Jurassic Park III (2001)

Jurassic Park III (2001)

 

6/10

 Starring

Sam Neill

Téa Leoni

William H. Macy

Alessandro Nivola

 

Directed by Joe Johnston

 

Depends on how you want to see this film. For me, I enjoyed the darker, grittier look and the sway away from the science-y stuff. If this was a B-movie, I think the movie would have gathered more praise. But laying it beside the magic that is Jurassic Park (1993), this movie does not measure up.

The problem is the lack of creativity in the plot, which made the movie at times seem like the same old ride. It may be because Steven Spielberg did not direct this one but served as executive producer, or maybe it’s because it’s the franchise's first film not based on a novel by Michael Crichton. Whichever it was, this movie failed to match the level of awe and surprise of the first film, and we were dropped into a search-and-rescue scenario.

This third installment in the franchise, following the success of The Lost World, did not meet the financial figures Universal would have wanted. That’s why I believe there is a fourteen-year gap between this and Jurassic World (2015). Universal wanted to make sure this movie could pull in as much influence as the previous two, especially attracting as much of an audience as Jurassic Park (1993). They brought back Sam Neill and Laura Dern into this movie, with the latter having only a few minutes of screen time, as the movie focuses on Alan’s adventure on the second island where dinosaurs were being cloned.

The plot shows us two people gliding with the aid of a boat: a man named Ben and a young man named Eric. The boat is attacked by dinosaurs, and the two are blown off to the island where dinosaurs were formerly being cloned.

Dr. Alan (Sam Neill) is coerced into taking a couple on an expedition trip to the island, but unknown to him, the couple lied and wanted to use the opportunity with him as a guide to find their son. Alan was against them landing on the island, but he was knocked out and came to with them on the island. The woman (Téa Leoni) is screaming her head off for her son. Alan asks them to stop, but it’s too late. They’re attacked, and the plane gets damaged. Now, being chased and losing people along the way, they must find their way back to the coast and try to get help before they are eaten by these creatures.

The movie is worth seeing if you want to watch all the Jurassic movies from start to finish, but for me, only Jurassic Park (1993) is worth having a repeat viewing.