Review of Jurassic Park III (2001) by Berc — 01 Jun 2016

The artistic medium of film is very subjective. Every audience member has a different set of criteria they use to measure their viewing experience. Not everyone shares the same set of criteria. If we did, what a bland and uninspired world this would be.

What I Personally Liked About "Jurassic Park III":

Right off the bat, the first thing I liked about this film was its premise. The idea of executing an illegal rescue operation on Isla Sorna is exciting and filled with promise. While this film doesn't live up to that promise, it was still a sound theme which deserved a better exploration. I really enjoyed seeing William H. Macy in this film. He seems to be the only cast member who's really enjoying being part of the production. The others feel like they are waiting around for their paycheck. Even Trevor Morgan seems to be phoning in his performance, particularly when compared to Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello in the first film. The action surrounding the dinosaurs is also decent. Much like the initial outing, there is a heightened sense of danger and this constant threat to our cinematic inhabitants is something the second movie was sorely missing. Of course, the large beasts don't seem to be as detailed or as lifelike as in the first two features, so that does hamper the carnage a bit.

What I Personally Disliked About "Jurassic Park III":

Where to begin, oh where to begin? I'm not a fan of the pacing of the film before they hit Isla Sorna. The build is drawn out considerably, especially when one takes into consideration that the film is only ninety minutes long. I'm also not a fan of the pacing when they arrive on Isla Sorna either. Seriously, ninety minutes are not long enough to capture the wonder and the tension of a story such as this. The convenient "quick save" ending with Ellie Satler as well as the final confrontation with the Velociraptors don't sit well at all. Most of the faults lie in the direction of Joe Johnston, whose biggest claim to fame prior was "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." He should have stayed with the more buffoonish action/family pictures such as that and "Jumanji" instead of attempting to step into the summer blockbuster shoes of Steven Spielberg, which he was certainly not qualified to do. Some of that blame has to lie on the shoulders of the screenplay writers, too. Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor have fashioned something that resembles the cartoon equivalent of a "Jurassic Park" spectacular. It feels like it started off as a direct-to-DVD sequel with its characters that seem more like caricatures than anything else.

My Overall Impression of "Jurassic Park III":

For all of its impressive faults, if you turn off your brain function, this third entrant into the deadly dinosaur franchise is only slightly less enjoyable than its 1997 predecessor (though that's not saying much).