THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK
A film review by Jonathan Pringle
Copyright 1997 Jonathan Pringle
It is now the night after I have seen the movie, and my opinion has changed slightly. Right after the showing, I was somewhat disappointed. I went in hoping for a four star movie, but came out and gave it a 2 1/2 star rating. I thought that even that was generous. Maybe it's because I had been anticipating this film for so long that when I actually saw it, It didn't mean anything to me.
My first complaints were with John William's almost non-existent score. Jurassic Park had much better music, especially the first brachiosaur scene. The second complaint would have to be the character of Kelly. She was almost useless (except for an incredibly fake gymnastic scene that really should have been taken out). To clear up the confusion, I found out that Kelly was an adopted child. Her family had just left her behind, and Dr. Malcolm took her in.
Thirdly, the role of Nick Van Owen was utterly useless. His character (and many of the other's were very undeveloped). But with special effects that were this believable, WHO CARES about the plot?
The sudden entrance of the hunters was also badly introduced. Their entire entrance happened in less than 3 minutes. Laslty, I was very disappointed that Laura Dern wasn't around for this one. She, in my opinion, was the best actor from the first Jurassic Park. It was nice to see Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough return. Also, It was wierd seeing how much older Lex and Tim looked in the short scene they had.
Now for the good stuff. Tons of realistic dinosaurs. Especially the baby t-rex and the huge stegosaurs. The San Diego scene was also incredible. The best scene, though, had to be the trailer scene and the slowly cracking glass. I was on the edge of my seat for that part.
The violence is much darker and more obvious in this movie, but that's what makes it better. We don't want a kids movie here. It definitely stretches the PG-13 rating to the max. Oh yeah and the sound effects were incredible! They did a great job with however they got the sounds.
Lastly, the ending, in my opinion, wasn't all that great. I liked the ending to JP more I think. It seemed kind of cheesy to me.
Now that It's the morning after I have seen the movie, my opinion has changed. I would change my 2 1/2 stars to 3 stars for this time. I don't know if I'll see it again. I don't think I could sit through the boring first 1/2 hour again. Oh well, congrats Mr. Spielberg, you did it again.
***/ out of 4
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