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The first "Jurassic Park" thrilled me and filled me with wonder, but the second one was content to coast on autopilot. (Indeed, Steven Spielberg directed some of "The Lost World" via satellite feed from his home!) Although "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" was a solid piece of filmmaking with another fine performance from Jeff Goldblum, it didn´t have much heart. Therefore, when I saw the trailers for "Jurassic Park III," I felt pretty good about the new movie. After all, Sam Neill, star of the first film but absent from the second, would again head the cast in a dinosaur flick. The visceral editing and swooping camerawork in the trailer promised a taut, brisk adventure.
Imagine my shock, then, when I saw "JP III." Already aghast by the disasters that were "The Mummy Returns" and "Pearl Harbor," I found myself watching a movie that plunged directly into the pits. I mean, a summer popcorn flick doesn´t have to be meaningful in any way, but "JP III" doesn´t even bother to tell an entertaining fictional story! The story moves from one moment to the next with mechanical disinterest, touching bases with plot points just so that the audience won´t be confused.
In "JP III," a wealthy couple (played by William H. Macy and Téa Leoni) hire Dr. Alan Grant (Neill) to be their tour guide while they fly over Isla Sorna. Contrary to what Grant agrees to do on the trip, the expedition lands on the island. It turns out that the couple´s son is stranded on Isla Sorna, and everyone´s supposed to be there to help find him. Pretty soon, some ugly, nasty dinosaurs start chasing the humans all over the place, and we learn something new about the intelligence of raptors.
Needless to say, the whole enterprise ends up being a "who will die next?" guessing game. We´ve got lame attempts at humor, such as a scene where a raptor speaks English (don´t ask). Téa Leoni, usually so charming and winsome, has to play a nag and a bitch, and I ended up wishing that her character would bite the dust. A great deal of the film was shot with greenscreens so that the dinosaurs could be added with computer effects--thus, the movie often looks muddy with details indistinct. And, don´t get me started on the music score. Basically, composer Don Davis takes John Williams´s themes from the first two movies and repeats them ad nauseum. Joe Johnston, who helmed the much better "Jumanji," is responsible for this precipitous dip in quality in the "Jurassic Park" franchise, though I´d wager that the writers had a lot to do with the haphazard feel of the final product.
Everything feels rushed, from the look of the production to the way the movie hops from one set piece to the next. Mercifully, at 93 minutes, "JP III" peters out just as you´re about to get up from your chair to leave the room.
Video :
I have mixed feelings about the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen video transfer of "JP III." On one hand, the print shows nary a scratch or imperfection. The stable transfer offers plenty of colors and movement for viewers to enjoy, and the look of the film is appropriately atmospheric. There isn´t a problem with grain at all. On the other hand, the film depends heavily on special effects work done on computers, and a good deal of "JP III´s" visuals appears muddy, soft, "unnatural" or downright fake. DVD´s clarity makes each and every effects shot all the more obvious. Calling attention to oneself is not a good thing in the world of DVD video transfers, and "JP III" makes that mistake a bit too often for my tastes.
Audio :
When I saw "JP III" in a movie theatre, for some reason, the digital sound was turned off in that particular auditorium. I sat through the whole affair in stereo hell. Therefore, I was surprised, almost stunned, at how good the Dolby Digital 5.1 English mix is for the movie. Directional effects are well-created. Given the pin-point accuracy of every sound effect, I could tell exactly where things should be in the spatial scheme of the "JP" universe. The deep bass hums and thuds with authority. Sometimes, I felt that the quieter moments did not have as many "discrete" effects as one would´ve hoped (the story does take place in a jungle!), and the dialogue can be a bit lost when things reach a volumnal tumult. However, this is still among the best mixes that I´ve heard on the DVD format.
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[release]8545[/release]