SUE tn? Elf/ll’w'r' JURASSIC PARK III (pG) 92 mins .0.
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Retread of the first two movies with bigger monsters and more ridiculous predicaments
You can tell it’s summer, how else would a film based on a computer game be topping the cinema charts. 80 what do Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’s rival Hollywood studio do, search for a couple of original ideas, or wheel out a guaranteed money maker? Yep you guessed it, it's big budget sequel time. This story has been doing the rounds for years, from One Million Years BC. and The Land That Time Forgot to the Japanese Godzilla movies and their concept of Monster Island, an almost direct descendent of which is Jurassic Park ’5 Isla Sorna.
A flimsy excuse to get the cast over to the Park is hastily set up. A young lad has become stranded on the island so an unofficial search party headed by his parents (William H. Macy, lending some much needed credibility, and Tea Leoni), hoodwink palaeontologist Dr Grant (Sam Neill, reprising his role) into helping them out. Of course, things go wrong as soon as they arrive and they are attacked by a Spinosaur, a new and improved T-rex, which totals their plane. From there on in, the cast jump from one perilous situation to another. Being attacked all the while by various monsters.
In a Jurassic Park film, let’s not kid ourselves, it’s the dinosaurs that really matter. And they don’t disappoint. We get massive dinosaurs, flying beasts, stampeding herds and even dinos that talk to each other, all superbly realised with CGI SFX. This does come at a cost, mind you: the story. The plot is just a loose thread to hang set piece after set piece from. The cast all fill their roles as best they can, but with such a lightweight script there isn’t much for them to get their teeth into.
While he may have handed over the directorial reins to Joe Johnston, this is still most defiantly a Spielberg production. So expect a healthy dose of family values with your glossy action. But the direction just isn’t as slick as Spielberg’s; it’s almost a parody of his style, with high levels of in-your— face action matched by high levels of heavy handed sentimentality.
Jurassic Park III is a complete retread of the first two movies with even more dinosaur attacks, more ridiculous predicaments, bigger monsters and just as many scientific liberties taken in the name of entertainment. But the increase in scale just can‘t compensate for the been there done that feeling. And the ending comes so suddenly it feels like a complete cop out. High thrills, very, very low intelligence. (Henry Northmore)
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. ; ./ ' THE LIST 35