THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1997 Michael John Legeros
(Universal)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by David Koepp, from the novel by Michael Crichton
Cast Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Arliss
Howard, Peter Stormare, Pete Postlethwaite, Richard
Schiff, Vanessa Lee
MPAA Rating "PG-13"
Running Time 133 minutes
Reviewed at Mission Valley Cinemas, Raleigh, NC (19MAY97)
==
THE LOST WORLD made me sweat, which may be the highest compliment that I can pay to what's really just a jokey, at-times-intentionally hokey monster movie. For better or worse, the Master (again along with writer David Koepp, loosely adapting from Michael Crichton's best- selling screenplay, er, novel) has simply cut and pasted the same scare- tactics from the first film: thud scream chomp run repeat. Only, this time, there's more. More mechanical dinos. More high-tech toys to smash. More humans getting gobbled, from the four-person research team sent to Site B (a *second* island, where the creatures have been running amok for four years) to the band of big-game hunters, who are also on hand. Same-o same-o, really, but with a handful of changes and one up- roarious final sequence, set on the streets of... well, now, that would be telling!
The most noticeable change in Steven Spielberg's sequel is that it's darker than the original, both literally (photography) and figuratively (tone). There's more death, though most of the munching occurs off-screen. (What you *do* see, you won't forget. Such as, heh, two Tyrannosaurii playing "wishbone.") And there's more humor. Jeff Goldblum, still wearing black leather in the tropics, gets off a good number of sarcastic quips and exasperated asides. ("She can't not touch," he exclaims when his paleontologist girlfriend pets a baby stegosaurus.) The other human actors (Julian Moore as said girlfriend, Pete Postlethwaite as the Great White Hunter, etc.) are less funny and largely less interesting. Those stars with the *least* personality, however, are the dinos. Rex Galore exhibits nothing in the way of wit, intelligence, or good manners, and, frankly, if they didn't keep killing people and smashing stuff, this would be one boring amusing ride. Which it isn't, unless you're expecting something other than a give-them-what- they-say-they-want sequel.
My dinosaur bones of contention are few and far between. The over- lighting at the beginning is a bit distracting. As are most of Spiel- berg's trademark reaction shots. (I would submit that *any* shot that gets in-between the good stuff and more good stuff is counter-productive to a creature-feature's best intentions.) So, no, the sequel to the highest grossing film of all time isn't exactly the leanest thing on either two or four legs. Nor is it entirely mean. Despite the darker, harder edge-- for a pleasant change, a Disaster Movie Dog *doesn't* make it out alive-- THE LOST WORLD is very much a corporate-sponsored family film. And while it does push the "PG-13" rating to new limits, this WORLD is still *way* too nice. No mass death. No chunks of gore. No ordnance-induced animal control. By, hey, it may make you sweat!
Grade: A-
Mike Legeros - Movie Hell http://www.nonvirtual.com/hell/
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