The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) Review

Next in the Jurrassic Films to watch for me is the second one the Lost World and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees Ian Malcolm forced to return to an island filled with dinosaurs to rescue his girlfriend. 

Main Character

As mentioned Jeff Goldblum is back as Dr Ian Malcolm and this time he is our main hero here and he is great in the film. The character of Malcolm oozes charisma and is so likeable, similar to the previous film it seems like he is the character with the most logic and that he is always right. His motivations for going to the island is well founded and you actually understand why he does it and why he cares about going back there.

Supporting Characters

A young Vince Vaughan is in this film and he does a half decent role here, he is an entertaining character and it is nice to see him amongst the crew. The late Pete Postlethwaite is in this film as a kind of anatagonist but he is one of the best characters in the film, he actually has some intrigue and interest to him for sure. The rest of the cast aren't interesting, Julianne Moore plays Goldblum's girlfriend and I just found her quite annoying and actually felt they had little chemistry here and her character could have been played by pretty much anybody. I also didn't care much for the father - Daughter plotline which came down to not really caring much about the daughter in the film. Plus there are lots of characters here and you can tell the majority of people here are just cannon fodder to be eaten by dinosaurs.

Story

The story to get Goldblum to the island was well done here. You see his point of view and need to return, I also like how they basically introduced a third party with another group of people on the island which is well done. But as I mentioned I didn't care about both the girlfriend and daughter relationships with Goldblum and the last act feels like you are watching a different movie and that it feels really tacked on. 

Script

The script has some humour to it especially from Goldblum that made me laugh, but the script is weaker then the first film. The interest of nature vs nurture isn't really here, traded for a more generic monster like film. Plus the drama of the characters plots doesn't work enough for me.

Style

The style of the film really comes down to the Dinosaurs and they are fine but not as strong as the first film. When it uses the practical effects especially for the T-rex is still looks great and the action scenes are more dark and aggressive. But this film focuses too much on its CGI, they look more fake then before and it does take you out of the film. 

Overall

Overall, this film is a fine sequel to Jurassic Park but it is not as strong as it should be for this franchise and will be a let down if you are expecting a film as good as the original Jurassic Park.

Rating - 6/10