You got a problem with gymkata vs dinosaurs?
Always thought 3 was better than 2 to be honest.
I never understood the spite that Jurassic Park 2 gets. It's almost like I need to watch it with someone who points out to me how much it sucks as we're watching it.
2. Jurassic World/Lost World. - Both were entertaining but had some stupid shit in it. I'd give both around a 6 I suppose. I used to think LW was better, but after rewatching it recently the stupid shit was actually more stupid than I remember.
second one kinda sucked but cant say much about it because I only seen it once and dont recall much
I liked almost all the dino action sequences in the Lost World, but everything else sucked. The characters were annoying and unlikeable, specially the girl. And the gymnastics sequence with the velrociraptor is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.
Lost World is severely underrated, the T-Rex in the city is possibly the best scene in the whole series.
ALWAYS preferred it over JP 2.
The Lost World- I was a big Malcolm fan from the first movie so it was cool seeing Goldblum in the lead. But the film just pales in comparison to the predecessor in every way when it comes to the on-island action. Also, there is a ridiculous Mcguffin scene where Hammond is like, "thank God for site B" as we are just randomly, out of nowhere introduced to the fact that there another island.
The daughter is annoying. Julianne Moore is a good actress but doesn't get to show much of it here. Vaughan is wasted. I liked Postlethwaite and Arliss Howard though- even if the latter was your generic businessman heel to a fault.
The compys killing Stormare was pretty vicious. The t-rex scenes were solid. I like how they kept the raptors at more of a minimum, confining them to one scene rather than making them the stars of the film like the first one. By doing that, they switched it up a bit and made the sequence with them feel high stakes. That said, the gymnast daughter taking out the raptor was fucking mind-bogglingly ludicrous and unintentionally hilarious.
Final scene in Cali with the t-rex was good in my opinion, though a lot of people shit on it.
So yeah that one was entertaining too but not very good or memorable.
All right homeboys I decided to revisit The Lost World last night.
Allow me to set the stage a bit:
I remember going to see this one in the theater. I was, I guess, 15 at the time and living in Memphis. My brother and I went to see it at this newly-opened mall and I think this may have even been my first time going to a theater with stadium seating.
Coming out of the theater, I remember at the time thinking it was a good movie but not being in love with it. That is, I thought it was fun enough, but I didn't feel like I had watched a truly great movie. In the years since, my opinion became more negative, but last night I realized that it had been so long since I last saw the film that I remembered almost nothing about it.
Having now revisited it, I can say that it's certainly nowhere near the level of the first film. Not even close. One thing the first film really had going for it was a heart and intelligence to it. I read a comment from Spielberg where he said that when he made JP he didn't just want to make a monster movie. And in that he succeeded, as JP is so much more than that.
But a monster movie is exactly what The Lost World is. It's not much more than pure action from start to finish. Sure, there's a bit of set up to get everyone onto the island, but the shit hits the fan about 30 minutes in and doesn't stop until the credits start rolling.
But let me break it down:
The Positives
- The performances and characters are generally pretty good, with Julianne Moore and Jeff Goldblum playing their roles well. There were some good supporting performances also, with Pete Postlethwaite doing well as the hunter, Peter Stormare as his second in command, and even Vince Vaughn as the animal rights activist.
- The effects are excellent. This is one area in which the second film surpasses the first. If you go back and watch the first, some of the CGI looks just a tiny bit sketchy. But all of the effects in the second film are virtually flawless. In fact, what's amazing is that the effects in this film are better than most of what we see in movies today, 20 years later.
- There are some nice set pieces throughout. Even though the film is almost nothing but action, to its discredit, I do think that the action is good. Some have mentioned not liking the ending with Rexy in San Diego. I actually liked that part. In fact, I wish the film had expanded that sequence and given us a little less of the goings on on the island.
The Negatives
- Almost nothing but action. We covered this already.
- It's too dark. Like, literally dark. So much of the film takes place at night that it's just kind of gloomy and depressing. I've never wanted a JP movie to be gloomy and depressing.
- No Sam Neill.
- No real sense of wonder, as created by the first film.
All in all, I think it's a PRETTY GOOD dino action movie, but nothing more than that. It has one goal: Put dinos on screen and put humans on screen to run away from them. That's it. And while this is enough to make a fairly entertaining popcorn thriller, it takes a lot more than that to make a great film.
6.5/10
If anyone wants a plot refresher or wants to learn some cool stuff about the production, here's a good video:
