Movie Plot – The Lost World: Jurassic Park: A team of four is sent to Jurassic Park Site B to study the dinosaurs there. However, they’re not alone as an InGen team approaches with a different agenda.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: David Koepp
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Vince Vaughn

Another island

Apparently there is another island, Site B, where the dinosaurs were bred before being brought to the park. After the disaster in that park, Site B was also cleared so that the prehistoric animals could roam freely ever since. In the hope of attracting a larger public, John Hammond’s cousin wants to transfer the dinosaurs to a zoo on the mainland. Hammond is sending a group of scientists, including the famous Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), to the island to stop the project. Soon the team collides with a group of hunters and a bunch of hungry dinosaurs

The story of The Lost World is good, but lacks the surprise and wonder you had with the first part. The novelty is off and much of the film resembles a repetition of Jurassic Park.

The Lost World connects well with Jurassic Park. This is mainly due to the return of a number of important main characters, including Richard Attenborough and of course Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm.

The new group

Jeff Goldblum is again, as in part 1, the best element of the film. Of course after the special effects that bring the dinosaurs realistically to life. Julianne Moore is his girlfriend Sarah, but has hardly any chemistry with Goldblum’s character. She basically takes Laura Dern’s place as Ellie Sattler, just as Vince Vaughns Nick is a stand-in for Sam Neill as Alan Grant. Both Sarah and Nick do stupid things that drive the plot, but make little sense. I had a difficult time giving something for Sarah as she always wanted to do her own will that put them in high danger. This while her husband, who has been through everything, was constantly warning her of the danger. Just for your information Sarah, your husband barely survived in the first film.

As a paleontologist who has been on the island for a while, Sarah suddenly “forgets” that her jacket soaked with T-Rex baby blood could be a lure. Nick, who is not only a documentary filmmaker, but also an activist removes the cartridges from the shotgun of hunter Tembo, hired by InGen (strong role of Pete Postlethwaith). What if Tembo wanted to save someone (e.g. Nick himself) by shooting a dino? Such actions create quite some irritation about the quality of the scenario.

Also, Jeff Goldblum has a daughter in this movie, but is totally unnecessary. I never understood why she was in this one, except to kick one dinosaur. That was her contribution to the movie, just one silly kick.

More CGI

In the four years between Jurassic Park and The Lost World the technology had not stood still. That’s why Spielberg opted for this sequel to make more use of CGI than practical effects. At the time, Spielberg pulled out all the stops that were available in the field of CGI. You can clearly see that in the film. Everything looks beautiful and the action scenes are breathtaking. Still, I miss a lot of the practical effects from the first movie, because those effects are well reflected in the acting. Also, I believed that these practical effects looked better during that time. I am still amazed how real the t-Rex looked in Jurassic Park.

In terms of the tension build-up of the action scenes, visual effects and the overall technical execution, ‘The Lost World’ has nothing to worry about. Even on a bad day, Spielberg can easily reach this level. However, it isn’t as good as Jurassic Park, the first movie. The tension is less than it’s predecessor.

Another story with dinosaurs

There were several thoughts that influenced this film, this becomes clear when the film has exhausted all the possibilities of the island and then the whole thing is swept together to continue in San Diego.

At first, it was a lot of hunting dinosaurs, and the other way around. Well, it was more the other way around as it was a massacre. Lot’s of hunters got killed by doing this quest. However, they’ve managed to capture a t-rex!

It’s a trick to let go of the T-Rex in an American city. Eventually it comes to an incredible climax on the boat with which the T-Rex was transported to the United States. It remains an incredible scenario since no one on the boat survived and the t-rex is locked up again. This while the boat arrives where it’s supposed to arrive. However, it crashed in the harbor, but stays really unbelievable. You have to turn a blind eye to this.

Conclusion

The Lost World: Jurassic Park is a fun sequel to the epic Jurassic Park. Although, this sometimes felt uninspiring, fortunately there are dinosaurs to make up for it. Because this is the main reason why we watch such movies.

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