Jurassic Park 3

release year: 2001
genre: dinosaur adventure
viewing setting: home DVD, 11/27/08 and 12/5/04 and theater, 9/5/01
what I expected: dinosaur mayhem the way it should be (on an isolated island, not in a city)
what I got: pretty good dinosaur action that expanded the series

synopsis: Dr. Alan Grant and a handful of others end up on a second island full of dinosaurs.

impressions: One of my biggest problems with this movie: a small group of people without a single weapon at all cannot survive a situation like this. Sorry, I just can't buy it. That aside, the dinosaurs were fun to see, including several new ones (ankylosaurus, pterodactyl for sure, plus the fictional spinosaurus which was capable of defeating a T-Rex.) The plot was just enough to keep the characters and events moving along; the movie clocked in at just under 90 minutes, but there was plenty of action.

acting: Decent. Sam Neill reprised his role as Dr. Grant, and did a great job. Tea Leoni was irritating and useless and should have died early. Basically, most of the characters were normal people who thought they would just have a brief visit to this dinosaur-infested island, and didn't realize the risks involved - a common theme of these movies.

final word: Lite version of the first movie; worth seeing for the new dinosaurs alone.

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