicited the world’s best performances, but he did evoke adequate emotion and conviction. Neill, Leoni, Macy and Nivola are each capable actors and this film gives them a chance to perform with minimal effort.

The true stars, however, are the dinosaurs. We went in droves to see the first film because of its magnificent dinosaurs and we keep coming back for the same thing. This time we get to see pterodactyls, a dinosaur featured prominently in the first book, but conspicuously missing from the movie. These flying reptiles are the key element in one of the film’s most exciting sequences.

Overall, the film does have its fair share of problems, it’s not nearly as spectacular as the original, but it also has its bonuses. There are few surprises, but after seeing the film, I feel as if I have finally seen much of what was taken from the first book. Now if only we could have found out more about the reproduction of triceratops, we would be more excited.

Adventure seekers will find much to entertain them in this film. However, plenty of audiences will cry foul, but if they compare this to the second film, they will feel less cheated and the series will feel more complete.