The Lost World - Jurassic Park (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Man's Acquisitive Instinct
Review: Once again we have a visit to the island of the dinosaurs by a scientific team who expects to exploit their discoveries. They know what they're doing, they assure us (ironically?). The computer generated images have been improved. But a larger expedition arrives to capture the wild lizards and create a zoo in San Diego (remind you of 'King Kong'?). There seems to be an anti-hunting message in some of these scenes, Its OK for reptiles, but not for mammals?

Of course, another wonderful plan goes awry due to unforeseen events. The small group sabotages the efforts of the larger group (professional rivalry?). As if they don't have enough problems, a small wounded lizard is brought inside for treatment. But there wouldn't be any drama without these missteps. This story seems incredible in spots, but I'm not a biologist. The action is a true cliff-hanger! This climb for life is the most riveting scene.

The destruction of the camp forces the survivors to a long day's journey to the old settlement. One straggler gets lost to create an episode of horror. More problems occur crossing the grassy meadow at night; do the lights attract predators? The refuge at the settlement becomes a trap. But they escape, and are rescued by a helicopter! The military arrive, like the Cavalry in bygone Westerns, to rescue the remaining survivors.

A ship arrives in San Diego, with no live humans. (Does this recall a scene from 'Dracula'?) And so the captured Tyrannosaurus arrives without a visa, another immigrant in Southern California. This one won't disappear easily! The scenes with the dinosaur running wild in the streets is technically impressive. In the end the financier is used to teach the young dinosaur to hunt for its food, another ironic ending. The final interview warns against interfering with nature. Is this an argument against cloning and stem cell research?



Rating:
Summary: Spielberg rushed this one out, but the dinos are still cool.
Review: Good things about this movie: More dinosaurs, clever action scenes (the trailer hanging off the cliff scene, the raptors in the tall grass, and the T-Rex in San Diego are all great), a superior musical score, more screen-time for the Tyrannosaurus Rex (everyone's favorite dinosaur, of course), Pete Posthlwaite's character, and more peple getting eaten alive by dinosaurs than in the first film.

Bad things about this movie: All the characters, except Pete Posthlewaite are unsympathetic, and unlikeable. Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm - such a great character in the first film - is severely weakened by the intrusion of his annoying, selfish girlfriend (who constantly talks over him, and completely disregards him), and his black (?????) daughter (who constantly scolds him for being a bad parent!?!?) Malcolm, who was so wonderfully bold in the first film, spends the entirety of "The Lost World" tucking his tail between his legs, accepting the b.s. his girlfriend keeps throwing at him, and apologizing to his misbehaving child(!!) almost as if he were the kid and she the parent.

All of this is incredibly damaging to the film, as it makes Malcolm appear to be a terribly weak character and makes you hate all three of them. Every time the girlfriend and the kid start mouthing off, you just cringe, hoping to see him put them both in their places and take charge like a man - but he NEVER does!

Well... there's enough action and thrills to keep you watching, though, so you eventually get to the point of hating all the human characters and just waiting to see who will get gobbled up by the dinos. At least the movie mostly delivers the goods on this end. Too bad Julianne Moore and that kid weren't among the victims. Then Jeff Goldblum would've had the chance to be a great character again.

For the most part, it's a fun movie for the action and dinos and death, but the script and characters and dialogue are all flawed and sloppily executed. You get the sense that Speilberg kinda banged this one out fast cause he was more excited about getting to do Saving Private Ryan.