Should have stood on its own.

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2009)

I'm reading the novel now (still on the 111th page), and I realized how far this film deviated from the source material. But since I saw the movie first it gave me a different impression from those people who read the novel beforehand. First was the characters (Every time I read a page with Ian in it, I couldn't stop but think of Jeff Goldblum. I enjoyed Goldblum in JP and albeit more somber this time for obvious reasons, it showed a better side of him). Another was prediction, I wondered whether this character who appeared in the movie would have the same fate in the book. Third, the lack of the characters from the novel made it look lonely regardless of the appearances of interesting replacements because character development was minimal (not to mention a blur).
The novel had a lot of potential for a great movie. But a remake would sound too premature at this point. JP IV is in the works, too, as I've heard.
The Lost World should have been an inspiration by the novel rather than the adaptation. Well, they did mention it was "loosely based"..oh well. The story was engaging. The T-Rex's stroll around San Diego was great fun. Effects: wonderful. Everything was in its place...except for the loose adaptation thing.
By the way the first JP is kind of in par with this (though I say JP was a wee bit better, just a weeeee bit).