Confession time! Never-ever have I watched "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" before. Sounds difficult to believe, but I was so overwhelmed and deeply impressed by the original "Jurassic Park" when I first saw it at age 12 in the cinema, that - back in 1993 already - I decided that nothing could ever surpass the experience. I never watched parts 2 and 3 but started again with the "Jurassic World" movies as per 2015. Since the most recent one - "Dominion" - was so terribly awful, I figured I might as well watch the older sequels too.
The good news is that "The Lost World" isn't as awful as "Dominion", for sure. The bad news: it's bad and undoubtedly the worst piece of work that Spielberg has ever put to the table (yes, including "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull").
Let it be clear, though, the special effects and dinosaur creatures obviously still look amazing. If you were crazy about the T-Rex from the original (and who wasn't?), there are now two T-Rexes plus a little one! While we're mentioning the strong points, there also are a few nail-bitingly suspenseful and incredibly spectacular sequences, like when Julianne Moore falls - seemingly painful - on the windshield of a camper, which subsequently starts cracking while hanging hundred meters above a stormy and rocky ocean.
The problem simply is the script that contains too many utterly implausible and exaggeratedly ridiculous twists and turns. A 12-year-old girl joining a supposedly well-planned and hi-tech excursion as a surprise-stowaway? I don't buy it. Battling a vicious Raptor using gymnastic tricks? Are you serious, Steven? Preferring the jaws of Tyrannosaur of the ticklish feeling of a snake in your shirt? Get out of here! Finally, can someone please explain how the T-Rex locked itself back in the below cage after devouring everybody aboard the vessel?!? Jeff Goldblum's Dr. Malcolm character was so cool in 1993, but he's dreadfully annoying here, and it seriously isn't normal that I liked the arrogant hunters (Postlethwaite and Stormare) the most. By the time our T-Rex goes on an old-fashioned and "Godzilla"-like rampage in San Diego, I had long given up on "The Lost World" and melancholically drifted off thinking how great and effective simple the original "Jurassic World" was.
The good news is that "The Lost World" isn't as awful as "Dominion", for sure. The bad news: it's bad and undoubtedly the worst piece of work that Spielberg has ever put to the table (yes, including "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull").
Let it be clear, though, the special effects and dinosaur creatures obviously still look amazing. If you were crazy about the T-Rex from the original (and who wasn't?), there are now two T-Rexes plus a little one! While we're mentioning the strong points, there also are a few nail-bitingly suspenseful and incredibly spectacular sequences, like when Julianne Moore falls - seemingly painful - on the windshield of a camper, which subsequently starts cracking while hanging hundred meters above a stormy and rocky ocean.
The problem simply is the script that contains too many utterly implausible and exaggeratedly ridiculous twists and turns. A 12-year-old girl joining a supposedly well-planned and hi-tech excursion as a surprise-stowaway? I don't buy it. Battling a vicious Raptor using gymnastic tricks? Are you serious, Steven? Preferring the jaws of Tyrannosaur of the ticklish feeling of a snake in your shirt? Get out of here! Finally, can someone please explain how the T-Rex locked itself back in the below cage after devouring everybody aboard the vessel?!? Jeff Goldblum's Dr. Malcolm character was so cool in 1993, but he's dreadfully annoying here, and it seriously isn't normal that I liked the arrogant hunters (Postlethwaite and Stormare) the most. By the time our T-Rex goes on an old-fashioned and "Godzilla"-like rampage in San Diego, I had long given up on "The Lost World" and melancholically drifted off thinking how great and effective simple the original "Jurassic World" was.