I'll start out by saying that The Lost World: Jurassic Park is not a bad film; It's simply a disappointing film, though not without its high points. This film stars Jeff Goldblum (Independence Day, The Fly), returning from the last film to reprise his role as chaos theorist Ian Malcolm who has now become a laughing stock among scholars for preaching against InGen's Jurassic Park ideas. However, while he is trying to distance himself from the Isla Nublar incident, Malcolm is called back to action by ex-owner John Hammond, who is trying to save the dinosaurs on the lost world, Isla Sorna, from the new owners' attempts to make a new theme park attraction: Jurassic Park San Diego. This public image stunt, however, turns into a rescue/escape mission when dinosaur and man interact. It sounds like an interesting concept, which is probably why it was such a box office success.
Unfortunately, the film is almost entirely forgettable, and the film seems to forget itself at times, as well. First off, there are way too many characters in this film. The first film had a nice, balanced ten-man ensemble, and everyone had their chance in the spotlight, and even the less recognized characters are remembered afterwards--and the star power doesn't hurt either. This film juggles over fifteen, and, unlike in the first film, these characters don't mesh and are not fleshed out; the only purpose half of these characters serve is, like in a horror movie, to die. The rule of thumb for the characters in this movie is: if we didn't give you a backstory or meaning, or you're the main villain, prepare to die a horrible dinosaur death. This film mostly follows Ian Malcolm and his girlfriend, played by Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights, The Big Lebowski), his daughter, and Vince Vaughn's (Dodgeball, Wedding Crashers) character. Thing with Vince Vaughn's character is that after the island escape, which he plays a big part of, he's not mentioned or seen or heard from again, even in the big San Diego climax. He wasn't the most original or interesting of characters, but at least screenwriter David Koepp could have given him some closure. But then I think, maybe it's not entirely Koepp's fault.
The finale--the San Diego sequence--was a last minute idea. Originally, the film was going to end with a big dinosaur attack at the Isla Sorna control center, mirroring the original film, and then go on from there. However, since the development of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, director Steven Spielberg had in mind that the T-Rex gets loose in San Diego when carted over from Isla Sorna, though he was boo-hoo'd by producers early on. That didn't stop Spielberg as executive producer Kathleen Kennedy says that if you say no to one of Spielberg's ideas, he'll think about it even more and flesh it out, making himself more determined to go with it. In the end, that's what happened, and it shows. I understand that Spielberg's trying to elevate Koepp's point about naturalism prevailing over commercialism and "nature will find a way," but he just hit us over the head with it. The point hit home in the already-written scenes, so in the end, I think the movie ended up overspending on itself with a special effects heavy sequence. I want to say I liked the sequence, but I didn't. The Lost World became a monster-disaster movie, which is not what Jurassic Park was; Jurassic Park showed that nature should never be tampered with because, although beautiful, it can also be very dangerous and monstrous. In the end, I didn't get that from this sequel.
Another thing that I didn't like with this movie is that it overplayed the T-Rex and underplayed the rest of the dinos. In the beginning, Hammond says that Isla Sorna is teeming with his recreations, and while we do see the vegetarians for a while, our favorite predator, the velociraptor, isn't seen all that much. In the original film, they were the danger you never talked about, and when you saw them, you thought, "Am I supposed to be scared by these guys or the big T-Rex?" In this one, I didn't see them as a threat, unfortunately; they weren't there, and then they were, and then they weren't again.
Earlier I said that The Lost World isn't without its high points. It is nice to see Hammond and his grandchildren again, if only for a few scenes. Jeff "The Goldblum" Goldblum, returns with as much charisma from the first film as he could muster, and it helps since he's our hero. I wish I could say the same with the rest of the cast, though. The visual effects, though not as fresh as before, are still absolutely remarkable, which is why this film got nominated for that Oscar. Most notably is when Malcolm is facing off against a raptor towards the end of the film. Malcolm tears a door off its hinges and uses it as a shield against the raptor. It's amazing to think that the raptor really isn't there, since Goldblum plays the exchange off so realistically. Seeing the outtakes of the sequence and noticing how Spielberg is nitpicking every slight discrepancy of movement, it's absolutely astounding. While the entire film isn't able to be great and powerful, the scene of the T-Rex emerging from the boat in San Diego and Malcolm whispering to the villain, "Now you're John Hammond," brings back what made the original good. And while the theme is beat over our heads a bit, I like that the filmmakers tried to do it, and for a while, it was what made the movie better. If you are looking to study film and its underlying themes, this would be a good film to look at, even if it's not The Godfather or Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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| Certainly an interesting blend of characters, but perhaps a bit much. |
For many, this is the runt of the litter. Do you think this movie's underrated? What's your favorite Jurassic Park film in the series so far? Are you excited for the fourth one? Myself, I'm somewhere in between. The sequels so far have been less than spectacular, but I'm hoping director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guarenteed) can pull it off. Sound off in the comments below.
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