Jurassic Park 3 is not, for the most part, intended to be a comedy. But for better or for worse, that’s primarily what it is.
Sure, JP3 has its share of tense moments (though they feel a bit contrived), but many of the serious scenes elicited laughs from the audience.
It has awesome special effects, many of which attempt to wow and frighten the audience: an over-the-top plane crash, a daring chase across a rickety bridge and the requisite assortment of scary dinosaurs.
It also has its share of gore and goo: a grizzly decomposed human body found dangling from a tree to a shot of the actors digging through mountains of dinosaur poop.
But despite attempting to both shock and startle viewers, the bottom line remains: we’ve seen this all before (twice: in the superb Jurassic Park and its lame sequel The Lost World).
But that doesn’t mean we won’t be lining up for more: JP3 has raked in over $80 million since being released last Wednesday.
So, what to make of this beastly film?
For starters, it’s not as bad as you might think. It’s cheesy as hell, but in a fun, enjoyable way.
The cast is first-rate, and includes a few returning favorites, but mostly fresh faces.
Jeff Goldblum is out (his loss goes surprisingly unnoticed). Sam Neill assumes the starring slot, reprising his role as Dr. Alan Grant, from the first Jurassic Park.
Also on board are William H. Macy and Tea Leoni, as a divorced couple who are directly responsible for landing Dr. Grant and a group of others on the dinosaur infested island.
Macy gets in his share of funny lines, while Leoni spends most of the film reacting to what’s going on around her. By and large, she winds up playing the part of the “hysterical female.” It’s an unfortunate thing, as Leoni is the only woman in the entire film (Laura Dern’s five minute cameo doesn’t count).
The central plot focuses on Leoni and Macy’s quest to find their son, Eric (Trevor Morgan), who is stranded on the island.
Meanwhile, Dr. Grant and his young protege, Billy (Alessandro Nivola), try to figure out a way to get back to civilization.
That proves to a be a tough task, given that the dinosaurs have evolved since we last saw them.
Not only are they able to talk to each other, but they set a variety of traps for Dr. Grant and company.
The story is surprisingly engaging, and has a more humanistic aspect to it than the first two Jurassic Park films. This time around, the audience becomes more involved with both the characters and the dinosaurs.
All in all, it’s an enjoyable enough film — though more than a bit silly.
Jurassic Park 3 has enough of a plot to keep viewers interested and enough humor to keep them cackling.
It’s not as engaging as Jurassic Park — nor as tired as The Lost World — but JP3 finds a nice middle ground, serving up dinos who are more lite, than might.
Grade: B-
PG-13, 1 hour, 32 minutes
