A Worthy Sequel

Rating: Null/10 (6 June 2015)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
*** (out of 4)
Steven Spielberg's sequel to his 1993 blockbuster has a group of researchers heading to an alternate island where John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) has more dinosaurs living but what they don't know is that there's another team on the way to the island to try and capture the creatures and return them to America to put them on display.
THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK didn't get nearly as much praise when it was released compared to the original but I've always felt that this film is actually better. Whereas the first film gave you a sense of wonder about the dinosaurs, this one here takes that and goes full steam ahead and pretty much delivers a horror film. I've often criticized the director for playing things too safe but that's certainly not the case here because this is a rather dark, mean and at times violent film. I still remember watching this on opening night and dozens of parents removing their crying children from the theater because it was simply too scary for them.
It should go without saying but the real "star" here are the dinosaurs themselves, brought to life by Stan Winston and his wonderful creations. There's not a single second in the film where you feel as if you're not really watching dinosaurs and it's this authentic feel that makes the film work. If you didn't believe that there weren't dinosaurs around the actors then there really wouldn't be any suspense or drama. The CGI creations all look 100% real and they mix well with the human actors. The live action and CGI mix flawlessly together but this here has always been one of Spielberg's strongest points as a director.
Another major plus is the fact that the final hour of this thing is pretty much one long non-stop action sequence. As I said earlier, this is pretty much a horror film from the middle point on and no one is safe. This includes children, dogs and anyone else that gets close to the dinosaurs. I really loved the fact that Spielberg went all out and really tried to scare the audience and show that these dinosaurs weren't any game and that they could be extremely dangerous. Whereas the first film showed their danger, there were several moments where you just knew everything was going to turn out okay and be safe. That's not the case here because everyone was at risk and the action sequences were directly perfectly.
Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Attenborough, Vince Vaughn and Pete Postlethwaite are all good in their roles but, again, the real stars are the dinosaurs. John Williams' score is perfect as you'd expect and there's no doubt that the technical stuff is top of the line. This includes the terrific cinematography and some great editing along the way. THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK will never fully get the credit it deserves but for my money it's a highly entertaining horror film with elements of KING KONG but with more of a bite.