Reel critics

Allen MacDonald

It’s easy to forget what an exciting milestone the original “Jurassic

Park” was when it hit screens in the summer of 1993. The premise was

electrifying: a misguided, modern-day Walt Disney clones dinosaurs from

DNA and builds an amusement park designed to showcase them with

disastrous results. Steven Spielberg dazzled us with groundbreaking,

state-of-the-art special effects built around a “Man plays God”

cautionary tale. The result was a thought-provoking, suspenseful, if

slightly flawed film that captured the awe and wonder of what it would be

like to see these magnificent creatures after 65-million years.

Now Steven Spielberg brings us “Jurassic Park III” . . . sort of. This

time out, he’s acting only as an executive producer. The directing reigns

have been taken over by the able hands of Joe Johnston, the man

responsible for 1998’s outstanding “October Sky.” While the new film

doesn’t have the deft touch of the original, “Jurassic Park III” is an

effective thriller that delivers a potent dose of chills, which is more

than could be said for Spielberg’s own embarrassing sequel, 1997’s

“Jurassic Park: The Lost World.”

The weakest aspect of “Jurassic Park III” is its flimsy story. But

this is forgivable since “Jurassic Park III” knows that at its heart it’s

a monster movie. Once Grant and company arrive on the island, it’s time

to buckle your seat belts for one exciting, and adrenaline-pumping ride.

Johnston wisely jettisons the dead weight of the “playing God” theme of

the earlier films, instead focusing on the real stars of “Jurassic Park

III”: the dinosaurs themselves. Stan Winston and his team have truly

outdone themselves with this incredible array of spectacular effects. You

can see the difference eight years makes in Digital Animation.

Most of the film is spent in chase mode, with the human characters

desperately trying to evade becoming snacks for their hungry predators.

And fear not, the velociraptors and tyrannosaurus rex return for their

moments in the spotlight.

The most spectacular sequence is when Grant and company discover they

are trapped and surrounded by fog inside a gigantic bird cage constructed

to confine the truculent pteranodon. One unlucky fellow is lifted

airborne, then dropped into the nest of it’s young -- which are about the

size of your average teenager. Unlike the blood-shy Spielberg, Johnston

doesn’t hesitate to show us a little violence, therefore creating a

harrowing segment. One major missed opportunity is with the development

of the Grant character when he reunites with his “Jurassic Park” love

interest, Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern in a brief cameo), who has moved on

and started a family with another man. There’s a sadness in Sam Neill’s

eyes as a man who carries the knowledge that he let his soul mate slip

away because of his weariness of children. In their few scenes together,

Dern and Neill effectively communicate the sorrow of former lovers

silently pondering what could and should have been. Grant missed the boat

with Ellie and he knows it, infusing the character with a resonating

loneliness that is unfortunately dropped once the action starts.

“Jurassic Park III” may be short on story and character, but one

cannot deny it is just plain fun to watch.

* ALLEN MacDONALD, 28, is currently working toward his master’s degree

in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles