Spared No Expense

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2010)

"Welcome, to Jurassic Park."
It seems like such a simple line, as it is, but I believe it went two directions: #1 it told you, the audience, were in line for an exciting, roller coaster ride of fright, suspense and intrigue. It's true; it didn't let you (or me) down. And #2: it started both the brand name of Jurassic Park in addition to the return of the big blockbuster. (Ironically, as it started off as a new brand name, it was marketed the same way the movie, itself, was preaching against. Much like Natural Born Killers taught us not to concentrate on violence. Good job!)
There are just too many comparisons that can be made about Jurassic Park and Jaws, aside from the obvious: both were directed by Steven Spielberg. Both are huge summer blockbusters that bring back the heart to connect with multiple audiences. Both are When Animal Attack stories. Both had the predictable outcome due to its "family nature" despite the gore. Both begin with a seemingly insignificant scene of death and foreshadowing. Both had source materials that were, in fact, deeper, more graphic, more adult and radically different endings. And both had one central leader who thought better of doing the right thing, valuing money over saving lives.
Not that I'm knocking the movie. It was, as stated, one helluva roller coaster. I have yet to visit the actual ride at Universal Studios, but from what I've seen by someone who taped the whole experience on YouTube, I doubt even the "real" experience is half of what this movie drags you, joyfully, that is, through.
John Hammond's rich and loves to make flea circuses small and large. So he "steps on what others have done" and genetically engineers dinosaurs on an island he's (ONLY) renting. I wonder what kind of pet deposits he had to produce like whenever I rent an apartment.
So, due to an "accident" leaving one dead from one of the smarter dinos, Hammond gathers up some prominent scientists, doctors and one lawyer to endorse his zoo/theme park, a la Jurassic Park, before it opens. Immediately, and not even allowing for the tour to be over, the group, Grant, Sattler and Malcolm justifiably see problems with "control over nature" albeit zoos apparently don't count.
That, above, is just the intro. The real movie arrives at one of the most influential and exciting scenes in almost any movie: Attack of the T-Rex! The power went out during the final bit of the tour and our heroes, including two thoroughly annoying kids, are caught between a meat-eater and a hard car in soft mud.
From there, you get grand-scale adventure with crisp scenery and a hunt/be hunted suspense film as the dinos escape their habitats due to a greedy enemy of both Jurassic Park and Jerry Seinfeld (Knight.) I've tone down a lot that happens, but really it's a paper-thin plot with more emphasis on the adventure over depth. Not that that's a bad thing here. What works is the suspense, the fun, the humor and lines of Goldblum, (again) the adventure along with suburb cinematography and one of the greatest scores in any movie – kudos to another wonderful theme from the great John Williams.
Did I mention the graphics? I was amazed back then, but damn, it holds up STILL (for the most part) 17 years later. Many have tried to reproduce, but haven't even come close to how real the dinos look and due to that, the suspense was heavier on whether or not our heroes will survive. If someone were to watch this for the first time today, they might even overlook the fantastic overlapping of the dinos and man, but think about it in 1993: like The Matrix, this changed cinema indefinitely.
That all said, I wouldn't go as far as to say this is a "leave-your-brain-at-the-door" feature, though it's close. Besides the cardboard cutout characters, there were flaws I just couldn't get past. Whether technical, such as the obvious car being lowered in the tree and the obvious green screen behind Goldblum while they strangely out run the T-Rex, or the continuity of one moment our heroes are looking over the edge and seeing the goat and the next, it's a 10-story drop. Hardly any movie's perfect, but in addition to the technical and continuity flaws, this also has the burden of having one of the oldest plot lines in Hollywood.
I've read the source material by the late Michael Crichton who wrote both the book and helped write this screenplay. Of course, there has to be changes. They got the gist in the film, and I understand the change of the finale from the original draft/source material – Terminator 2: Judgment Day did the same thing: Hollywood just loves to leave franchises open for sequels. Both T2 and JP's books had definite closures whereas the movies left it WIDE open. (In T2's defense, the "book" was made following the movie, but involved "Judgment Day" rightfully thwarted.)
I still award this 8/10 stars for being, well, so much fun. It's nice to get back to the real summer movie, it's nice to hear such a wonderful instrumental background juxtaposed with lush and beautiful surroundings and it's especially nice to see two of my favorites: Goldblum who was at the top of his game and Jackson, though he really, REALLY toned it down for his role. And finally, as mentioned multiple times, despite all that's wrong, it was a true adventure that seems big on the outside, but Spielberg did a perfect job of toning it down to a simple, though intense, story of survival. See it!