The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Dir: Steven Spielberg
1997
**
There is a lot I like about the The Lost World, the sequel to the brilliant Jurassic Park. The opening scene whereby a little girl get attacked was a bold move for what is essentially a family adventure film for starters. I was happy that my favorite character from the first film, Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum), returned and I really liked the supporting cast that featured many of my favorites such as Pete Postlethwaite, Vince Vaughn (at the time I was really into Swingers, I like him a hell of a lot less now), Peter Stormare and Julianna Moore. I love seeing the T-Rex rampaging the city and suburbs, I like the idea that the Island would be open to rich poachers as I think that that is probably exactly what would happen in real life, I liked the fact that one of the good guys got eaten for a change, I liked the effects and still think they're brilliant, I liked the way the Island had aged after it had been deserted and I like watching David Koepp getting creamed (over and over) and I like the way he is listed as 'Unlucky bastard' in the credits. However, the film is never as great as the sum of its parts. The first film is a hard act to follow, credit to Spielberg for wanting to make sure he didn't have someone else spoil the franchise and make another Jaws 2 (although I quite like Jaws 2) but The Lost World has little of the magic of the first film. Sometimes less is more, in fact Spielberg proved as much with Jaws and Jurassic Park, so I wonder why he forgot this in the sequel. There is also this ridiculous Hollywood idea that family films have to include children. This idea, and the inclusion of Ian Malcolm's stowaway daughter and unnecessary gymnast, whose only purpose it seems is to swing around on bars halfway through the film, really spoiled the film for me. It did nothing for the story, which was already lacking the punch and simplicity of the original. The first time I saw Jurassic Park in the cinema was a wonderful experience, the first time I saw The Lost World in the cinema is the first time I felt real disappointment, the 14 year old boy had become the 18 year old man and not everything was as good as it was anymore.