the
lost world:
jurassic park |
director
Steven Spielberg
screenwriter
David Koepp
based
on the novel by
Michael Crichton
producers
Gerald R. Molen
Colin Wilson
cinematographer
Janusz Kaminski
music
John Williams
editor
Michael Kahn
cast
Jeff Goldblum (Dr. Ian Malcolm)
Julianne Moore (Dr. Sarah Harding)
Pete Postlethwaite (Roland Tembo)
Arliss Howard (Peter Ludlow)
Richard Attenborough (John Hammond)
Vince Vaughn (Nick Van Owen)
Vanessa Lee Chester (Kelly Curtis)
Peter Stormare (Dieter Stark)
Harvey Jason (Ajay Sidhu)
Richard Schiff (Eddie Carr)
Thomas F. Duffy (Dr. Robert Burke)
Joseph Mazzello (Tim)
Ariana Richards (Lex)
mpaa rating: PG-13
running
time: 129m
u.s.
release: 5/23/97
video
availability: VHS -
DVD
official
website
other steven
spielberg films
reviewed on this website:
- a.i.:
artificial intelligence
- amistad
- catch
me if you can
- close
encounters of the third kind
- e.t.
(special edition, 2002)
- jurassic
park
- minority
report
- munich
- saving
private ryan
- schindler's
list
- the
terminal
- war
of the worlds
see also:
- jurassic
park III
|
The
original Jurassic
Park isn't Steven Spielberg's favorite among his movies,
and it isn't mine, either. It had ingenious computer effects
-- I'll never forget the first, terrifying appearance of the
T. rex -- but it took forever to get going, and Spielberg's timing
seemed to be off. He was too awestruck by his creations to deliver
a fast, scary monster movie. Well, Spielberg has lost some of
his awe. The Lost World is darker, funnier, and more visually
seamless than Jurassic Park. It's Spielberg in fine form,
getting down to good old primal terror.
One reason I prefer The Lost World is that Jeff Goldblum,
a witty but underused supporting player in the first movie, is
here pushed to the center, where he belongs. His Ian Malcolm,
discredited and bitter after the debacle on Isla Nublar, is stunned
to learn that a research team has been sent to the neighboring
Isla Sorna, where the dinosaurs were first created. Among the
researchers is Malcolm's paleontologist girlfriend Sarah (Julianne
Moore), so Malcolm must plunge back into the nightmare. Goldblum's
fearful cynicism is a great running gag; he can't believe he's
going through this again.
Spielberg and writer David Koepp round out Malcolm's team with
sharp casting choices. In place of the original's two bratty
kids (who have cameos here), there's Malcolm's whip-smart young
daughter Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester). Vince Vaughn (Swingers)
turns up as one of the researchers, and Pete Postlethwaite (In
the Name of the Father) and Peter Stormare (Fargo)
lead a team of dino-hunting mercenaries. Still, this is basically
a boys' club; the usually quirky Julianne Moore gives the same
eager, awestruck performance every other woman has given for
Spielberg. (It happened to Laura Dern, too.)
The Lost World is Steven Spielberg in his ruthless cat-playing-with-a-mouse
mode. A sequence involving a trailer dangling over a cliff (with
our heroes inside) seems to be drawn out for the sheer bullying
pleasure of toying with us. Spielberg ups the ante on every set
piece in the original: two T. rexes instead of one, a gang of
velociraptors instead of two (Spielberg comes up with a memorably
scary image when the raptors stalk a hunting party through some
tall weeds). The beasts are so relentless they're funny; like
the shark in Jaws, they just keep coming at you.
So does the director. Some people (i.e. parents) have grumbled
about the increased violence. The movie is no gorier than the
first one, but Spielberg works with a borderline sadistic glee.
He loves the apocalyptic spectacle of the T. rex bashing into
cars or ripping people in half. Yet the creatures aren't evil;
they're just big, hungry animals -- morally neutral death machines.
Spielberg has learned to stop worrying and love the raptor.
By the time a T. rex runs amok in the streets of San Diego, the
movie has given up any pretense of plot or character. Not that
it matters. The Lost World is a symphony of suspense and
momentum -- a perfect guilty pleasure. It isn't about anything
except Steven Spielberg's hearty appetite for destruction. |