Jurassic Park 3

Dir Joe Johnson

Written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

Sam Neil, William H Macy, Téa Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan, Michael Jeter, Laura Dern.

When wealthy businessman Paul Kirby (Macy) asks Alan Grant (Neil) to accompany him and his wife Amanda (Leoni) on a fly over of one of the islands, and offers him a large amount of money, he reluctantly accepts, as his college is in need of donations.

What he doesn’t realise is they are actually a divorced couple who own a hardware store, and whose son has been lost on the island for 8 weeks.

The most disappointing ending in the original ‘trilogy’ fails to deliver on almost every level. While it was great to get Neill back as the original protagonist Dr Grant, (and while he steps back into the role with ease, and is the main positive about the movie), it is his supporting players that let him down. While Macy is always on point, his character here is two dimensional. Leoni, who was at the end of her ‘peak popularity’ is mostly written as the annoying screaming female, and is less developed than her ex husband. The only characters who have any danger placed on them are the almost unnamed mercenaries in the first few minutes, and the underused Udesky (played by the late great Michael Jeter).

There were also some annoying cinematic clichés added, like ‘the lucky pack’ and might include a “character surviving certain death, only to be reunited with everyone at the end of the movie” more frustrating that Robbie in War of the Worlds – and don’t get me started on the dream sequence that includes a talking raptor.

The other upside was the original score returning.

A disappointing end to the original franchise.