Potentially better than the original? A new perspective.

Rating: 8/10 (4 September 2008)

Years ago when I saw the first Jurassic Park in the theater as a kid, I was blown away, glued to my seat. I mean every kid is in love with Dinosaurs and Spielberg's brilliant Dino epic brought them to life unlike anything before or since. When I watched it again to review it just a few short weeks ago I was disappointed that somehow some of the magic had been lost. Whether it be seeing it too many times, or seeing in on a smaller screen, or just not having that wide eyed dino fascination anymore...something lacked although still a powerfully made and fun movie!! So then I watch The Lost World, which I had seen before as well but I seem to remember thinking all those years ago that it paled in comparison to the original but upon seeing it again I was taken aback that I might have actually enjoyed it more than the original and I think I understand why. In the first film Spielberg aimed to bring to life every child's imagination and create dinosaurs like we've never seen but I don't think he even expected the enormous response to the film. Everyone loved it, it brought the child out in all of us and adults, as opposed to kids made Jurassic Park a top grossing film world wide. So Spielberg knew that if he were to do a sequel he would try to appeal more to that surprise crowd hence we have a darker, more mysterious, slightly more violent Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World.
Jeff Goldblum returns again as everyones favorite Mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm who has been summoned to the side of Jurassic Park creator John Hammond. Goldblum gets all of his sarcasm and wit from the original film but gets even more personality being the star now. He is a little more serious this time around but he leads the film with class and expertise and makes a great hero. Joining the cast is Julianne Moore who I have never been a big fan of but as it turns out she does a really terrific job as Paleontologist Sarah Harding and Goldblum's girlfriend. She fills the role left by Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) very well. She is fun and strong and a great female lead and as odd as they seem together her and Goldblum have good chemistry. Richard Schiff as one of their team members is great if not short lived. He has good chemistry with the rest of the team and has a great character. Vince Vaughn even comes on board and doesn't take anything away from the story with his usual antics and instead plays a really great role as anxious photographer with morals Nick Van Owen. He turns in one of my favorite Jurassic Park characters. Great character actor Pete Postlethwaite is perfect as the angry, determined world hunter and although he doesn't get a big role it's great!! I was also very happy that they wrap up the story a little and had cameo appearances by original cast members Richard Attenborough, Joseph Mazzello, and Ariana Richards however brief they were.
I read a lot of reviews for this film and it actually kind of surprised me how many people did not like this entry in the series at all. They especially seemed to hate the ending with the T-Rex in America and I think I might have not been a big fan originally either and yet watching it again it seemed to be amazing to me. It was the perfect idea...Hammond's disastrous creation coming home to roost so to speak. The action in the original Jurassic Park was non-stop thrill ride and this installment was no exception from the absolutely nail biting trailer scene with the baby T-Rex up to the chase through the city with the dinosaur. I think perhaps it boils down to having not seen this sequel as many times as the original but still I was very impressed and I loved it!! I have read the books years ago and I remember little to nothing about them so that doesn't effect my review either. I just felt that Spielberg made the story a little darker, more mature, and more gritty and violent without spilling into gratuitous by any means. Regardless the special effects are still spot on and it's a great follow up to a classic movie that must be seen so you can judge yourself. 8.5/10