Jurassic Park 3

"On this island there is no such thing as safe." - Dr. Grant

release year: 2001
genre: dinosaur adventure
viewing setting: hotel room 6/12/21 and home DVD, 8/6/14 and 11/27/08 and 12/5/04 and theater, 9/5/01
what I expected: dinosaur mayhem the way it should be (on an isolated island, not in a city)
what I got: pretty good dinosaur action that expanded the series

synopsis: Dr. Alan Grant and a handful of others end up on a second island full of dinosaurs.

impressions: One of my biggest problems with this movie: a small group of people without a single weapon at all cannot survive a situation like this. Sorry, I just can't buy it. That aside, the dinosaurs were fun to see, including several new ones (ankylosaurus, pterodactyl, and the fictional spinosaurus which was capable of defeating a T-Rex.) The plot was just enough to keep the characters and events moving along; the movie clocked in at just under 90 minutes, but there was plenty of action.

acting: Decent. Sam Neill reprised his role as Dr. Grant, and did a great job. William Macy is the guy who tricked Grant into coming but had no idea what they were getting into. Tea Leoni was irritating and useless and should have died early. Basically, most of the characters were normal people who thought they would just have a brief visit to this dinosaur-infested island, and didn't realize the risks involved - a common theme of these movies. It always sounds cool to be able to mingle with dinosaurs until you're actually doing it and find out that you're really just prey.

final word: Lighter version of the first movie, doesn't invent the wonder but builds on it.

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