Review of The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) by Mitchell B — 13 Jun 2015

The Lost World is a movie I feel is largely underrated by many people including myself initially. When I first saw this movie as a kid I disliked it. I found it quite boring until the 3rd act in San Diego. I've watched the film a few times in my later years and still held to that mindset. I'm 22 now. Upon watching this film several times recently I strangely found myself really enjoying it and changing my opinion on it. This movie got much better with age and now I think it is a great film while still inferior to Jurassic Park. However, there are still some issues with the film that can't go unmentioned.

The story is quite different from the first film. Four years after Jurassic Park Hammond reveals to Malcom (Jeff Goldblum) of a second island called Site B where more dinosaurs roam free in the wild. Hammond's cousin named Peter has taken control of his company, Ingen, from him and is planning to take the dinosaurs off the island and put them in a zoo. Malcolm and a team of others including his girlfriend Sarah (Julianne Moore) and daughter Kelly must go to the island to observe the dinosaurs in secret and stop Peter. However, things go awry very quickly and it becomes a battle for survival like the first film.

The effects and overall look of the film is still breathtaking like the first film. It looks every bit as good as Jurassic Park despite some people saying otherwise. John Williams also delivers another amazing score that is extremely catchy especially the main theme. It's not as iconic as the first film but good in its own right.

The cast is pretty good. Granted the cast isn't as memorable as the first film but I still like them fine. Some are a little bland but enjoyable and there wasn't anybody I inherently disliked. The best character is definitely Malcom who returns from the first film but is a fairy different person which is no surprise considering what happened to him in the park. When I first saw this film one of my complaints was how vastly different Malcom was and how brooding he was throughout the entire thing. However, when looking back it was a logical progression and he does still make some jokes here and there. I did find myself missing Dr. Grant who is my favorite character in the first and third movies but that's a nitpick.

Many people complain that this is too different from the first film and that it didn't capture the magic of it. First of all, a sequel is supposed to be different from its predecessor and go in a slightly different direction which this movie did. Secondly, the magic of the first film can never be completely duplicated. Jurassic Park was the first of its kind to feature such lifelike depictions of dinosaurs on screen. However, now that it has been done the bar has been raised to such a high degree that nothing can hope to reach it. The Avengers has a very similar problem today. I think The Lost World comes as close as it can to recapturing the magic while not retreading the same waters.

However, there are things wrong with this film as well. There are a couple cheesy action bits like when Kelly kicks a raptor out a window with her gymnastics background. There are also scenes that don't make any sense like a scene in San Diego in the 3rd act where the ship carrying the T-Rex crashes into the doc and the entire crew had been eaten by something. We never find out what ate the crew. It's never addressed.

Also, there's this really boring and drawn-out scene in which one characters is stocked in the woods and eventually killed by these smaller dinosaurs that I can't remember the names to. It was supposed to be a nod to a death scene in the Jurassic Park novel I guess. This scene drags out for almost ten minutes or, at least, it felt like it. It'd be one thing if it was a major character but it's this stock bully character we don't care about. He only had like three scenes before that point.

There is also this hunter named Roland who is probably my second favorite character in the film. I wish we got to learn more about him but we really don't. There's a deleted scene where he's approached to head the expedition by Ingen which they should've left in.

Overall, Lost World is an underrated gem that deserves a second chance. It's not as magical as the first film but it really is impossible to be. Jurassic Park was lightning in a bottle in that it was the first of its kind. Even if the effects in future films are as good if not better and has the same feel it would still not fully recapture the first film. For those who don't like it please give it another look. For those who haven't seen it in a good while you might be surprised if you keep a more open mind.