Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
One of the most common refrains in this long summer drought has been, "Lighten up! Movies are just supposed to be fun!" I’ve heard this excuse offered up each time I’ve dared to dislike some mainstream monstrosity, and each time, it rings hollow for me. I don’t believe that you have to ask nothing of a film just because of what season it’s released. I grew up on great summer movies, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask that some actual effort to entertain me be made.
As far as the previous JURASSIC PARK films are concerned, I found them both to be mixed bags. The first film has one of the greatest sequences in any horror film ever. That T-Rex attack at night in the rain is as masterful a set piece as Steven Spielberg has ever directed. There’s a few scenes in THE LOST WORLD (like the HATARI! roundup and the San Diego rampage) that I find very entertaining to watch, but I still don’t think it adds up to a film. When I walked into JURASSIC PARK 3 this morning, I was prepared to just see a few cool set pieces and leave it at that. I wasn’t even planning to write about the film.
Truth be told, I had a shameful amount of fun watching this movie. The six-year-old inside me loves dinosaurs, and this time around, we’re served up a pretty amazing batch of them to enjoy. I thought the Spinosaurus looked ridiculous in the stills I saw, but he’s a great and effective bad guy, and the way he’s introduced in the film is outstanding. I’ve heard people complain about how brief the T-Rex’s scenes are, but I like the notion that Joe Johnston and his various writers worked to bring us something new this time out. Yes, there are raptors, but they’re not overused. More importantly, there are pteranadons.
Yes, God, you have answered my prayers. You have given me flying dinosaurs, and they are good. They are better than good. They are amazing.
I know, I know... how are the people? They’re fine. They do exactly what they’re supposed to do. I would have been happy if there had been more of them, so maybe we could have seen the dinos eat a few more of them, but I find it hard to bag any cast that includes William Macy, Alessandro Nivola, Michael Jeter, John Diehl, and Sam Neill. Everyone is good, believable, and nobody seems to be doing a "we’re going to die" stand-up routine like Goldblum in LOST WORLD. More importantly, there is a kid, and we are completely free of any gymnastics. Instead, this kid is more like NEWT from ALIENS, a survivor.
I’m not going to call this film perfect summer fare. There’s a miserably bad ending that feels like a reel or two of the film are missing, and the running time of 88 minutes is a miscalculation. Not everything in the movie makes sense (what the hell happened on that boat in the fog bank?). None of that really mattered to me, though, because here at last was a film that wanted nothing more than to please me. This is that guilt-free piece of candy I’ve been itching for, that energetic and imaginative thrill ride that seems determined to entertain. I think Joe Johnston’s done a bang-up job here, and ILM is at the top of their game. I don’t need to write 30,000 words to convince you to go see a movie about people being chased and/or eaten by dinosaurs. I suspect you already know whether or not you’re the target audience for this film. If you’re in the mood for it, though, I assure you... it delivers the goods for most of its running time. And in a summer like this one, that’s enough reason to break out the funny hats and celebrate.
"Moriarty" out.
