Lost World: Jurassic Park

After the monster success of Jurassic Park, it was only a matter of time before a sequel was requested. Michael Crichton wrote up the book and the screenplay, and they convinced Steven Spielberg to come on again. This was exactly what they needed, because it also brought the star power which was a must for a sequel like this. Returning in his role as Ian Malcolm, Jeff Goldblum becomes the star of the picture, rather than a supporting character who barely survived the first film. Sam Neill is not back for this one, and neither is Laura Dern, but in supporting roles they were able to bring in Julianne Moore and Vince Vaughn just to name a few. Sam Jackson also didn't return, but if you saw the first film, I am sure you can figure out why. The last part of the cast was the most important, and that is the dinosaurs, who were brought back with quite a few friends.

The Lost World picks up four years after the events that took place at Jurassic Park. Somehow some of the dinosaurs survived, and escaped to a neighboring island where they have been living in secret. John Hammond, who in the first film runs the park, returns in a smaller role, as the control of his company has been taken away from him. InGen has decided to go out to the island, track, and capture as many of the dinosaurs as they can. When Hammond gets wind of this, he decides to put together a team that can stand between these poachers and the dinosaurs that he just wants to see protected. Trying to correct his past mistakes is what leads him down this path, and he puts together the team that includes Goldblum, Moore, Vaughn, and one other. Ian Malcolm wants nothing to do with going back to those islands, but when he discovers that his female interest (character played by Moore) as already set out, he feels the need to go rescue her.

So, even though the story is a little empty on real plot devises, everyone is setting out for the island in an attempt to find the dinosaurs in one fashion or another. Of course the two groups come across each other, and many dinosaurs are seen along the way, but there are a lot of things that they didn't plan for. First, the new team just won't listen when told that you cannot control the actions of the meat-eaters. The second, is that they are sure they can outsmart and out-run these things, which is the worst thing they could possibly do. One by one the team is picked off, and the mission turns to one of grim realization as everyone is sent scrambling across the island. Now we get to see all of the animals in full CGI, as they chase down the humans who have invaded their island. A lot of dramatic moments take place, and the film is quite good for the first parts in my opinion. Where it starts to falter is near the end in my opinion, and they really didn't need to have the final scenes in America.

Now to say the least, The Lost World is an exciting film that has a lot of great special effects. One particular scene, that involves vehicles on the side of a cliff is extremely well done, and there are other scenes where you get nervous just watching. The raptors are a much bigger threat in this film, and are used just as often as the bigger dinos. That being said, I feel it only just that I also point out that I felt the story could have used a little help. The "bad guys" in theses movies just never seem to stand out for me, and I think it is because of that, we find ourselves struggling to like the main story in Lost World. There was a lot of potential if they had stuck closer to the Crichton book, but certain elements were of course thrown in there to appeal to a live audience. The plot ends up being a little on the weak side as well, but a lot of fans end up overlooking that because of the great special effects. The dinosaurs do seem real, I like Moore and Goldblum in their roles, and the movie is good enough for me to own on VHS. That being said, it is really only a 3.5 star (out of 5) movie for me, and I cannot see myself rounding it up to 4 (so it gets 3). I do recommend the film because of its suspense and dinosaur factor, but it won't make a a list of anyone's favorites.