Jurassic Park III (2001)

 

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Rated: PG13

reviewed by Charity Bishop
 

Ever since the first Jurassic Park came out in 1993, the public has become enthralled with hair-raising encounters with dinosaurs. It is no surprise people have always been fascinated by them. After all, they were big, they were bad, they were cool, and they were scary. And we're safe... or so we thought until Steven Spielberg brought to life a terrifyingly realistic world of reborn evolution and a chilling premise: people trapped on an island inhibited by meat-eating dinosaurs. You've heard that old adage, "Same song, second verse" right? Well in the case of Jurassic Park III, it's the same song, third verse.

The film opens on the blue sea surrounding the lush green tropical island now home to the T-Rex and his plant-eating prey. A para-sailer gets a wee bit too close, and mysteriously everyone down on board the little boat disappears. The boat runs aground and the two people are forced to make an emergency landing on the island. Several weeks later, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) is desperately trying to figure out how to keep his low-budget dig from going under due to lack of funds. Apparently since there's a living breathing museum of dinos somewhere in the South Pacific, who cares about old bones? Why not just wait a few years until the dinos die out (or are blown up by the Cuban government) and get some new material to study? Fortunately, a wealthy couple, Paul and Amanda Kirby, have a proposition to offer: they want to fly over Dinosaur Island and they would like Dr. Grant to act as their tour guide.

Dr. Grant never wants to see another living, breathing dinosaur as long as he lives... but the amount of zeros on the check persuades him to give it a go. Along with his young assistant Billy (Alessandro Nivola), they board the plane to adventure... and literal hell. The couple has no interest in sight seeing; they're looking for their eight-year-old son (Trevor Morgan). Dr. Grant is knocked out cold to prevent his protest at their decent and the plane lands on the island. Unfortunately, Mrs. Kirby's screaming through a megaphone has brought the attention of some rather unpleasant carnivores... and when they make an emergency liftoff the plane's tale is snapped in two, sending them spinning into the underbrush with no way home.

The first film had an original premise and the second and third follow in its footsteps. But where the third lacks in originality, it certainly makes up for itself in special effects and animatronics. The dinos look shockingly (and terrifyingly) realistic. If you were scared of the T-Rex all along, wait until you meet something bigger, meaner, and hungrier than him. We're all familiar with the general plot by now: people trapped on island with nasty little and big dinosaurs and everyone we're not attached to (and sometimes are) gets eaten. The single new item which makes the Raptors in this film even scarier (if possible) is the fact that since The Lost World came out, scientist have learned and speculated on the fact that meat-eaters were highly intelligent and able to converse with one another, thus hunting in packs with the ability to trap their prey. This idea is put into motion with the Raptors literally calling for help, alerting one another, and setting traps for our unfortunate homo sapiens.  There are also a host of new dinosaurs that range from the enormous to the downright comical and T-Rex literally gets his tail kicked by a newer, bigger, and meaner creation that Dr. Grant never knew existed in Jurassic Park.

Fortunately Jurassic Park III is less violent than The Lost World. In this version we never actually see anyone torn into shreds. But we do glimpse numerous creatures (and even a few people) being chomped, swung around, stepped on, and killed. One man is mauled but left alive as a trap... then his neck is broken by a Raptor. T-Rex takes on a larger dinosaur in a violent fight which winds up with good old Rex having his neck snapped. People are chased and threatened by dinosaurs, a child is pecked violently by flying creatures, and expendable characters die. A human carcass (made mostly of sinew and bones) falls from a branch, entangling Mrs. Kirby and she freaks out. Language-wise the film is hardly flawed. I heard no abuses of Jesus' name, although there are many uses of "Oh, my God" and a few minor profanities. Mrs. Kirby is seen briefly in her bra as she changes clothes.

The most horrible premise (other than the graphic and often unsettling violence) is the stupidity of the people involved. You really do want to punch them, firstly for getting Dr. Grant trapped on this island; secondly for abandoning someone to a dinosaur; thirdly, for screaming out their son's name through a megaphone when there are large meat-eaters on the island; and lastly, for being such profound idiots. But if you are a fan of the first, you'll probably enjoy it.