'Jurassic Park III': More scary dinos but less surprises

By Joko E.H. Anwar

Jurassic Park III, **1/2 out of four stars; Adventure/Sci-Fi, 92 minutes; Starring Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Tea Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Laura Dern; Directed by Joe Johnston; An Amblin Entertainment/United International Pictures/Universal Pictures Production

JAKARTA (JP): You knew there would be another Jurassic Park film, just knew it, after watching the first sequel of one of the biggest grossing films of all time left the door open for another follow-up.

This installment features a fresher and far more sophisticated plot that guarantees to keep your intellectual brain spinning. Kidding!

Of course the movie is still about a bunch of dinosaurs chasing after (and eating) stubborn yahoos who seem to have never listened to the warning about going to an island full of prehistoric beasts.

But, just like the flick itself, it appears that film audiences can never get enough of watching gigantic beasts chopping off people's heads, so a spot at the box office was guaranteed for the film long before shooting was completed.

Let's ask ourselves, what is wrong with that? After all, all movies should not be mind-bogglingly enriching like Billy Elliot or Being John Malkovich to name a few.

Think of it as an amusement park, except you do not have to go there yourself. Certainly, it is a very exciting amusement park put on our screens.

Once you accept the fact that the film is not there to stimulate your intelligence but to give you enough scares to enjoy with your family, then you will agree that the film delivers.

Plus, as the film is no longer directed by Steven Spielberg, your expectations are unlikely be as high as when you watched Jurassic Park: The Lost World.

And by the way, when you bring your family to watch the film, be sure to leave your very young children at home with their babysitters since, like its predecessors, the film features intense violence which might not only make your children throw away their dino toys but also give them some nightmares.

So, is Jurassic Park III really the same flick as the early sequels?

Well, it does offer something. Nothing new but, well, there is some improvement (but certainly not in the story, we all have to agree on that).

What makes it worth sitting through is the chance to see how the series is catching up on technical advances since the last release. True, the special effects are more sophisticated than earlier entries, which make the dinosaurs look more lifelike and impressive.

At some points, you will even take them for granted and forget the fact that the beasts are just combinations of moving models and zillions of pixels of computer animation.

The new film also features more dinosaurs -- including a new collecting of flesh-eating dinosaurs -- with improved rendering compared with its two predecessors.

The first one, spinosaurus, is a clever man-eating beast which is even bigger than T-rex and has an enormous crocodile-shaped mouth.

There is also an impressive scene featuring a showdown between the new animal with T-rex, which is worth half of the admission price in itself.

But there's no need to worry, you will still get to see the raptors, this time they are smarter and scarier than ever and more defined-looking.

Flying monsters with bat wings are also among the new collection. No, they are not pterodactyls, but fictitious beasts called pteranodons who snatch up humans to take back to their nests to feed their hungry babies.

The film opens with a man and a boy parasailing off the restricted Isla Sorna, another island where the InGen corporation once bred living dinosaurs. The boat which pulls their parachute is then attacked by something, which strands them on the island full of dinos.

In the meantime, the original paleontologist from the first Jurassic Park, Alan Grant (Sam Neill), is trying to do his research on the raptors' intelligence when a rich couple, Paul and Amanda Kirby (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni), offer him a job as a guide for an aerial tour over Isla Sorna.

Before long, Grant and some other men hired by the rich couple agree to help them.

As predicted, things rapidly go wrong as the couple insist on landing on the island after knocking Grant unconscious.

Just as they land, they are attacked by a spinosaurus. They try to take off again but it's too late because their fate is to be stranded on the island to keep the film going.

Reportedly, the film, which is not based on any of Michael Crichton's dino sagas, was shot without a completed script.

But, to its advantage, the movie was supported by an A-list cast who, despite not having much to work with, put in some interesting performances.