Jurassic Park Iii - Movie review

Attempting to fill some large shoes, Joe Johnston takes over as director for the third installment in this franchise, the only one not based off a Crichton novel, which was released on July 18, 2001: grossing a sizable $368 million, but still considerably less than the previous films. Aside from a single, throwaway piece of dialog, this PG-13 rated adventure all but ignores "The Lost World", instead feeling like a more direct sequel to the original, reuniting Sam Neill with the man-eating dinosaurs. The prologue actually contains some of the more interesting scenes, as Neill struggles with life as a minor celebrity following the widely publicized events portrayed in part one. Posing as wealthy thrill-seekers, husband and wife couple William H. Macy and Tea Leoni trick Neill, and his protégé Alessandro Nivola into visiting the Lost World: in an attempt to rescue their pre-teen son who went missing two months earlier. The ridiculous plot cuts right to the chase, both figuratively and literally, as our group of under-prepared protagonists quickly find themselves on one of the secret Costa Rican sanctuaries populated by thousands of cloned creatures, with Neill sarcastically complaining, "You probably won't get off this island alive." Devoid of reason or explanation, a bigger, and badder "Spinosaurs" is introduced: who promptly dispatches his less terrifying T-Rex counterpart in a totally awesome, but completely unnecessary CGI-battle between the two monsters. Ironically, the over-reliance on computer imagery in this picture, as opposed to Stan Winston's brilliant animatronics work, results in the dinosaurs actually looking unrealistic and fake in a few scenes for the first time in the trilogy. The film's most effective moments come when it shamelessly recreates scenes from the original: like the airplane fly-over, or the sweeping shots of grazing Brachiosauruses. All the majesty and wonder of the first film is abandoned, reduced to nothing more than a low-rent horror experience for the bulk of the painfully short 92-minute picture. Don Davis contributes a generic score that can't seem to resist putting its own pointless flourishes on Williams' classic themes. Some action pieces however, like an early plane crash into the jungle canopy, or a frantic satellite phone call as a river boat is sinking provide, some nail-biting thrills. Unfortunately, just as the picture hits its stride following an exciting foray into a Pteranodon aviary cage, it abruptly ends without a satisfying climax or conclusion: topped off with one character unnecessarily coming back from the dead. Faster and less complicated than the previous entries, but far less captivating because of it, this isn't worth watching as often as the others. Jurassic Park III, "Disposable disappointment, with shallow excitement." Now let's see what you had to say about this picture in the YouTube comments. "Jurassic Park III" on the rate-o-matic... a SIX and a FIVE. Although you faulted the plot, boring characters, and shortened ending, you loved seeing Sam Neill back fighting dinosaurs - with some even calling this a better picture than part two: you thought it was GOOD. I'm upset about the Deus ex machina ending, and the contrived circumstances of an uninteresting plot, but some aspects are redeemable, so I'll score it an ALRIGHT.