THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK
A film review by Eric C. Robinette
Copyright 1997 Eric C. Robinette
A-
Starring Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Arliss Howard, Pete Postlethwaite, Vanessa Lee Chester, Richard Attenborough
Written by David Koepp based (loosely) on the novel by Michael Crichton Directed by Steven Spielberg
Who's that? Oh, Mr. DNA! Where did you come from? You're not in the sequel to Jurassic Park!
"No, but I'm everywhere evident in the picture. You see, this time around, Mr. Spielberg and company have taken up cloning to produce this sequel to their earlier thrill machine, not only of the first movie but of some of Mr. Spielberg's other products."
So I noticed. You'll be delighted to know, Mr. DNA, that unlike a lot of other critic types, I thought the experiment was successful, for the most part.
"Do you really think so? That's great! So many of you fellas complain that I can only create a thin story and cardboard characters."
To be frank, Mr. DNA, those people are pretty much right. But unlike a lot of those other reviewers, I'm pretty forgiving of suspense movies, for better or for worse. As long as I come out of the movie taking small, stiff-legged strides to my car, I say you pulled it off. I clocked myself at taking a full minute to limp to my car, where otherwise it would have taken me 45 seconds. Not bad!
"Well, thank you. You know, we're bound too make a ton of green stuff on the movie, so they'll probably be asking me to come up with another one. I'd love to hear your thoughts. What did you think of the core helix structure?
You mean the basic plot? Well, your cloning didn't work too well there, I'm afraid. It's a typical case of sequilitis, and not too inspired. Dr. Ian Malcolm, is recruited to go back to a second island filled with dinos that conveniently escaped the attention of the characters in the first movie. Personally, I thought that the sequel would be based on that can of shaving cream with dinosaur embryos Wayne Knight dropped in the first movie, especially since Spielberg devoted four or five shots to it falling into a mudslide. That would have made more sense.
"Geez, where off to a bad start."
Don't worry about it. Spielberg gets things going at a pretty good clip, which is the right thing to do when you have a thin story thread. At any rate, against his best wishes, Malcolm goes back to the island with a stowaway daughter (Vanessa Lee Chester) to retrieve his girlfriend Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) and your typical ragtag band of cohorts, most of whom will be digested by the end of the movie. Pretty simple, but it's good at getting the characters into one dangerous situation after another, which is all that counts in this movie.
"Uh-huh. What did you think of the other cloning I did, with Spielberg's other movies?"
Now, that worked--you did some good gene resequencing. Basically, you were wise to eschew the mawkish attempts at human relations that tended to bog down the first movie, which was more in the Jaws mode of a close-knit unit hunted by monsters, and went straight for one chase scene after another. In that way, it's more like one of the Indiana Jones movies. Roland, the game hunter was very vividly played by Pete Postlethwaite, and even looked a bit like Indy. Spielberg continues to show that he knows just the right shot to use, and when to use it. The pacing and visuals are fantastic.
The best example is a scene in which a trailer is pushed over a cliff by a couple of angry T-Rexes, and Julianne Moore lays against the glass that slowly cracks bit by bit, threatening to plunge her into the waters below. That imagery is classic Spielberg. The raptor scene is especially well done, with a lot of great "gotcha" moments. I especially liked the overhead shot of the raptors in a grassy field silently closing in on the hunters, with the dark lines of collapsing plants converging on the humans. There were many moments when I thought the characters were goners, yet they managed to escape in some novel way. Great fun.
"What about the behind-the-scenes stuff, with the effects and all?"
Well. of course those were well done. The dinos are more realistic, and much more mobile and fluid than before, particularly in a scene where the hunters try to rope up various species while speeding along in jeeps. It's nearly impossible to tell where Spielberg stops, and Industrial Light and Magic and Stan Winston start. Once again, their work is thrilling, and Oscar-caliber.
"Well, I'm glad you liked it so much. But what about the humans I concocted?
Well, you still need a little more work there, Mr. DNA. As I Mentioned, the best character is the foreboding but charismatic Roland. Arliss Howard, playing the scheming nephew of John Hammond pales by comparison. Goldblum is once again bitingly funny, but since he has to carry this picture, he tends to get overwhelmed by the reptiles. Vanessa Lee Chester gives a solid performance as the obligatory child in distress, but you underused her. You didn't get nearly as much mileage from her as the original kids, Joseph Mazello and Ariana Richards, who make a fleeting appearance.
"I've got it. Work on the characters, don't change the action."
Hold that thought, Mr. DNA. There is one action sequence that is disappointingly short: the much ballyhooed San Diego scene with the T-Rex.
"What? I thought people would love a Godzilla reference."
Well, the scene works, Mr. DNA, but it's too short. There are some wonderful moments, but not enough of them to make it pay off. It seems like you were so enthralled with the idea, you didn't try to work it out to the fullest. After all those other great set pieces, it's a bit anti-climactic. I did like the set-up for part three, though.
"We're thinking about it. So how'd we stack up with the first movie?"
I'd say almost as good, but not quite. The characters in the first movie were thin, but they were better developed than most of the people here, so you need to work on that. Plus there's that old problem with movie cloning: there simply isn't that sense of discovery and ingenuity that comes with a first movie. I missed some of the clever touches of the first, such as yourself, Mr. DNA.
"Aw, shucks."
Don't worry about it. All in all, as a thrill machine, the movie operates nearly at full speed, just like the first did, and that's the key. . It just needed a little more gas at the end.
"Gotcha. Well, gotta get back to work on the other summer movies."
It wouldn't be the same without you Mr. DNA. Just ease off on the volcanoes, OK?
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