Lame plot, lamer characters

Rating: 4/10 (12 May 2001)

Note: some minor spoilers
It's pretty bad when you rent this movie and "Charlie's Angels" (both on DVD) at the same time, and the movie based on a 70's TV show is FAR better than the one directed by Steven Spielberg. Both were little more than mindless entertainment, but at least that was the point of "Angels" and it succeeded brilliantly. All TLW proved was they could build on the special effects successes of the original and add a lame plot and lamer characters. I mean, this is little more than "King Kong" brought to the 90's with up to date effects. Greedy corporate types go to remote island to bring back monster to put on display. Monster wreaks havoc, both on the island and in the USA. Lots of people die (mainly because of stupid decision by all concerned), the monster is eventually brought under control, roll the credits, the end.
The only two characters even remotely interesting are Jeff Goldblum's Ian and the big game hunter Roland. Ian correctly forecasts doom and disaster, but what difference does it make since no one listens to him? And Roland is the only character with any dimension. On the one hand, his primary motivation is to bag a T-Rex as the ultimate trophy, on the other, he's about the only one with an ounce of common sense (besides Ian, that is). You've got Julianne Moore as the naive scientist who seems to think dinosaurs are little more than cuddly teddy bears, and the insanely idiotic Nick Van Owen, whose practically every move served to put people's lives at risk. Let's see, you've got an injured baby T-Rex, let's bring it inside the trailer to heal it while the parents are searching for it. And let's release all the caged dinos, thus turning the well organized camp into a chaotic mess. Finally, when he shows the bullets he removed from Roland's gun, I'm amazed Ian and the rest didn't just heave him off the helicopter for ruining the one chance of survival for pretty much everyone on the island. And if that's not bad enough, who on Earth thinks the authorities are going to just let a full grown Tyrannasaur roam about San Diego without doing anything about it while Ian and Dr. Stupid (AKA Sarah) do a repeat of the infant dino bit to lure Mommy back onto the cargo ship? My bet is in reality they'd have had helicopter gunships on it in a heartbeat. Bottom line: If you want great effects accompanied by a stupid plot, this is the movie to see.