Subject: REVIEW: THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (1997)

From: [email-masked] (Jeff Shooman)
Date: 29 May 1997 21:20:20 GMT

THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK
                       A film review by Jeff Shooman
                        Copyright 1997 Jeff Shooman

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FIRST IMPRESSION:  A "whip-out-the-checkbook-for-explosive-special-effects"
type movie, devoid of a decent plot, whose only purpose is to make some ...
oh say billions at the box office.
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REVIEW:

There's not much to say about Steven Spielberg's latest venture into the
dinosaur world, except that its sole purpose is to make money.  Now you pose
the question, don't all other movies aim to make money?  Yes, I agree, it is
the goal of the film execs to make money.  However, most of the time, with
few exception, it is the goal of the filmmaker to make a good movie.  Here I
must speculate, with the brilliant talent of Mr. Spielberg, his sole purpose
in making this "sequel" was to make money.  

Here, however, the filmmaker didn't concentrate on making a good movie.  He
concentrated on making a loud movie where digital dinosaurs eat people,
providing that sporadic jolt that this movie so desperately needed.  There's
no plot here, unless you think that David Koepp's attempt at it, trying to
entangle greed and science, consists of a plot.  

Still, the film passes some muster.  Why?  The effects.  The effects here are
astounding, and it is no wonder why Mr. Spielberg and others stand to make
millions from it.  The technological display here is absolutely second to
none.  

And do you know what was also a plus with this film?  John Williams's score.
 I was roused at certain moments, where the music was one note away from the
Luke-Darth Vader scene in RETURN OF THE JEDI music.  Williams proves again
why he is such an invaulable asset to Hollywood, and why his scores leave the
audience humming for hours and hours.  

So, this movie turned out average.  Again, the effects are marvelous.  The
plot is non-existant.  And the ending descends to that of a "B" monster movie
(MOTHRA).  All in all, this movie is like Spielberg's JURASSIC PARK (1993),
except here, the plot has worn thin, and the concept has grown old.

** out of ****

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