Jurassic Park: Worst to Best
Ever since 1993, the films have provided a step forward when it came to CGI, sound design, and how to construct great characters and imaginative stories. This series has produced four films so far. In that group, the franchise has spawned wonders and atrocities that might've brought an end to this dinosaur.
However, Ian Malcom once said "Life finds a way," and in the past decade and a half, the Jurassic Park franchise has found a way to evolve and become one of the most prominent franchises in blockbuster moviemaking today. With this ranking, not to mention the ones to come, I'll be giving these films a grade since I give these films a mini review in these rankings. So get ready and hold onto your butts.
4. Jurassic Park III
My favorite film critic, Roger Ebert, once said "No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough." Even though it's ninety-two minutes long, Jurassic Park III goes on for what feels like forever. As always the case, bad films get made because the people making said films don't take enough care with the material. It should've been clear from the script that Jurassic Park III was not a good movie.
This third entry comes off as flat and one-dimensional as the main characters in this film are atrocious. Even Sam Neil as Alan Grant, is drastically different from his role in the first movie. There, he was smart and likable. Here, he's annoying and lacks any depth. Similar to Ian Malcolm in The Lost World, Grant essentially has the role in which he points out all the lack of common sense that the other characters showcase on multiple occasions. Sam Neil doesn't do it as well as Jeff Goldblum did mainly because it doesn't fit Alan's character. It worked with Ian because it was in his character to point out such things. When Alan tries to attempt it, he's smart or even funny. Speaking of smart, Alan himself lacks a great amount of common sense as he agrees to return to that death trap of an island for a reward that hinges on him staying alive?
Even worse than Sam Neil, all the other characters aren't the least bit interesting. William H. Macy and Téa Leoni play Paul and Amanda Kirby, a couple that try to find their son who has gone missing on the island. They are so dull, that their characters names are forgettable once you finish the movie. In fact, I had too look up their names to remind myself of who they played. In short, their performances are weak. There's nothing interesting about any of them, which makes it extremely odd to make them the main focus of the plot.
The dinosaurs don't even need to be here. Like the dinobots in Transformers: Age of Extinction, they're are a plot/action device. Their inclusion here is only so that this film is able to have Jurassic Park in its name. This time, the VFX hardly look any better than in the original film. They somehow look worse without that special ingredient that made them interesting in the first place. Maybe it's because this was one of the two films to not be helmed by Steven Spielberg. Thus, it doesn't have that same magic. That's seems to be the case as in this film, a dinosaur talks!
Action is in abundance, but this time, there's nothing interesting, let alone terrifying, about them. The score lacks that awe-inspiring presence that it once did. Perhaps it is because, like Steven Spielberg, John Williams didn't return and that same magic that Spielberg had also, applies to the score. The original theme did come back for a few moments, but it in no way makes up for it. The same thing can be said about the entire movie. It may bring back of few of the same elements as the original, but that didn't guarantee the success of this sequel.
Grade: F
3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
While having a few better elements than Jurassic Park III, The Lost World has its fair share of bad too, but for slightly different reasons. First, I'll get to why this is higher than the aforementioned follow-up.
The primary reason I watch this film and enjoy it, is because I love Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm. He's my favorite character of this entire franchise and the reason for what makes this film so entertaining. While the other characters are acting stupid, he's able to take the meta and humorous route and comment on the other character's poor decisions. He does that a lot here and he's the only sustaining source of entertainment throughout this poorly made sequel as he gives a few more iconic and cool lines.
Like Jurassic Park III though, everyone else is acting uncharacteristically idiotic. I use "uncharacteristically," because these people are supposed to be smart, they are supposed to be experts. Perhaps Juliane Moore's paleontologist character is the best example out of all these supporting characters. Her character is an expert on dinosaurs, but she somehow become the danger attractor on multiple occasions. Whether it is getting dinosaur pheromones on her clothing, or taking a baby T-Rex back to the mobile home to fix its broken leg.
Granted, it did lead to one of the best moments of the Jurassic Park franchise which involves two T-Rexes tipping the mobile home off a cliff and the protagonists have to carefully get themselves to safety. There's also the other good moment that came out of this film where the main characters, not to mention some redshirts, travel through the tall grass and the Velociraptors sift through the grass and pick off people one by one. It's great stuff.
However, then its followed by the needless final act where a T-Rex acts like she's King Kong and roams the streets of San Diego causing havoc in her wake. Our human antagonists are a sorry bunch of corporate tycoons trying to build a dinosaur theme park that'll include a colosseum-like attraction where attendees will surely get eaten or devoured. There's also a daughter that Ian apparently has. Sorry if that feels tacked on, but so is she. At least she's good for one thing which was to use the power of gymnastics to kick a raptor out a window.
Spielberg does some things right with this film. The cinematography is immersive, John Williams's great score returns with improved additions to it, but while this has some of the same filmmakers that were behind the first film, The Lost World was less than half of the quality of the original Jurassic Park.
Grade: C-
Like Jurassic Park III though, everyone else is acting uncharacteristically idiotic. I use "uncharacteristically," because these people are supposed to be smart, they are supposed to be experts. Perhaps Juliane Moore's paleontologist character is the best example out of all these supporting characters. Her character is an expert on dinosaurs, but she somehow become the danger attractor on multiple occasions. Whether it is getting dinosaur pheromones on her clothing, or taking a baby T-Rex back to the mobile home to fix its broken leg.
Granted, it did lead to one of the best moments of the Jurassic Park franchise which involves two T-Rexes tipping the mobile home off a cliff and the protagonists have to carefully get themselves to safety. There's also the other good moment that came out of this film where the main characters, not to mention some redshirts, travel through the tall grass and the Velociraptors sift through the grass and pick off people one by one. It's great stuff.
However, then its followed by the needless final act where a T-Rex acts like she's King Kong and roams the streets of San Diego causing havoc in her wake. Our human antagonists are a sorry bunch of corporate tycoons trying to build a dinosaur theme park that'll include a colosseum-like attraction where attendees will surely get eaten or devoured. There's also a daughter that Ian apparently has. Sorry if that feels tacked on, but so is she. At least she's good for one thing which was to use the power of gymnastics to kick a raptor out a window.
Spielberg does some things right with this film. The cinematography is immersive, John Williams's great score returns with improved additions to it, but while this has some of the same filmmakers that were behind the first film, The Lost World was less than half of the quality of the original Jurassic Park.
Grade: C-
2. Jurassic World
It's no surprise that the one sequel to even come close to matching the original Jurassic Park is the one that is eerily similar to the original Jurassic Park. I am both amazed and a tad bit afraid that the two most successful films of 2015 were two sequels that were incredibly similar to the original films that started their franchises.
After being stuck in development for over ten years, we finally got a sequel to Jurassic Park that wasn't terrible. That shouldn't come as a surprise, because most, if not all, of the basic template is a revision of the 1993 original film. Even though we have different characters, their basic arch is similar to that of the original cast. Rather than point all the similarities out, I encourage you to go back and view the film with that in mind. It's not hard to point out the similarities.
With that said, the characters are still entertaining. It comes as no surprise that Chris Pratt was the best of the bunch. His knowledge of dinosaurs and very charismatic attitude made him an interesting character to follow around this new feature. He's very much an Indiana Jones-like character here. An appropriate comparison since Steven Spielberg has involvement with both franchises. Oddly enough, it was Chris Pratt's Owen and his connection to the four Velociraptors that provided the strongest emotional connection that any character had with another. That's likely because the other character relationships are either lacking or forced.
In the case of Bryce Dallas Howard, she wasn't bad by any means, but the film didn't give her a strong enough reason why her character had to be featured in the majority of the film. Her relationship with Chris Pratt didn't do anything to give her a boost in defining her character and I'm not exactly a fan of when a romance takes the "will they, won't they" approach. It's become a cliched and dull template that does nothing but add unnecessary minutes to a movie that's already more than two hours long.
As for the other "prominent" storyline in this film, the two kids that make up more than a quarter of the film's runtime is an excuse for kids to appeal to this new film. They pale in comparison to the characters in the original, but that's not exactly a surprise as the two do nothing except argue, fight, complain, and act dumb for most of their screen time. They eventually make up, but it feels so forced rather than earned.
The dinosaurs are the main attraction of this film. They always have been, except Jurassic Park III. While there is a lot more CGI, I mean I don't believe that they created a life-sized Mosasaurus, they still keep some of the old-fashioned practicality in there when these human characters get up close and personal with these prehistoric wonders. The action is spread evenly throughout and yes, the T-Rex/Velociraptor against the Indominus Rex was worth the price of admission. Similar to what he did in Rogue One, Michael Giacchino replaced John Williams to compose this sequel/soft-reboot' score. The original theme is heavily incorporated in different parts of the score and film itself, but he does manage to create his own theme that mixes well with the old.
That's how I would sum up Jurassic World. It's a great melding of the past with the present to create the best Jurassic Park sequel to date. I know that's not saying much, but it's still true.
Grade: B
1. Jurassic Park
Future directors may take their shot at trying to surpass the original, but Steven Spielberg's first entry is the king of this franchise. It came out on the time when Spielberg was on the top of his game and he created one of his best, and more iconic, works.
Jurassic Park is as much a technical marvel as it is a marvel in general. These characters have been cemented in film history as some of the most likable, interesting, fleshed-out characters in cinema. Not to mention, quotable. This film is full of now-iconic lines that have been heard countless times and they never get old.
This has one of the best casts ever. Sam Neil's Alan Grant, Laura Dern's Ellie Sattler, Richard Attenborough's John Hammond, Samuel L. Jackson's Ray Arnold, and my favorite, Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm. Even the kids, Alex and Tim Murphy, were great and they actually had a purpose in the story. They weren't there just as a danger device, they had purposes and roles to serve.
Outside of the popular book-to-film adaptions like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, I have read the Jurassic Park novel that this movie is based on. While it is good and there are differences between the versions, somehow Steven Spielberg took the book, adapted it, and while he was mildly faithful to it, he elevated the material and took it in ways that aren't done with book-to-film adaptions today. Not only did he make the characters more interesting, but reading the book after seeing the film, you can tell that Steven Spielberg had a specific vision for the film and that vision is what you see today.
The visual effects were groundbreaking for its time and while it's surely aged, I can respect the hard work that went into designing these effects. Practicality is also prominent, with a majority of the dinosaurs being animatronic robots in the close shots. CGI was only used for the wide shots and it all works as a potent combination in this movie. John William's score here is one of the best soundtracks he's ever conducted. It's peaceful, but also suspenseful during the more intense and scary scenes of the movie.
This is a product of great movie-making that only works because everyone put a hundred percent in this movie. In front and behind the camera. It's one of those films that's going to be timeless no matter what comes out in the years to come. I love watching this movie. It isn't one of my favorite movies, but that doesn't rob it of what it deserves.
Grade: A+
Outside of the popular book-to-film adaptions like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, I have read the Jurassic Park novel that this movie is based on. While it is good and there are differences between the versions, somehow Steven Spielberg took the book, adapted it, and while he was mildly faithful to it, he elevated the material and took it in ways that aren't done with book-to-film adaptions today. Not only did he make the characters more interesting, but reading the book after seeing the film, you can tell that Steven Spielberg had a specific vision for the film and that vision is what you see today.
The visual effects were groundbreaking for its time and while it's surely aged, I can respect the hard work that went into designing these effects. Practicality is also prominent, with a majority of the dinosaurs being animatronic robots in the close shots. CGI was only used for the wide shots and it all works as a potent combination in this movie. John William's score here is one of the best soundtracks he's ever conducted. It's peaceful, but also suspenseful during the more intense and scary scenes of the movie.
This is a product of great movie-making that only works because everyone put a hundred percent in this movie. In front and behind the camera. It's one of those films that's going to be timeless no matter what comes out in the years to come. I love watching this movie. It isn't one of my favorite movies, but that doesn't rob it of what it deserves.
Grade: A+
Conclusion
A few weeks ago, I watched J. A. Bayona's A Monster Calls for the first time. After viewing the film, I have complete faith that he'll deliver, at the very least, a good sequel with Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom. I don't think he'll top Steven Spielberg's original, but after watching A Monster Calls, I'm open to the idea. Now that both he and Ian Malcolm are involved with this film, my excitement for the fifth movie has gone up significantly. I'll be curious to see what happens in the movie when it's released this June.
So that's my ranking of the four current Jurassic Park films. What do you think of it? Do you have a similar ranking, or is yours different. I would imagine that we'd all have the same number one, but if you have a different opinion, I'd like to hear it. Share your ranking in the comments section below, share this post with your friends, and get ready for some great posts coming in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading, I'm the Film Fanatic, bye-bye.
Comments
Post a Comment