"Just follow the screams."

Rating: 6/10 (29 April 2005)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park, or Jurassic Park II as most people have called it, is one of those sequels that existed primarily because Jurassic Park made lots and lots of money. That's not to say that The Lost World is a terrible movie, but it reeked of "we only made this to make more money." Even when i read the Michael Crichton book, I had the same feeling. The book did irk me more than the movie did. In the book, Crichton killed off a character who all of a sudden was magically alive in the sequel. At least in the movie, the people who were dead in Jurassic Park stayed dead in The Lost World. This movie follows Ian Malcom (Jeff Goldblum) who becomes the only member of the party who toured Jurassic Park to go public with his story. Now a scientific outcast, Malcom is offered the chance to check out a second dinosaur island for former owner John Hammond (Richard Attenborough). Malcom goes to the island with a new party of Dr. Harding (Julianne Moore), Nick (Vince Vaughn), and Eddie (Richard Schiff), with a special appearance by Ian's daughter from a previous marriage (Vanessa Lee Chester). Spielberg takes the stories in directions that are not as interesting as Jurassic Park went. The one terrifying scene comes via a cliché moment, with a van's windshield slowly cracking under the weight of one of our heroes. The true story of The Lost World involves another party of explorers, this time funded by Hammond's old company who wants to revive Jurassic Park, this time in San Diego. This subplot ushers in one of the silliest, non-needed series of events to happen in the long career of Steven Spielberg. If you have seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about.