Who's In It?

Sam Neill is back as Dr. Alan Grant, William H. Macy as Paul Kirby, and Tea Leoni as Amanda Kirby.

Who Made It?

Joe Johnston

Where's The Web site?
Jurassic Park 3

What's It About?

Dr. Alan Grant (Neill) is back for this the third installment of the Jurassic Park series.  He is still on the eternal search for information about dinosaurs.  His site now needs money and the educational community still only wants to talk to him about Jurassic Park.  With money running out and donors being harder to find than buying a winning lottery ticket, Paul Kirby (Macy) arrives on Grant's dig site.  Seems his wife (Leoni) and him are thrill seeking adventure types and are willing to come forward with the sum of one million dollars for Grant to navigate a fly over of Isla Sorna.

Though Grant insisted he would never go back to the homes of the dinosaurs running free, one million dollars gets Grant on a plane to give a guided aerial tour of the island.  But does Grant know the whole story?  There are members of the Kirby's "church", or so they say, on the plane with them but these guys come packing weapons.  The only question is what is Grant in for on this flight to a mysterious island that reminds Grant of his own island terror.  What is Grant in store for?  Could it be a return to his old nightmares?  You'll have to see Jurassic Park III for the answers to those questions.

Common Guy's Thoughts

Well what is one to expect in the theater for a sequel?  That is a question that needs to be examined before you see any film like Jurassic Park III.  You want to see dinosaurs run amuck, people running for their lives, and action all over the screen.  Jurassic Park III delivers, well kind of delivers. 

We open with one of the worst looking scenes in recent film.  It was reminiscent of early 70s television shows.  As the young Eric is tandem parasailing along the coast of Isla Sorna, things look just like the did with a shot of CHIPS with John and Ponch placed on the screen over an obvious matte.  But things do get better.  We get more of what we are looking for in this short, but packed full film.  Yes Grant does go back to Isla Sorna and go head to head with the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, but this time it is in more of a duck and run type of fashion.  The nice thing about this being a short film is that it has very few lulls in the action.  It is also nice to see a return to the series of Laura Dern (albeit in a small cameo role). 

This film is not as bad as some will make it out to be.  It is much darker and carries a higher "scare factor" than either of the first films, which means a different feel overall.  I was extremely worried about a number of things going into the screening, but it turned out to exceed my expectations (even though they were quite low).  There is not a lot to hang your hat on in this film, but the reason you go back to Jurassic Park is for the dinosaurs, and there are plenty of them.  Macy and Leoni add a touch of comic relief to things.  Although there are a number of things that are lacking in this film, I can slightly recommend a return to Jurassic Park.

Grade

C+

Parents Guide

Rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi terror and violence.  As mentioned in the review, this film is darker and scarier than either of the first two films.  Kids that had no problem with the first films might get scared during a viewing of this film.  Parents, please approach this film with a watchful eye.
 

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