Jurassic Park III (2001)

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Steven Spielberg passes the directorial reigns of the Jurassic Park franchise to the superbly capable Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Captain America: The First Avenger) for this second dino sequel. Sam Neill returns as Dr. Alan Grant, coerced by a wealthy couple (Téa Leoni and William H. Macy) to return to the prehistoric island for a personal guided airplane tour. But the wealthy couple turn out not to be wealthy, and they plan to land the airplane to look for their missing son who went missing while parasailing the island’s coast with his uncle. Before Sam Neill can throw a sufficient-enough fit, their airplane is attacked by a big dinosaur, leaving them stranded and in peril.

Jurassic Park III takes itself less seriously than the first two films, which may rub some audiences the wrong way. But not me. I actually enjoy the fact that it’s more of an ‘out and proud’ B-grade monster movie. I mean, how else are you going to justify this many return trips to the most dangerous place on Earth? It’s nice to see Sam Neill again. Most of the supporting players are underwritten and borderline annoying, including Leoni and Macy, caught in a half-assed ‘estranged marriage’ subplot. Only Alessandro Nivola stands out as Neill’s handsome young assistant. The teacher/apprentice relationship between their two characters is one of the more interesting character relationships.

The third act feels short-shrifted, but Johnston delivers some fine action set-pieces before then, including one in which a large dinosaur knocks our heroes’ downed plane out of a tree and tears it apart while they’re still inside. We also get our first Jurassic encounter with pterodactyls when the group accidentally wanders into a giant ‘bird cage’. Old favorites like the T-rex and the velociraptors also make appearances, without being over-relied upon.

With Michael Jeter, Trevor Morgan, and Laura Dern.