To this day, I don’t see why The Lost World: Jurassic Park gets so much hate. Did they really expect anything to surpass the original Jurassic Park? People had (and still have) an unrealistic expectation of sequels. It’s rare that any sequels are just as good as the first, so why unfairly compare the two movies? Especially in this case, where the movies being compared were supposed to be completely different from each other?
I’ve always loved The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Along with its predecessor, it’s one of my favorite movies ever. It’s a well done movie in every respect, and I think it deserves a lot more credit than it gets. Obviously, there’s no way any sequel could top the original Jurassic Park, but it’s apparent that the filmmakers still tried their best to make this movie as good as it could possibly be regardless of that fact.
The film stars Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm, one of the survivors of the first movie’s events. He’s contacted by John Hammond who tells him of Site B. It’s the island where the dinosaurs were originally made, and for the last 4 years since both dinosaur filled islands were abandoned, the animals on Site B have flourished beyond expectations. Ian and a team of 3 others are tasked to venture to Site B and document the creatures living on it. Unknown to them, John Hammond’s nephew, who’s recently gained full control of InGen, now wants to exploit the dinosaurs on the island and take them to a new park in San Diego.
Ian refuses to go at first, but when he learns that his girlfriend, Sarah Harding, played by Julianne Moore is on the island already, Ian kicks it into overdrive and gets to Site B as soon as possible to ‘rescue’ his girlfriend along with Nick Van Owen, played by Vince Vaughn, and some guy named Eddie. When they find Sarah (and Ian’s stow away daughter), things start going to hell really fast.
The story, for the most part, is pretty solid. There’s some small things to nitpick, but it’s a sound plot. The only real problems I had with the movie at all was the scene near the end of the second act where the little girl uses her gymnastics skills to kill a velociraptor. It wasn’t believable or realistic, but then again, the science of how the dinosaurs were made in the first place isn’t realistic, either. The other part I thought was stupid was the part where the T-Rex has a group of people trapped behind a waterfall, and this one dingus gets scared so much by a tiny little snake, that he completely forgot how much more dangerous the 10 ton carnivorous prehistoric monster was. Those are the only two parts I was ever bothered by, and are the only two parts I can reasonably presume others to have problems with. But I was proven wrong. They just hate everything.
As for the characters, I have no major complaints. I loved Jeff Goldblum in this, which is a given. His character is the smartest one out of the whole movie. I think it’s funny how he constantly warns people about their stupidity, but they never listen to him… even though he’s been through it all before. It leads to some ironic payoffs on several occasions, most of which involve gruesome death. I didn’t think any other characters in the movie were annoying or poorly written. There wasn’t a weak actor either. Even the young girl actress that played Ian Malcolm’s daughter was pretty good. Decent child actors are always a welcome thing.
Besides the acting and writing, there were a few other elements of this movie that I absolutely adored. I dare say that I think those elements were executed better than they were in the original. I know it’s hard to believe someone actually thinks that, but it’s true. It’s not that I think the original didn’t do them well, it’s that I liked how the sequel took those elements that I already loved from the first, and took them in a new and different direction.
With The Lost World: Jurassic Park, I always get more of a sense of adventure than with the first Jurassic Park. Site B truly is an island that’s unexplored to these characters. There’s new dangers, new dinosaurs, and different things at stake. The island feels bigger and more wild and mysterious than the first. Overall, it feels more like an adventure. And with so much about Site B that’s unknown to us, that contributes to the other element I think this film succeeded at: the scare factor. I was scared more in this movie than I was in the original. The lighting, environments, and eerie soundtrack make the some of the most creepy and suspenseful scenes I could have asked for out of a movie like this.
Suspense was another strong point in this movie as well. The entire sequence leading up to the entrance of the T-Rexes, and the part after where Eddie tries to save the trailers from falling off the side of the cliff was beautifully crafted in every conceivable way. I have to continue praising the music along with the camera work. There is a lot of impressive camera work that I think is better than anything in the original. Even the less significant shots were done really well. Spielberg always makes each shot and each cut interesting in their small ways that a lot of audience members may not notice or pay much attention to.
But the sense of adventure, fear, suspense, and all other components of the film would be rendered void if it weren’t for the strongest element of The Lost World: Jurassic Park… the special effects. Yes, the original was groundbreaking, but this movie took those same revolutionary effects, polished them up a bit, and did more with them. Both the practical effects and CGI were blended together seamlessly. The dinosaurs feel more real than ever. The baby T-Rex prop was very convincing, all other animatronics were unbelievably detailed and moved life-like, and the CGI was so energized and made the dinosaurs seem alive and powerful. Just like the first movie, I didn’t see “really good CGI” or “really good animatronics”. I saw real freaking dinosaurs…. in a movie that’s almost 20 years old! If you can’t get into the characters or the story, then you have to at least respect the effort that went into the special effects and filmmaking itself.
Obviously, the Spielberg and his crew wouldn’t revolutionize the very way cinema is done twice in a row, so they gave the audience more of what they had already accomplished… and it looks fantastic! I see no reason to complain at all! People just suck.
In conclusion, I still say that The Lost World: Jurassic Park deserves a lot more credit than it’s gotten over the years. It’s not going to be as good as the first. Nothing will be. All that Spielberg could do was give us more of what he and his crew had already accomplished, but presented it differently. Nobody can blame them for not being able to surpass their greatest triumph, can they? There’s a good quote that I think applies to a lot of situations, this one included: “What’s worse- to never live up to your greatest success, or to never move past your worst failure?”
FINAL RATING: 48 / 50
STORY: 4 / 5
ACTING: 5 / 5
CHARACTERS: 5 / 5
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 5 / 5
ACTION/ADVENTURE: 5 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 5 / 5
TONE: 5 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 5 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 5 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 4 / 5
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