The Lost World: Jurassic Park

The Lost World takes place 4 years after the disaster in the original Jurassic Park with Ian Malcolm discovering from John Hammond that there is a second island full of dinosaurs waiting to be exploited by the New heads of Ingen. So with the help of his friends, Malcolm tries to stop them in order to keep the dinosaurs from not only being exploited but to save his girlfriend who is also on the island. With that action comes the danger and mayhem that you would expect from a sequel to Jurassic Park. Jeff Goldblum is great once again as Ian Malcolm and the new cast starting with Julianne Moore is good as well and the tension and action is up several notches from the original Jurassic Park. While the novelty of the original is gone, Spielberg's magic is still evident and it still delivers. Too bad we never got a good follow up to this film because the next film in the series (Jurassic Park 3) begins the horrible nose dive in quality for this series leading into the terrible Jurassic World Trilogy.

Okay, the best Jurassic Park is obviously Jurassic Park. It was the most faithful to the fantastic Michael Critchton books, plus it was well done. As a sequel, The Lost World does just fine. Of course, I'm used to seeing horrible sequels all the time. Jeff Goldblum does a good job reprising his role as Ian Malcolm, and the newcomers of Julianne Moore and Vince Vaughn do well too. The story is a little unbelievable, though. After recently being replaced by his nephew as CEO of InGen, John Hammond(Richard Attenburough) reveals to Ian Malcolm(Goldblum) a site B: A place where dinosaurs run free. He sends him and his girlfriend, Sarah Harding(Moore), technology expert Eddie Carr(Richard Schiff) and photographer Nick Van Owen(Vaughn) to document the dinosaurs, while the official InGen team, led by Roland Tembo(Pete Postlethwaite), tries to capture the T. Rex and transport it to San Diego. As always, there is many bone-crunching deaths, the Special FX are excellent, but the story and plot fall a a bit short. Overall: 7/10

Honestly, I really enjoyed this movie, and I felt it kept the same adventurous spirit as the first one. The story is a bit different, but I liked how they returned to the island, and the dinosaur scenes were very exciting.

The chase and tension scenes were on point, especially the T-Rex rampaging in the city-I felt both excitement and fear at the same time. The visual effects still look strong even today, and the film holds up well.

The characters came back with great presence, especially Malcolm, who brought his serious attitude and those sarcastic moments I liked.

For me, the movie kept the fun and energy of the series and gave me the same feeling I had with the first film.

Steven Spielberg returned to direct this sequel,(loosely) based on the Michael Crichton novel that sees Jeff Goldblum returning as Dr. Ian Malcolm, who is enlisted by John Hammond(Richard Attenborough again) to return to Jurassic Park(though on previously unmentioned Site B) to study the dinosaur population, and also to rescue another team, which includes a former flame of his(played by Julianne Moore). He reluctantly agrees, and after locating her, finds to their disgust that the company INGEN has allowed hunting parties to take place, where big-game hunters(led by Pete Postlethwaite) stalk and kill dinosaurs, though the tables would of course be turned...

Good sequel has equally effective F/X and terrifying story, though a few too many characters; the twist toward the end is surprising and entertaining, though some poor editing leaves a big plot hole aboard the discovered freighter...still, a worthy sequel that holds up today.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) is one of those movies where I don't fully understand the hate for it and maybe that's because I watched it a lot as a kid. Now as an adult, I still really enjoy this movie even with its flaws.

Positives for The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997): You still get the fun adventure side of the original movie in this sequel while setting it on a different island. It was great to see Jeff Goldblum back as Ian Malcolm and aa the main character of this movie. I liked the new cast with Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Arliss Howard, Vince Vaughn and Vanessa Lee Chester and they are all fantastic with their performances. The animatronics and CGI for the various dinosaurs look awesome and they still hold up to this day. There are some awesome set pieces in the island and in San Diego. And finally, the movie has an excellent pace that kept me invested while I was watching the movie.

Negatives for The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997): There are a couple of moments where things don't make any sense and the biggest plot hole is the one where the crew members of the boat holding the Tyrannosaurus Rex are killed off screen, but there wasn't any other dinosaur on board.

Overall, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) is a fantastic and underrated sequel in the Jurassic Park franchise even with its major issues.