It's a sequel,

Rating: 7/10 (29 April 2003)

Repeat after me ... "Sequels aren't original...."
They're in it for the money... well, DUH! But that doesn't mean the creative people aren't trying. An earlier review gave very little credit to the work that was done on this movie. I agree, the story line isn't as good as the original. Very few sequels are. But then again, the first movie wasn't exactly Academy Award material, either. It's pure entertainment. The audience didn't come to see "Driving Miss Daisy" - they came to see realistic dinosaurs and action sequences. Believable or not.
I thought the first portion of the film did a fine job of explaining the premise behind a trip to this new island. No, it wasn't very deep and certainly wasn't dramatic. But the purpose was to explain why the trip is being made. Quickly and without a lot of to-do. And I personally like Jeff Goldblum. If anything, I think Jeff went a bit light on the character. In the original book, Ian Malcom is basically a brilliant mathematician who doesn't get along with others. Jeff Goldblum didn't make him as arrogant or annoying as he could have, and even made him a bit more likeable in this sequel. Not necessarily a mistake; since he's the central character, it makes sense that the audience like him. I would have liked Sam Neill back, also; but not in place of Jeff. And Julianne Moore was excellent in her role, also.
Not impressed with the dinosaur bits? Well, perhaps the acting, but certainly not the special effects. The SFX and computer work on this film were just fantastic! And that's really what the audience paid for.
Finally, just a -minor- correction. It was San Diego, not San Francisco. But what's a few hundred kilometers between critics?