A Worthy Sequel to One of My Favorite Movies

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2008)

Steven Spielberg returns with a sequel to his 1993 blockbuster that I believe was under-rated by many people. I loved the film when I first saw it in theaters in 1997 and, while it didn't seem as impressive on second viewing, I still find it to be one of the best sequels I've seen. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough returns for this short cameo) has discovered that some of the dinosaurs originally intended for his park have been surviving on the secondary island, Isla Sorna. Isla Sorna housed the location of Site B, where most of the dinosaurs would be hatched before bringing them over to Isla Nublar and Jurassic Park. Hammond is determined to send a team, led by a more than reluctant Ian Malcolm, to the island to retrieve photographic documentation of the thriving dinosaurs in an effort to gain public support in preserving the location.
Just as the first film, this one retains some primary similarities to Michael Crichton's novel but it also takes a lot of liberties. Unlike 'Jurassic Park', I read the book before seeing the film for 'The Lost World' and so I was more aware of what the film COULD have been. Of course, those doesn't mean I didn't love the movie. There were just a lot of great scenes that were cut from the original story to fit into Spielberg's view.
Of the cast from the original, the only returning key player is Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm. Malcolm was my favorite character from the first film so it was awesome having him return as the lead. I loved the additions of Vince Vaughn, Pete Postlethwaite, and Peter Stormare to the cast (though Stormare's role was small). Goldblum's one of my favorite actors and teaming him with Vince Vaughn was great. In addition to another great cast, this film gives us more dinosaurs than the previous. The audience gets their first glimpses of stegosaurs and compsognathus. We also get not one but two tyrannosaurs in this film AND they get more screen time this time around.
Personally, I don't understand why some people complain about this movie. It's just as fun as the first; I don't quite understand what people feel is missing. I doesn't contain the some sense of wonder as the first film because this time we're already seen the dinosaurs in action. I've heard some complaints about the climactic sequence in San Diego. Aside from the fact that it deviated so much from the book with this sequence, I thought it was awesome. It gave the audience a chance to look at the dinosaurs in a new light, a new environment. I stand by my 8/10 rating because I found this movie to be a worthwhile sequel to one of my favorite movies.