Starring Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Tea Leoni and Alessandro
Nivola. Rated M.
Sam Neill returns as Dr Alan Grant to revisit the prehistoric
monsters ensconced on a pair of Costa Rican islands hidden and as much protected from the
outside world as the outside world is protected from them.
Dr Grant is duped into returning to his nightmare by a divorced
middle-American couple on a deadly search and rescue mission to find their lost son.
This time, however, they are on a second island, Isla Sorna,
used by the inGen Company as a breeding ground to stock the original Jurassic Park theme
park and as an experimental station for new breeds of dinosaur. Consequently, Isla Sorna
has a few new surprises in store.
This is number three in the Jurassic Park series and I was
bewildered trying to remember number two. But when I saw it on telly recently I remembered
why I forgot.
Number three, however, takes us much closer to the original
concept. With many of the original cast, both in the human and the reptilian sense making
a comeback, the scene is set for a roller coaster ride of scare after scare.
And scary it is. But a new ingredient is also added to the mix -
humour.
There are quite a few good laughs throughout, mostly of the
slapstick, character-based type, like the giant T-Rex-beating Spinosaurus that swallowed a
satellite telephone which could be heard ringing ominously through the jungle.
All up, the humour worked well for me. It was the incredibly
corny ending that spoiled it.
