Mind The Gap: Jurassic Park Trilogy Has Some Winners & Losers
This is one of my most embarrassing mind the gap experiences. Quite possibly since my original installment where I admitted I hadn’t seen Indiana Jones. Somehow, I had seen the first two of the new trilogy without ever seeing the originals all the way through. I had seen almost all of the first, but not in one fell swoop, and I knew nothing about The Lost World and Jurassic Park III. While I’m glad to have seen them, and I’m so happy to finally fully understand that corner of pop culture, I’m not sure any but the original film were truly worth it. Based on the little I knew about them, that tracked, but I love to have the evidence to back up any movie opinion I spout off.
I don’t think I can say anything about the OG that hasn’t already been said. It’s fantastic. Somehow, despite it being a few decades old, even the special effects are awe inspiring. I read the book a few weeks prior, and despite the changes (some of which I think were to the detriment of the plot), I was fully riveted the entire time. Everything was exactly as I had hoped it would be, and it’s one of my few throwbacks that not only lived up to the hype, but exceeded it. Seeing young Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill was an utter delight. They managed to make the kids much less annoying than in the book (one of the best alterations). The dinos were incredible. What more could you possibly want?
Unfortunately, the first movie set the bar so high that it was basically impossible for any of the follow-ups to get to the same level. But good grief, it was almost impressive how much Lost World wasn’t like its predecessor. In retrospect, I realize that the comparison is what made me struggle with this movie more than I should have, but it felt like the well rounded aspects of many of the characters originally were completely disregarded in the second. Losing Neill and Dern for this installment definitely affected the easy chemistry that elevated the first, and Goldblum seemed utterly insane in comparison, even though he was the only one who talked sense about the crazy island adventure. I found myself irritated by most of the characters at one point or another and found it hard to root for them. I was relieved when this one ended.
Jurassic Park III is slightly better than the first, but it also fell short of the original. This time, however, it was because it felt like they had no idea what they should do and decided, “Let’s repeat the first one, but quicker, and then throw a bunch of crap at the wall and see what sticks.” The premise is utterly insane, considering it all rides on the fact that Neill’s character (the only of the original three to have a leading presence in the film - we only get a brief appearance of Dern and Goldblum is nowhere to be found) being basically kidnapped and stuck on a dinosaur island he never wanted to be on. The couple that follow through on this insane plan are utterly annoying (clearly taking the baton from most of the Lost World cast), and one of the biggest pros for this movie was its less-than-two-hours run time. But, hey, it was better than the second.
Despite all my harsh words, there are standout scenes from each of the movies. Granted, the majority of my favorite moments come from the first, but I enjoyed the insane chase scene at the end of the second film, and there were some pretty gorgeous scenery shots in the third. The wow factor of the dinosaur animations was lessened with each installment, which definitely didn’t work in the sequels’ favor. Interestingly enough, my ranking of the first trilogy and the second are the same: 1, 3 and then 2. I suspect this is a common thread among series such as these. Guess I’ll have to watch a few others. You know, for science.
I know it’s the first one, which is almost always the best, but I find it fascinating how much better the original Jurassic Park aged than its sequels. I wonder if there are any other series that would follow that pattern, and if it’s simply because the first movie is better, or there are truly aspects that didn’t exactly stand the test of time.