Jurassic Park 3

Cast: Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Tea Leoni, Trevor Morgan, Alessandro Nivola, Laura Dern and Michael Jeter.

Director: Joe Johnston

Release Date: 2001

Genre: Action/Adventure Sci Fi

Running Time: 1hr 32 minutes

Format: Blu-Ray

Rating: 12

Synopsis: 

A decidedly odd couple with ulterior motives convince Dr Alan Grant to go to Isla Sorna, resulting in an unexpected landing. and unexpected new inhabitants on the Island.

Unlike the other two films, the third installment was not based on a book. Joe Johnston takes us through the next chapter in the ever so popular franchise. Paul Kirby (Macy) and his wife Amanda, convince Dr. Alan Grant to fly over Isla Sorna with them to be their guide, however there's a slight twist, their son Eric has gone missing, on the Island. Dr. Grant convinces paleontologist Billy to join him on the ride. Dr Grant however isn't aware that they want to land on the Island. Bad idea right? Very. Although Sam Neill didn't make an appearance in "The Lost World", we've gathered that perhaps a few years have passed since the events in that movie took place. Ellie is now married with children, Dr Grant finds himself at University's still discussing the events of Jurassic Park.

Sam Neil's performance is very good, sadly though he's the strongest out of all the actors. It's lovely to see how his character has progressed from a paleontologist on a dig site, to a best selling author, who's now known all around the world. Amanda (Tea Leoni) and Paul (Macy), just want to find their young son Eric, however they are rather ignorant in not understanding quite how dangerous Isla Sorna is. Tea' Leoni's performance unfortunately isn't one of her best, although it isn't awful, she does appear to be overacting in some scenes, sadly making them look cheesier then what they are. For a couple who are divorced there is quite a lot of chemistry between Amanda and Paul, was that intentional? Eric mentions at one point that his parents don't get on with one another. Could have fooled me. Trevor Morgan who plays Eric, delivers a good performance, I love the friendships that he builds with Dr Grant as the film progresses.

The storyline itself isn't too bad, essentially it follows on from "The Lost World" although it is not made clear what happened to the island between then and now. In the novel of "The Lost World" it is understood that people were aloud to visit the island, however is it not made clear at the end of the film that no one should return to the Island? How is it that Eric ended up even remotely close to Isla Sorna? Perhaps we are introduced to the action far too soon? The majority of the movie involves the characters just trying to get off the island, landing themselves in more and more trouble the more they continue.

Onto the positives. The use of animtronix are absolutely fantastic, there isn't a single scene in the film where you wouldn't be convinced the dinosaurs were real. They look fantastically realistic. Very well shot there are fantastic close ups of the actors and the dinosaurs together look excellent on screen. The cinematography sadly isn't at it's best, the production design being the most impressive out of the two. Mainly shot in Hawaii, the scenery is gorgeous, I love the use of production design to bring the two together perfectly. Sadly the same cannot be said about the Blu-Ray, unfortunately just like "The Lost World" the Blu-Ray quality is terrible. There is an awful lot of grain. This too was in the same box set as the first film. The first of which looked amazing on Blu-Ray. Were they lazy when it came to the last two movies? It's a shame the movie didn't look it's best.

2/5 stars out of 5