Date: Fri 22-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SUEZ

Quick Words:

Playing-Jurassic-sequels

Full Text:

(rev "The Lost World" for Now Playing, 8/22/97)

Now Playing-

"Lost World" Is Just That: Lost!

By Trey Paul Alexander III

Sequels are a staple of the summer moviegoing season, and usually they can be

depended upon for decent, if sometimes inconsequential, thrills. Yet the crop

from 1997 has been quite lacking, and downright disappointing: Batman & Robin

was the worst of its movie series and resurrected the dreaded campiness of the

`60s TV show; and Speed 2: Cruise Control only proved how proficient its

progenitor was and how quickly a good thing can go awry. Another high-profile

follow-up, The Lost World: Jurassic Park , the summer's first blockbuster,

arrived in Newtown's Edmond Town Hall Theatre recently, but it too fell short

of generating the aura its 1993 predecessor exuded.

Jurassic Park grossed more money worldwide than any other film in history, but

lacked the heart and soul of director Steven Spielberg's other top-grossing

film, E.T. , and failed to project the joy, ebulliency and flights of fantasy

that marked George Lucas' Star Wars trilogy. Nevertheless, the sheer wonder of

seeing life-like, realistic dinosaurs - and then witnessing them wreak

horrific havoc on our heroes (cardboard cut-outs, but heroes nonetheless) -

was enough for most audiences to give Jurassic Park high marks. For my tastes,

however, Jurassic Park was not Spielberg at his best, and though it boasted

spellbinding visual effects, it was not altogether captivating.

My expectations for The Lost World were high, as I entered the theater hoping

for a richer, more substantive version of what Spielberg accomplished in the

first film. This sequel returns the most likable character from Jurassic (not

including the dinosaurs), the witty, sarcastic Dr Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum),

who now finds himself an outcast in the scientific community because few

believe his tale of formerly extinct creatures unleashed on a tropical island.

But with only a cursory acknowledgement of what occurred between the last film

and this one, in which a second island of dinosaurs is revealed, Spielberg

gets The Lost World off on the wrong foot and just keeps on running.

Bringing back the wry Malcolm was wise, but casting him as the lead was a bit

of a misstep. As a supporting character, his caustic comments are a nice

antidote to the terror facing the protagonists. However, when such a

personality dominates the film, the edge is taken off the movie's scare

quotient and is replaced by irony. Therefore it becomes difficult for The Lost

World to engross us - its main hero doth spend too much time protesting over

what we know will ultimately occur: he vows to dino-DNA breeder John Hammond

(Richard Attenborough) that he'll never step foot on this second island, then

goes anyway once he finds out his paleontologist girlfriend (Julianne Moore)

is already there; he tells his daughter not to follow him on his dangerous

trip, but guess who shows up later?; and he preaches to everyone within

earshot they'd better get off the island while they still can, yet nobody

seems to believe him... that is until the advent of all the "running and

screaming" of which Malcolm has foretold.

The Lost World does have its plusses. There is a keen, nicely conceived

sequence in which ticked off T. rexes push a trailer halfway off a

rain-slicked cliff, leaving three humans dangling for dear life. Also, the

presence of Pete Postlethwaite as a chrome-domed, flinty-eyed hunter is a

welcome addition. Yet the film's pulse beats just a bit fast for the movie to

be of any lasting significance. Despite impressive effects, the thrill of the

new is gone, and the prehistoric animals lose much of their awesomeness. Plus,

there are so many dinosaurs that their overall effectiveness is diminished.

Overall, the action - which includes run-ins with various species on an island

and a romp on the town (San Diego, that is) - comes so frequently as to lessen

the impact of the subsequent annihilation.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park , which is rated PG-13 and earns its rating with

a fairly high body count and a soaring intensity level, finally ends up less

satisfying than even Spielberg's flawed original. Use extreme caution if

you're planning on bringing the kiddies.