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Well the third installment in the Jurassic Park adventure definitely had a different feel to it and I know exactly what it was. Spielberg did not direct this one, Joe Johnston did and there was a remarkable difference. Remember how scary Jaws was? It was so scary people were truly afraid of the water. But, Jaws 2 and Jaws 3 was just some ol great white shark with a bad attitude, nothing to change your summer plans over, and that was because Joe Alves directed Jaws III and Jeannot Szwarc directed Jaws II . Well, the same goes for Jurassic Park III. The original Jurassic Park, which was directed by Spielberg had me literally on the edge of my seat, nail biting, scared of those dinosaurs. The cast and director had me believing it was real, and this could happen. And in Jurassic Park II, I let out an ear-piecing shriek during one scene so Spielberg was still thrilling me. But, Jurassic Park III, I wasn’t the slightest bit worried about any of the dinosaurs, and they did not come close to being as menacing, in fact almost tame compared to the first two flicks. I was exhilarated, but hey Godzilla can do that too, even with the poor voiceovers. What this film had to offer was a couple of the cast from the original movie. Not the freaky Goldblum playing Malcolm, the over impressed with himself know-it-all, but the ones we did like. Laura Dern reprises her role as Dr. Ellie Sattler. She is married, has a child and writes books now. But the hero Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill, The Horse Whisperer) gets a chance to study dinosaurs that are alive and not just fossils, against his will, but none-the-less he is there in all his glory. Rounding out the cast is William H. Macy (State and Main) as Paul Kirby (much easier role than in Magnolia) and playing his wife Amanda, Tea Leoni (The Family Man). This was truly brilliant casting, the chemistry was fantastic. As for the plot, Grant is seeking funding for his research project and dig. He is still studying raptors and through computer technology has discovered that raptors have the power to generate a sound capable of communicating with each other. And if this theory is correct, Raptors could have quite easily been the dominate animal if it weren’t for the ice age, and Man would not be where he is today. Okay nice theory but people are not giving him money because it is only a matter of time before the government figures out how to control the living dinosaurs on the island and who needs to study old bones. Well Macy and Leoni show up asking him to give them a tour because they only want the best. They offer him a large donation for his help. What he really doesn’t know is, they are landing on the island to rescue their son Eric (Trevor Morgan, The Patriot) who landed on the island after a parasailing accident. Well you can pretty much figure out the rest. The dinosaurs were fabulous, the story flowed but as I pointed out, they did not possess the same terror as before. They almost appeared uninterested in devouring food. In fact the body count did not even come close to what it was in the other movies. There were great scenes involving a satellite phone and even a wonderful theory was posed. Grant told Eric there are two types of boys, one that wants to grow up and be an astronomer and one that was to become an astronaut. Eric picked the astronaut because if he stayed behind and only looked at the stars from afar, he would never go to the moon. Despite the obvious difference in direction this movie is still very enjoyable. In fact maybe even more enjoyable for younger children since it is not so scary. I give this film a seven on the About-Movies.com rating scale. Bye.
Last updated: Saturday, October 28, 2006 05:37:38 PM Click Here to get back into frames.
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