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Jurassic Park 3 Better Than Expected

TruthNews Movie Review
July 22, 2001

Perhaps because of my low expectations, I was pleasantly surprised by the third installment of Jurassic Park. The movie, the first in the Jurassic Park series not directed by Steven Spielberg, features the return of Sam Neill as paleontologist Allen Grant.

Grant has sworn never to return to Jurassic Park, the ill-fated theme park of cloned dinosaurs created by a mad scientist in Jurassic Park 1. Grant managed to keep his promise by not appearing in JP2 (a.k.a. "The Dinosaur That Ate San Diego"). But in JP3, Dr. Grant is back and is soon tricked into returning to Jurassic Park by a couple with more money than brains. As it turns out, Paul and Amanda Kirby don't have any money but are really there to rescue their son who was stranded on the island in a parasailing accident (dinosaurs ate the crew of the boat that was towing him).

One of the memorable lines in the otherwise forgettable JP2 is when everyone is admiring the dinosaurs at the beginning of the film. Jeff Goldblum, one of the survivors of JP1, says, "First comes the ooohs and ahs, then comes running and screaming." However, JP3 dispenses with the ooohs and ahs and goes straight to the running and screaming, and the dinosaurs are soon gobbling up the members of the expedition like Human McNuggets.

Although Spielberg didn't direct JP3, his influence is still apparent, especially in the visual humor, such as when the survivors are hiding in the wreckage of their airplane, and a hungry dinosaur rolls it around like a barrel roll.

Jurassic Park 3 is a very fast paced film, and at times, the changes of scenes are a little too abrupt. However, the film suffered none of the flaws of JP2, which bordered on the incomprehensible.

Also unlike JP2, the characters are appealing in this latest rendition. In JP2, the characters were so annoying that I found myself hoping that the dinosaurs would eat them all, and the sooner the better. In JP3, however, the characters are genuinely sympathetic (except for a couple of token McNuggets who get eaten early on.

Overall, JP3 is almost as good as the original Jurassic Park and definitely better than the sequel.

Happy Ending Rating: H (happy)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mild violence involving huge dinosaurs gobbling up helpless humans. However, like Washington these days, there's very little gore. JP3 may be too intense for younger kids.

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