As soon as I hear the opening notes of John Williams’ iconic
Jurassic Park score I can’t help but
smile and be transported back to the mid 1990s and to a time when Jurassic Park was pretty much all the
boys my age would talk and think about. I experienced the Jurassic Park
smile recently when I re-watched the sequel to the 1993 film for what must be
at least the eighth time. The smile stuck with me for the opening hour and a
half as I reminisced about when I’d first seen the film and remembered what was
coming next. Some of the things that made this sequel good are still evident
but unfortunately so are the aspects that made it bad.
Four years on from the Jurassic Park Incident as it is now
know, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is assembling a team to explore, catalogue
and protect the Dinosaur inhabitants of a second island, close to the original
known as Site B. For this mission he recruits a reluctant Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff
Goldblum), a man who has been publicly and academically chastised for talking
about the Jurassic Park Incident. Malcolm is understandably hesitant about
mixing with Dinosaurs again until he learns that his girlfriend Sarah Harding
(Julianne Moore) is already on the island. So, he travels to the island along
with equipment specialist Eddie (Richard Schiff), photographer Nick (Vince
Vaughn) and a stowaway to rescue Sarah but not only come up against Dinosaurs
but the InGen Corporation who want to further exploit the animals for profit.
First things first, Jurassic
Park II is a lot of fun for a lot of the time. There’s Dinosaurs for cluck’s
sake! The set pieces are still fantastic with the Raptor fight and cliff
dangling scenes standing out in particular. There is also a lot of fun,
bickering between various cast members which gives the film a lighter edge.
What is also apparent fifteen years on is that on the whole the CGI has stood
up remarkably well. The Jurassic Park
films all looked incredible when released but it’s good to see that they haven’t
aged too badly yet. For the most part the Dinosaurs still look fairly realistic
but occasionally they lack a physical weight and feel slightly floaty. This can
be a problem when you’re meant to be looking at a 50 tonne reptile. The
physical, animatronics effects look even better than the CGI and have barely
aged a bit. The film is still able to evoke fear, even though I knew exactly
what was going to happen and who was going to survive. My girlfriend watched a
few minutes and although she had seen the film too, actually jumped at one point.
The Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptors are still terrifying and the film cleverly
creates fear before their appearance with rustling trees and vibrations in
strategically placed puddles.
It is no surprise that of the cast of the first film it is
only Jeff Goldblum who returns in a major role. He was superb in the original
and just as good here, playing the awkward but street/junglesmart and outspoken
scientist. In this film he already knows he is right and doesn’t have to battle
to make himself heard. He is very much at the centre of the story and is the
hero of the piece. He has two people to look out for as well so is stretched
physically and emotionally but still maintains his stilted, finger raised
performance. He also has lion’s share of the great lines. Julianne Moore is
fine in her role but doesn’t stand out and neither does the extremely young
looking Vince Vaughn or Richard Shiff. The character of Goldblum’s daughter is
one that I could have done without. I get why a child actor was needed as after
all this is a kids film but she was pretty off putting at times. Something that
has always confused me is why she is back. I don’t think it is ever explained
although is bought up briefly in the dialogue. Something that has always bugged
me as well is her flipping gymnastics. It’s ridiculous. Overall some of the new
characters are quite two dimensional and often the Dinosaurs have more
personality than the human characters. Writer David Koepp was clever to insert
the InGen crew into the film as it not only created added tension, it also
added to the potential body count. You know as soon as you see the
unrecognisable men with guns that very few of them are going to survive. It
also created Pete Postlethwait’s character whom the actor plays brilliantly. I
have to say though that as an Englishman it’s pretty annoying that all the bad
guys were English yet again!
Where the film goes wrong is in the final act. Everything
was fine until they leave the island. It wasn’t a great film and certainly not
as good as the original but it was acceptable. As soon as the T-Rex arrives in San Diego it all goes
tits up. We've had monsters in cities since the birth of cinema but Jurassic Park's Arthur Conan Doyle style story was one of the things that made it so good. The Dinosaur never even causes that much chaos or destruction whilst in the city. The first problem comes when the assembled port staff, InGen guys and
media just stand and watch as a huge boat slams in to the harbour. It takes far
too long for them to run. Then once the boat is boarded, we discover that
everyone is dead on deck but the Dinosaur is still in the hold. Soon after it
escapes and is set loose in the harbour with the city centre in the background
but it somehow gets to the suburbs without being noticed. The whole final act
is a mess and ruins the solid opening hour and a half. Thankfully the finale
does at least provide us with a couple of good gags in the form of the Japanese
businessmen running away ala Godzilla and
a blink and you’ll miss it movie poster for Arnold Schwarzenegger in King Lear.
In the end Jurassic
Park II is three quarters of a decent film. There is plenty of action,
great effects, passable acting and the whole thing is a lot of fun. Once we get
back to America
it all goes wrong though which is a big shame as it will always be remembered
as the part that lets down the whole franchise.
6/10
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