With Jurassic World set to open this week (read my review of the film here) - taking us back to Steven Spielberg's beloved Jurassic Park franchise - I have decided to celebrate its release by revisiting the original trilogy. So far, I have reviewed the first two films (find them here) and, today, we're talking about Jurassic Park 3.
The threequel picks up 8 years after the events of the first film and where The Lost World saw Jeff Goldblum's character return, Jurassic Park 3 brings back another main character from the original; this time Sam Neil's Dr. Alan Grant. When Dr. Grant becomes cash-strapped and requires money to fund his latest project, wealthy businessman Paul Kirby, and his wife Amanda, offer him a healthy sum of cash to fly them over Hammond's "Site B" - Isla Sorna - and be their guide.
However, upon arriving there, things aren't quite as they seem as Kirby and Amanda had completely different intentions than first thought and only require Dr. Grant - for his knowledge on dinosaurs, on the island inhibited by the reptiles - to help them find their lost 14 year old son Eric. Oh, Velociraptors have also evolved and learnt how to speak.
Frankly, I didn't like Jurassic Park 3 at all. It was the first film not to have Spielberg returning to the helm and it's evident through just how hindered this was. Instead, Joe Johnston was on directing duties and he did an awful job. This was nowhere as good as the first two films, in any aspect. The direction was very poor and the plot was just so mawkishly handled, with some pretty bland dialogue too. I mean... talking dinosaurs. Really? And the way that whole idea was executed just didn't make it any better.
As far as the action and spectacle and awe-inspiring wonder of Jurassic Park 3 went - something that made the original two so successful - it was not great. The CG was poor and, despite having released 8 years after Jurassic Park, the effects seemed a lot worse and just too chunky and obvious and it took away the magical feel this franchise should (and normally) has. The action wasn't bad and there were some alright sequences every now and then but the story was all over the place and just so convoluted that that there was no pattern or structure to the film and it became really tedious. It doesn't help that the actors looked like they couldn't be arsed either.
In all aspects of the film, Jurassic Park 3 was a disappointment. The film was, by no means, a complete train-wreck disaster but it wasn't close to even being somewhat competent and half-decent either. It killed the franchise. It was weird and unusual and didn't fit in with Spielberg's gems in any way. Let's just try to forget it ever happened. It's probably the best thing to do.
VERDICT:
Nowhere near as good as either of the first two films, Jurassic Park 3 was a very mawkish, dull, tedious threequel and huge disappointment that brought shame to the beautiful world Spielberg had created.
★★☆☆☆
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