 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough.
Jurassic Park III (M)
Directed by Joe Johnston
 Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill) encounters a group of raptors.
They're back! And they're even bigger, smarter and meaner than before! It's hard to believe that it's been eight years since dinosaur fever swept the world with the release of Spielberg's Jurassic Park. Now, with the directors hat passed to Jumanji's Joe Johnston, the adventure continues and the tension never lets up as palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill) once again finds himself stranded on another dinosaur infested tropical island.
Not that he wanted to be there in the first place. Anywhere but! However he's conned into making the trip by 'millionaire' Paul Kirby (the always exemplary William H Macy) and his wife (Tea Leoni) who have promised a substantial donation to the doctors research if he'll fly with them over the island for a lark.
Some lark! Their real intentions are to land on the island and search for their teenage son Eric (Trevor Morgan), who has been missing for eight weeks after a paragliding accident.
Before you can say Tyrannosaurus Rex or 'really big, scary reptile that wants to eat me' the group, which includes Dr Grant's assistant Billie Brennan (Alessandro Nivola) and a couple of inconsequential tough guys (no guessing who's first on the menu and no, it's not the black guy!), is running for its life.
Which is how the few remaining cast members spend most of the film. And when they're not running, they're hiding from genetically engineered prehistoric monsters.
And very exciting it all is too. At just over an hour and a half the makers of Jurassic Park III haven't got time to waste so there's action and thrills aplenty, with plenty of chills thrown in for good measure. The scene inside the giant bird cage is particularly memorable and once again I found myself marvelling at how real the big beasties look.
With the obvious time restraints placed on them, (there's not much character development between dinosaur chases) the few uneaten cast members do a great job, their performances are solid and believable. But then I wouldn't expect anything less from two actors of the calibre of Sam Neill and William H Macy.
I say, roll on Jurassic Park IV.
Rating: 3 ½ stars
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