I enjoyed the original Jurassic Park – never saw the sequel, so came to this third in the series fresh.
Here we have another chance for the creative talents of ILG (Industrial Light & Magic) to show how far advanced they are in their special effects. Without a doubt the two things that stick in my mind from this film are the amazingly lifelike and scary Dinosaurs, Raptors etc and the crap ending!
Jurassic Park 3 does benefit from the acting talents of Sam Neill, reprising his role as Dr Alan Grant. He’s the Dinosaur expert who is tricked into ‘guiding’ a couple during a flight over Isla Sorna. This was the second remote Island ‘seeded’ with prehistoric animals. The couple, Paul and Amanda Kirby – William H Macy and Téa Leoni– have a hidden agenda. Their young son disappeared a few months before while hang-gliding over the island. They are desperate to see if they can find him and the ‘guide’ ruse was nothing more than an excuse to get Dr Grant to accompany them on their proposed rescue mission.
Their plane crash-lands on the island and we then get the first of several annoying set pieces by Ms Leoni. Excellent as she was in ‘Deep Impact’ and gorgeous as she usually looks, there is no getting away from the fact that Téa is one character we’d willingly sacrifice to a Raptor! There she is bellowing out on a Megaphone while all around her are telling her to be quiet. It’s dangerous out there. Damn – she lasts the whole film.
The principles – Dr Grant, his assistant Billy (Alessandro Nivola) and the Kirbys – soon find themselves alone as the crew of the plane suffer from the eating habits of the Dinosaurs. They make there way through the jungle terrain, stumble across an old human habital, but wherever they go, trouble is not far away.
Anyway the visuals are quite superb. The animals are more lifelike than many I’ve seen in the Zoo. I’m sure that although young children may leave the cinema saying they are fine, some of the scenes really are realistic and scary. And that was just for me!
As in most of these types of Monster movies, the group lurch from death defying situation to relief and back to tetering on the brink again. And in one scene on the bridge – literally. The plot is pretty basic because the film takes it as read that you’ve at least seen one of the previous JP films. Not much explanation as to “why are there Prehistoric animals on Isla Sorna?”
There are parts of the film that are pretty gripping, of that there is no doubt. But then suddenly with around 80 minutes of the film gone – rescue! Literally just like that.
I read in someone else’s review that it seemed like someone had just clapped their hands to indicate the money had run out and they had to pack the crew up and get out. Something like, “Quickly – you got five minutes, write me an ending” says the Director Joe Johnston. I must confess that I left the cinema stunned, smiling to myself thinking that I’d missed a twist somewhere along the line.
But no, my wife confirmed it. One minute they were struggling their way through the jungle – the next they were on a helicopter and on their way to safety. And one more question I want answering. ‘How the hell did Billy get on the helicopter before the rest of them?’. I’ll say no more – those of you who have seen the film know exactly what I mean – those of you who have not seen it yet…prepare to be bemused!