Movie Review – Jurassic Park III (2001)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the first sequel to 1993′s Jurassic Park, was a smash hit in the theaters.

The film’s opening weekend set all kinds of box office records.  Even though it received mixed reviews, the film was a hit and the audiences were craving more of the dinosaur films.  That’s where our third installment of the Jurassic Park series comes into play.

Released in 2001, Jurassic Park III brings Dr. Alan Grant back into the dinosaur franchise.  This time Dr. Grant is part of a disguised rescue mission for a 12-year-old boy who went missing while parasailing off the coast of Isla Sorna.  The rescue mission brings Dr. Grant along with a cast of new characters onto the tropical island filled with predatory dinosaurs.  Jurassic Park III shows us some familiar dinosaurs as well as introducing us to a much bigger predator and newer concepts for an older foe.

Jurassic Park III was directed by Joe Johnston, and Steven Spielberg was an executive producer for the film.  Don Davis provided the musical score this time around while including some of the famous theme originally created by John Williams.  Jurassic Park III stars Sam Neill in the title role of Dr. Alan Grant, a paleontologist who survived from Isla Nublar.  Also starring in the film are William H. Macy as Paul Kirby, and Tea Leoni as Paul’s ex-wife, Amanda Kirby.

Supporting them are Alessandro Nivola as Billy Brennan, one of Dr. Grant’s graduate students, and Trevor Morgan as Erik Kirby, the 12-year-old son of Paul and Amanda.  Laura Dern has a small role reprising her character Dr. Ellie Sattler, now Ellie Degler.  She’s married now with a young child.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

Jurassic Park III begins with a small chartered boat sailing close to Isla Sorna, now a protected wildlife refuge.  People are well aware of the dinosaurs living on the island, but strict government regulations prohibit anybody from setting foot or getting too close to the island or its deadly inhabitants.

On board the small boat are Ben Hildebrand (Mark Harelik) and 12-year-old Erik Kirby (Trevor Morgan).  We don’t know it at the time, but Ben Hildebrand is currently dating Erik Kirby’s mother, Amanda.  The two of them hook into a parachute and then go parasailing while being pulled behind the boat, flying high over the water.

Ben and Erik are looking for dinosaurs, but they can’t see any from their vantage point.  Meanwhile, the small boat drives into a small fog bank.  Suddenly something goes wrong and Ben and Erik are tugged towards the boat.  When the boat emerges from the fog they see that it’s heavily damaged and covered in blood.  The crew is missing.

Unmanned by a crew, the boat is still speeding ahead at full speed.  Ahead in its path are a bunch of exposed rocks.  Erik is concerned that they’re going to crash, but Ben manages to unhook the rope connecting them to the boat.  As the boat crashes the two of them safely fly the parasail to Isla Sorna.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

A couple of months later, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) is visiting with his old friend, Dr. Ellie Degler (Laura Dern).  Ellie is married now and has a four-year-old son, Charlie.  After dinner, Alan explains his new research discoveries concerning velociraptors with Ellie.  A special chamber inside of the raptors’ skull allowed them to create special sounds and actually communicate with one another, allowing them to work better as a team to attack prey.  Ellie agrees with his theory, remembering how the raptors tried to attack them on Isla Nublar.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

Dr. Grant’s obsession with velociraptors continues when he makes a presentation at a college seminar.  When he’s finished he does a question-and-answer session with the audience.  The only problem is that most of the people only have questions regarding his trip to Isla Nublar and the T. rex incident a few years later in San Diego.  One of the students (that’s Ariana Richards holding the microphone in a cameo role) asks Dr. Grant a question about his theory being moot because scientists will just go to Isla Sorna at one point and study the raptors.  Dr. Grant disagrees, claiming that what Mr. Hammond created were genetically engineered monsters for a theme park, and real paleontology involves the study of rocks and fossils.  He also makes a point of saying there’s no way he’s going to be on that island to study the dinosaurs.

The film then cuts to a scene out west where a few mercenaries are testing a really big rifle.  A single shot manages to destroy the remains of a small aircraft.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

We then jump to Fort Peck Lake, Montana where paleontologists are uncovering another velociraptor skeleton.  Graduate student Billy Brennan (Alessandro Nivola) is helping another grad student, Cheryl (Sarah Danielle Madison), uncover the remains of the dinosaur’s skeleton.  Dr. Grant arrives back at the dig site and Billy shows him something he’s been working on with a computer.  Using something resembling a 3-D printer, Billy is able to reproduce the resonating chamber from a velociraptor.  Blowing air through the resonating chamber creates a sound that has been haunting Dr. Grant since his visit to Isla Nublar.

Dr. Grant is then visited by Paul Kirby (William H. Macy) of Kirby Enterprises.  He invites Grant and Billy to have dinner with him and his wife.  There’s an interesting proposition that he wants to offer Dr. Grant.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

The four of them, including Amanda Kirby (Tea Leoni), Paul’s wife, meet for dinner that evening.  The Kirbys explain how they are adventurers who seek the biggest thrills in life.  They’ve allegedly climbed K2, toured the Nile River, visited the Galapagos Islands, and they even have a couple of seats booked on the first commercial flight to the Moon.  Their next adventure is going to take them to Isla Sorna.  The Kirbys explain that they have received permission to fly extremely low over Isla Sorna, and they would like Dr. Grant to give them a tour of the dinosaurs.  It’s an aerial tour and nobody will be on the island itself.  As a reward for his services, Paul Kirby writes a really large check to continue funding Dr. Grant’s dig site.

A Beechcraft King Air 200 carries the expedition to Isla Sorna.  On board the aircraft are Dr. Grant, Billy, Paul and Amanda Kirby, and Cooper (John Diehl), a mercenary.  At the controls of the aircraft are mercenary pilots M.B. Nash (Bruce A. Young) and Udesky (Michael Jeter).

During the flight Dr. Grant has a nightmare.  He wakes up on the aircraft and discovers that he’s still airborne but alone.  Sitting across from him is a velociraptor.  The raptor starts talking to him when Grant suddenly wakes.  They’re finally arrived at Isla Sorna.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

As the King Air 200 approaches the restricted island, we hear Udesky and Nash receive a warning over the radio against approaching the island.  Udesky switches off the radio and the aircraft begins its descent for a low flight over Isla Sorna.  Dr. Grant begins pointing out and talking about the dinosaurs, but for some reason nobody on the aircraft seems to be listening to him.  He becomes alarmed when he hears talk about landing soon.  Grant gets up to confront Paul Kirby when he’s suddenly hit on the back of the head by Cooper and knocked unconscious.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

Dr. Grant awakens to hear the sound of Amanda Kirby using a bullhorn to call for somebody.  Billy informs him that they’ve landed and it appears their hosts are searching for a person.  By the time Grant climbs out of the aircraft, the mercenaries are spreading out and trying to form a defensive perimeter.  He tells Paul to get his wife to stop using the bullhorn as it’s a very bad idea.  Just as she continues using it and questioning why it’s bad, all of them hear a roar from a really big dinosaur.

A few gunshots are heard followed by an even bigger roar.  Billy is thinking a Tyrannosaur, but Dr. Grant says that it sounds larger.

Suddenly Udesky and Nash come running out of the jungle.  They yell for everybody to get back onto the aircraft as they run up the stairs and quickly strap themselves into their seat.  Grant, Billy, Paul and Amanda follow suit as the engines are started.  Paul assures his wife that they’ll circle the island from the air and continue searching for Ben and Erik.

The King Air 200 begins rolling down the runway when the crew spots Cooper running out of the jungle.  He’s badly injured and standing on the runway, blocking their path.  It’s too late for them to abort the takeoff and Cooper won’t move.  Just as they’re about to hit him, a massive dinosaur runs out of the jungle and snatches Cooper in its jaws, killing him and splattering the aircraft’s windows with blood.  The aircraft briefly leaves the ground but crashes into the forest of trees.  At the end of the crash they’re still stuck about twenty feet above the ground.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

As the crash survivors are figuring out what to do next, the massive dinosaur that killed Cooper returns.  It’s a Spinosaurus, a predator dinosaur even bigger than a Tyrannosaurus rex.  The Spinosaurus rips off the front of the aircraft and grabs Nash.  Nash is injured but tries to get away on the ground.  He’s killed when the Spinosaurus stomps on his body and bites off his head.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

The rest of the aircraft falls to the ground, and the people are trapped inside of it as the Spinosaurus continues attacking and trying to eat them.  They eventually escape and run away from the Spinosaurus only to encounter a large dead dinosaur down a path.  Eating the dead dinosaur is a Tyrannosaurus rex.  The T. rex looks hungrily at the people and begins chasing them.  They unknowingly run right back into the Spinosaurus, and the Spinosaurus and T. rex face off in a major battle.  The Spinosaurus wins the fight after biting the neck of the T. rex.

Once everybody is clear of the chaos, Dr. Grant punches out Paul Kirby.  Paul explains that they’re really here to search for their son, Erik.  Erik went parasailing with Amanda’s boyfriend, Ben, off the coast of Isla Sorna.  Paul and Amanda are divorced.  The two went missing and the U.S. embassy in Costa Rica advised Paul and Amanda not to bother searching for their companions.  They sought out Dr. Grant as they’ve heard that he’s been to this island and knows his way around the place.  Billy and Grant inform them that Grant was on Isla Nublar, not this island, Isla Sorna.  Believe it or not, but InGen used two islands —- one to make the dinosaurs, and the other to show them off in the failed theme park.

Dr. Grant is skeptical that Ben and Erik are still alive.  His plan is to salvage what they can from the wrecked aircraft and then head for the coast.  Paul and Amanda are determined to not leaving the island without their son.  Grant says that they can go looking for their son, or they can stay with him and Billy and head for the coast.  Either way, Grant claims, they all probably won’t be getting off the island alive.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

While gathering their supplies, Dr. Grant asks Billy what the species was the large dinosaur that attacked them.  After he guessing incorrectly Grant tells him that it was a Spinosaurus aegyptiacus.  What makes that particularly interesting is that neither Grant or Billy saw anything about a Spinosaurus when researching InGen.  It makes them wonder what else InGen was trying to do.  Meanwhile, the rest of the audience is wondering why there weren’t any traces of the Spinosaurus in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the other Jurassic Park film that focuses on Isla Sorna.

The group gathers their supplies and begins heading towards the coast.  It’s revealed that Paul Kirby isn’t the owner of Kirby Enterprises but rather a small paint and hardware store.  The large check that he wrote for Dr. Grant isn’t any good.  Nor is Udesky really a mercenary.  He’s more of a booking agent and is on the trip because one of the other men couldn’t make it.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

Soon they discover a parasail hanging from a tree.  Beneath is are some items including a life preserver and a video camera.  The video camera’s batteries are still working, and they play back the footage that was recorded by Ben.  The footage shows Ben and Erik flying away from the crashed boat and then making a gentle landing in a group of tree.  Erik safely lands on the ground and that’s the last we see on the camera.  This evidence proves that Paul and Amanda’s son is still alive.

They try to grab the parasail when the remains of Ben’s body fall from the tree.  We don’t know how he died or why he wasn’t eaten by the dinosaurs, but his remains spook Amanda.  She goes stomping off into the forest and Paul has to chase after her.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

Billy wraps up the parasail and decides to take it with him.  While he’s doing that, Dr. Grant finds Paul and Amanda standing by a nest of eggs.  It’s a raptor nest.  It’s also not one nest but a collection of several nests, all of them containing a dozen or so eggs.  Billy also stumbles upon the eggs, and then the rest of the group continues hiking across the island.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

The group continues hiking and discovers an abandoned InGen compound in a valley.  They enter the structure and find a genetics laboratory, complete with hatched dinosaur eggs.  It’s a haunting sight of what happens when science goes wrong.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

At one point Amanda thinks that she’s looking at a velocirpator in a display when the dinosaur suddenly tries to attack her.  The group runs into a kennel and becomes cornered by the raptor.  They split apart and try to hide in cages, but the raptor tries to attack Billy and Amanda through a cage’s door.  They manage to push it back and pin the dinosaur into a wall.  As the group flees the kennel, Dr. Grant is fascinated how the velociraptor knows that it’s trapped and calls for help, showing that his theory about raptors communicating with each other is true.

The group runs out of the building and heads into a field with Corythosaurs and Parasaurolophus dinosaurs.  Raptors are heading after the people, and the people cause the other dinosaurs to begin fleeing across the field.  As the people enter the trees they become separated again.  Paul, Amanda and Billy climb a tree while Udesky is attacked by velocirpators.

But he’s not killed.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

The crafty raptors know that the people are hiding, so they use Udesky as live bait.  It’s the same concept as snipers using soldiers for bait in the war films Full Metal Jacket and Saving Private Ryan.  Amanda discovers the raptors’ ambush when she tries to climb down a tree and rescue Udesky.  The raptors then kill Udesky and try to grab Amanda, but she’s pulled back up to safety by Paul and Billy.

Meanwhile, Dr. Grant (who is carrying one of Billy’s bags) is surrounded by velociraptors.  But the raptors don’t attack him.  As Grant is trying to figure out what to do, suddenly somebody throws tear gas into the area.  The raptors flee from the gas and somebody small pulls Dr. Grant to safety.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

The small person turns out to be Erik Kirby (Trevor Morgan), the lost son of Paul and Amanda.  He takes Dr. Grant to his home, the interior of an abandoned truck.  It turns out that Erik is quite knowledgeable about dinosaurs, and the 12-year-old has remarkable survival skills.

The next morning Alan and Erik begin making their way to the coast as that was Alan’s original idea.  The other group containing Paul, Amanda and Billy do the same thing.  As they’re walking through the forest, Erik hears the faint jingle of his father’s satellite phone.  He follows the sound and calls out for his dad.  Not too far away, Paul begins hearing Erik calling for him.  The two groups run towards each other and meet on opposite sides of a massive iron fence.

It’s a big happy reunion as Paul and Amanda finally see their long-lost son again.  When asked how he knew that they were nearby, Erik replies that he heard his father’s phone ringing.  But Paul doesn’t have the satellite phone.  The last person who had it was Nash back on the airplane.  He tried to use it to call for help after they crashed.  But Nash was eaten by the Spinosaurus.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

Grant and Erik turn around and see the Spinosaurus standing a hundred yards away, staring at them.  Once again the satellite phone rings and everybody knows that it’s coming from the stomach of the dinosaur.  Everybody quickly runs along the side of the fence and tries to stay ahead of the charging dinosaur.  Erik and Grant quickly duck through an opening in the fence and narrowly escape from the predator.

Just when everything seems safe, the Spinosaurus charges and breaks through the fence.  The group then runs to a neighboring InGen building and again escapes from the Spinosaurus.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

Inside the building Billy asks Dr. Grant for his bag back.  Grant is curious as to why Billy claims the bag isn’t safe.  He opens it and discovers the Billy grabbed two velociraptor eggs from one of the nests.  That explains why Grant wasn’t attacked when he was surrounded by raptors the previous day.  Billy claims that he was going to sell the eggs to help fund their dig site, but Grant compares his wreckless behavior to that of InGen.  Grant wants to get rid of the eggs but considers against it.  When Paul Kirby asks him why he’s holding on to the eggs, knowing that the raptors are hunting them for that reason, Grant responds, “What if they catch us without them [the eggs]?”

The group continues further into the building and discovers that it opens into a much larger structure.  It’s foggy though and they can’t see that well.  It’s not until they’re further into the structure when Dr. Grant suddenly realizes that the structure itself is a large birdcage.  Only this is the land of dinosaurs and the “birds” are Pteranodons.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

A Pteranodon grabs Erik and carries it to its nest to feed its young.  Erik scrambles away from the nest but he’s still trapped at the edge of a rocky cliff.  Grant, Paul and Amanda try to find a way to help Erik, but they’re cut off by another Pteranodon.  They fight their way past it and try to find a way to rescue the boy from the hungry reptiles.

It’s Billy to the rescue as he jumps off a cliff and uses the parasail to fly around the enclosure.  He’s flies past Erik and the boy grabs on to him.  They fly down to the base of the enclosure and Erik drops to the river.  Grant, Paul and Amanda have also fallen into the river, and now Billy’s parasail is caught on the rocks.  Amanda leads Erik to an exit while Grant and Paul try to help Billy.  It’s no use as Billy frees himself but falls to the river and is viciously attacked by Pteranodons.  The others are forced to turn back and leave the enclosure.  As they do so, the gate behind them doesn’t fully lock and stay closed.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

The group makes their way to an abandoned boat dock, and a small boat’s engine is still operational.  They fire it up and begin cruising the river, heading towards the coast.  Along the way they pass by an open field and see a bunch of dinosaurs roaming around the area.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

Darkness falls and the boat continues cruising down the river.  Suddenly they hear the chime of the satellite phone again.  They fear that the Spinosaurus is near, but instead it’s the dinosaur’s droppings.  Grant, Paul and Amanda begin digging through the dinosaur’s poop while searching for the still-operational satellite phone.  Amanda finds it but the call gets disconnected.  Suddenly a Ceratosaurus appears, but the predator is turned away by the stench of the Spinosaur’s droppings.

A thunderstorm is over the island as the boat continues drifting down river.  They’ve cleaned the phone, but the satellite phone’s battery power is almost gone.  There’s enough power left for one more phone call.  Paul Kirby advises Dr. Grant to not call the U.S. embassy as they’re not going to do anything to help.

Erik notices that the fish in the water are being spooked by something, so Dr. Grant tells Paul to get the boat’s engine started.  Something unpleasant is on its way.  While Paul is trying to start the engine, Dr. Grant uses the phone to place a call to Ellie.  Her young boy answers the phone and Grant tells him to take his phone to his mother.  While he’s waiting, the Spinosaurus attacks the small boat.

The group takes shelter inside of a steel cage on the boat, but they’re forced to abandon it when it falls into the river and sinks to the bottom.  Before sinking, Ellie answers the phone and Alan manages to say “The river . . . Site B.”  The line is disconnected and Ellie realizes that her friend is in mortal danger.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

After freeing themselves from the cage, Paul Kirby climbs a small construction crane to distract the Spinosaurus while everybody else escapes.  Alan Grant finds an emergency flare gun and he shoots a flare at the dinosaur.  The flare lands in the river and ignites the spilled fuel from the now-wrecked boat’s fuel tank.  The fuel ignites and creates a wall of flames.  This finally scares away the Spinosaurus and everybody is safe.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

The next morning the group continues heading towards the coast.  They almost reach it when they’re suddenly surrounded by a pack of velociraptors.  Everybody kneels down as the raptors are challenging them.  Amanda Kirby then gives the raptors back their eggs.  Dr. Grant takes the copy of the resonance chamber and tries to communicate with the raptors.  His first attempt seems to infuriate the raptors, so Dr. Grant changes his technique.  Just as the raptors are trying to figure out what Dr. Grant is doing, they hear helicopters flying over the island.  This scares the raptors, so they snatch their two stolen eggs and retreat further into the island.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

The survivors run to the beach where they’re met by the U.S. military.  Marines pour out of landing craft and set up a defensive perimeter, securing the beach from any attacking dinosaurs.  The dinosaurs aren’t a threat though as the sounds of the helicopters and other machines have scared them away.

On board a helicopter is Billy.  It turns out that he survived the Pteranodons and managed to make his way to the beach.  On top of that he also found Dr. Grant’s hat, and he gives it to him.  The helicopter flies away and the survivors leave Isla Sorna.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – (c) Universal Pictures

Jurassic Park III ends with Erik and Dr. Grant watching a flock of escaped Pteranodons also leaving the island.  They’re wondering where the Pteranodons are heading.

So is Jurassic Park III a good movie?

Just like The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III has its good and bad moments.  This time around the good outshines the bad, but it’s a slim margin.

Let’s take a look at a few questionable parts of Jurassic Park III.

The Spinosaurus was a pretty cool dinosaur.  It’s definitely big and bad, and the fierce dinosaur made a fantastic antagonist in the film.  But when you consider the Spinosaur’s incredible size and ferocious power, one has to question why we didn’t see any evidence of this dinosaur in The Lost World: Jurassic Park.  Here we are on the same island as that film, and suddenly there’s a much bigger dinosaur that rules the island.  Where did it come from?

The same question can be asked when seeing the Pteranodons flying around at the end of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and yet here in this film they’re still contained in the enclosure.  They remain in there until somebody forgets to latch the gate closed and the flying reptiles manage to escape.  According to the second film they’ve been out of the structure the whole time.

Also notice how the velociraptors have changed between films.  This time around the raptors not only communicate better with one another, but some of them show signs of having feathers.  According to the information behind the film this is because new evidence about raptors was released between the films, so JP III allegedly has the most accurate version of the prehistoric predators.

When you consider all the differences in the dinosaurs and some of the locations on Isla Sorna between The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, it’s like the two films were set on completely different islands.  There’s almost no continuity between the films yet a few clues in JP III remind us that the second film exists in this trilogy.

The characters in this film were mostly negative.  Dr. Alan Grant was the same as the first Jurassic Park film, though it seems like his obsession with raptors has increased since the incident on Isla Nublar.  The only problem is that Grant is noticeably older and not convincing in the action scenes.  It’s surprising that Sam Neill’s running scenes didn’t cause his character to have a heart attack.  Billy is a fairly smart graduate student, though it’s pretty handy that he’s also athletic and knows how to fly a parasail of all things.  Erik Kirby is very knowledgeable about dinosaurs just as Tim was in the first film, but apparently Erik is also quite a survivalist considering that he’s not even a teenager yet.

As far as Paul and Amanda Kirby, both of those characters were horrible with equally bad acting.  William H. Macy was completely unconvincing as a father searching for his lost son, let alone the owner of a hardware store.  Tea Leoni was incredibly annoying and should have never been cast in the film.

The mercenaries were a bunch of wasted characters.  M.B. Nash was the best of the bunch, but he was quickly killed by the Spinosaurus after the plane crashed.  The character Cooper had a lot of potential, but that weakling was killed way too early by the Spinosaurus.  That guy didn’t even last two minutes on Isla Sorna.

Why in the world would you include a pair of mercenaries in the plot of Jurassic Park III when they’re both going to be killed immediately after arriving on the island?  Why is the owner of a small hardware store able to not only survive the island but also help fight off a Spinosaurus?  Are we meant to believe that all of the mercenaries were merely fakes?  Udesky admitted that he was just the booking agent and there on the trip because another mercenary couldn’t make it.  Were Cooper and Nash also fakes?

As far as Ben Hildebrand, just who in the hell was that guy?  Technically, he’s Amanda Kirby’s boyfriend, though it’s never established in the film.  All we know is that he took Erik parasailling off the coast of Isla Sorna and then the two of them made a crash landing on the island.  After that we see his decomposing skeleton — a dead body that was hanging in convenient biting and eating distance yet was never eaten by the dinosaurs.  Had it not been for an occasional comment here and there, we wouldn’t have even known that Paul and Amanda were divorced, or that Amanda was in a relationship with a different man.  Again, this is just sloppy storytelling and a waste of characters.

For the rest of Jurassic Park III, it feels like the film was rushed and thrown together at the last minute.  It’s known that the film started shooting before the final script was complete, but this doesn’t excuse a film for feeling sloppy or incomplete.  The final result is still what matters the most.  Many of the CGI scenes look too cartoony and simply not realistic.  Why is it that the CGI dinosaurs created for the first Jurassic Park film in 1993 look better than the CGI dinosaurs in a film released eight years later?  This was a period of time when computers and processing power significantly increased, making it easier for smaller companies to create lifelike and realistic computer animations.  But many of the CGI dinosaurs in this third film look like crap.  Don’t even get me started on that CGI-fest crash sequence with the King Air 200.

The film’s ending also somewhat bothered me.  Why would you tease the audience with that massive display of military force, and none of the soldiers, or the helicopters, actually fire upon any dinosaurs?  There could have been an awesome gun battle with special forces soldiers rescuing the survivors from the velociraptors.  Or imagine any of those vehicles using firepower against a Spinosaurus.  That could have been pretty cool.  Instead of seeing anything fun, we’re teased with a big military presence only to have nothing happen!  Why?

So did Jurassic Park III manage to get anything correct?

Yes, it did.

For starters, this film brought back Dr. Grant, the best of the characters from the first film.  Dr. Malcolm was the wrong choice to bring back in the second film.  Billy was also a good character despite his knowledge about parasails was a little bit too convenient.

The story behind getting Dr. Grant to the island worked, and the concept of a low-flying plane flight over Isla Sorna was pretty cool.  Let’s also not forget that this film includes the aviary, a really neat sequence in Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park book that was omitted from the first two films.  We also have a river sequence that includes an attack from the Spinosaurus.

As far as the dinosaurs, the Spinosaurus, velociraptors and pteranodons were all really neat in this film.  One does question though if the raptors would have been smart enough to use live bait to set an ambush.

Jurassic Park III (2001) – movie trailer

Despite all of the problems, I still enjoyed this film for the most part.  It is short though and definitely needs more material in relation to InGen and the world of Jurassic Park.  It’s far from being a perfect or even a complete film, but it’s still better than The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

[while flying low over Isla Sorna]

Udesky – “Cooper! If you see anything, yell up!”
Cooper – “Naw, I thought I’d keep it to myself!”

———————————————-

[a loud roar rocks the jungle]
Paul Kirby – “What was that?”
Billy Brennan – “That’s a Tyrannosaurus.”
Dr. Grant – “I don’t think so. It sounds bigger.”

———————————————-

Amanda – “This is how you make dinosaurs?”
Dr. Grant – “No, this is how you play God.”

———————————————-

Paul – “What are you doing? Those things are after us because of those!”
Dr. Grant – “Those things know we have the eggs. If I drop them in the river, they’ll still be after us.”
Paul – “What if they catch us with them?”
Dr. Grant – “What if they catch us without them?”