I've been watching the
Jurassic Park trilogy off and on the past couple weeks (click here for my previous revisits for
Jurassic Park and
Jurassic Park III). The series is definitely one of those trilogies that you can't stop watching, no matter how much the original stands out from the sequels. From the amazing visual effects to the thrilling action sequences, what's not to like? In my final revisit of the series, I look back at the one film that I never liked a whole lot -
The Lost World, the second installment. After watching it a couple times recently, my liking the film has definitely increased (but I still don't enjoy it as much as the others). As usual with my reviews, there'll be a few
spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen the film yet (seriously?), skip to the final paragraph or two.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Rating:
Starring:
Jeff Goldblum
Julianne Moore
Pete Postlethwaite
Vince Vaughn
Richard Attenborough
Running Time:
2 hrs. 9 min.
Synopsis:
Just when you'd think that scientists would realize dinosaurs and humans don't mix, along comes The Lost World: Jurassic Park to prove you wrong. In this sequel, John Hammond summons chaos theorist and onetime colleague Ian Malcolm to his home with some startling information -- while nearly everything at his Jurassic Park had been destroyed, engineers were also operating a second site, where other dinosaurs, resurrected through DNA cloning technology, had been kept in hiding. Hammond has learned the dinosaurs on the second island are alive and well and even breeding; Hammond wants Malcolm to observe and document the reptiles before Hammond's financiers can get to them. Malcolm declares he had enough of the dinosaurs the first time out, but decides to make the trip when he finds out that his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding, is already there. However, Ian and Sarah aren't the only visitors expected on the island; a camera crew led by ecological activist Nick Van Owen is on the way, as is Roland Tembo, a world-class wild game hunter who is supposed to round up the dinosaurs and who hopes to bag a prehistoric trophy for himself in the process.
As I've said before, I never was a big fan of
The Lost World. Sure it was entertaining, but as a kid I never could get into what it was about, the characters, etc. Recently, however, I decided to watch it again after getting the trilogy for my birthday this summer, and to my surprise it was much better watching it again (and getting into the meat of the film as well). While I still don't like it as much as the other films, it still serves as a nice blockbuster chock full of fantastic special effects and an intriguing storyline. Watching the trilogy straight through is great fun as well, especially for those dinosaur fans out there.
The aforementioned special effects in
The Lost World is definitely what sells this film. More lifelike than the first film, the sequel also boasts a much more varied selection of dinosaurs (which was a very minor flaw in the first film). Bringing in Pachycephalosaurus (I've always been a fan), Compsognathus and even a pair of T-Rexes (the original film only had one), and with a budget of only $73 mil., it's definitely full of dinosaurs in nearly every scene. And who can forget the somewhat lovable yet deadly Raptors? They represent the franchise almost as well as the T-Rex does.
The storyline is a good one, with a new island being located to place all the dinosaurs (with no cages, fences, etc.). It's basically a jungle/wilderness of prehistoric creatures, and that alone makes this film worth a watch or two. Bringing back some of the key characters is fun too (although expected).
The acting in the film is mostly solid. Jeff Goldblum is great again as Ian Malcolm, but it's very odd seeing the character in such a leading role. Personally, I prefer Malcolm as a side character (like his role in the original film), but Goldblum does a good job with what he's given. Julianne Moore is decent as Malcolm's girlfriend Sarah, though a bit weak around the edges. Vince Vaughn is fine as Nick van Owen, while Pete Postlethwaite (who I enjoyed in
Last Of The Mohicans) is excellent as game hunter Roland. And it's always a pleasure to see Richard Attenborough as John Hammond, who found Jurassic Park and we all know how that went.
As for flaws in this film (other than the aforementioned things about the acting), most of them are nitpicks from me. Some of the humor is kinda unneeded (such as Malcolm asking for three cheeseburgers when he's hanging on for dear life), while some dinosaur sequences felt a bit too short (Such as the T-Rex roaming in the city; I would've loved to see more of that, maybe they can do a full-on dino invasion of the city in
Jurassic Park IV). But most of these are just nitpicks, and barely affect the story itself.
Another thing I found off about the film was the tone of the film. Sure it's Spielberg still directing, and it brings back a lot of the same characters, score, etc., but the film still feels too different from the original. It feels a little darker than the first, and that isn't really an improvement. I'm not asking for a rehash of the original, but I would've preferred if
The Lost World was a bit more similar in tone to its predecessor. Then again, that's another minor flaw, and it doesn't affect the story as much as it could.
In the end,
The Lost World is definitely better than I remember. While not as solid as the first or third installments, it's definitely good dino entertainment. If you're looking for dinosaurs eating people, duking it out with each other, and even roaming in the city, I'd definitely recommend this. Despite its high points, we still have yet to see a sequel to
Jurassic Park that is truly deserving (since the original is just too amazing), hopefully the fourth installment (if it rises from development hell) will do just that.