Jurassic Park III
Djurasik park III
Starring: Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Tea Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Michael Jeter
Directed by: Joe Johnston
Running time: One hour and 32 minutes

The "marginal utility" theory of economics (that each additional piece of cake you eat brings you less satisfaction) applies quite literally to the Jurassic Park series.

The humans vs. dinosaurs contests which we are treated to, follow very similar patterns and it's no wonder that the enjoyment tends to be suffocated by thoughts like "been there, seen that." In this train of thought, Jurassic Park III is by no means a feast of originality, but if you enjoyed the first two installments of the franchise, you will be more likely to find adequate value for money in this last effort.

The film looks no further than the premise of the second bite, The Lost World, in order to find the location for a new set of adventures. The son of Paul and Amanda Kirby (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) manages to turn his attempt to para-sail over Isla Sorna into disaster. His loving parents respond by engineering a rescue mission, which, one entertains oneself by thinking, is little more than an excuse to leave a set of humans on the dinosaur-infested island. Paul and Amanda even manage to recruit the dino-expert Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), but the viewers are left with the cheerful doubt that the most alluring reason why he agrees to his onscreen mission is his off-screen check signed by Mr. Spielberg.

The latter has wisely reserved for himself only the executive producer's chair while the dino-adventures are an adequate playground for his protege Joe Johnston (Jumanji, October Sky). Spielberg has wisely and correctly seen that A.I. and the upcoming Minority Report (starring Tom Cruise) offer better materials for his wild imagination and glaring talent. One could be sure that those will be carefully crafted throughout. Oddly, Jurassic Park III looks like the product of numerous producers' compromises and conflicting concepts.

One could actually feel and see the screenwriters Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor throw caution to the wind, and brainstorm links between elaborate chase and action set pieces, which alarmingly often require the actors to act like idiots and flounder in affected dialogue. The one actor that escapes unscathed from the bad-dialog treadmill is William H. Macy. He manages to infuse enough meaning and authority into lines such as "No force on earth or heaven will get me back on that island," while seasoned professionals like Sam Neil can only manage to utter them with suppressed bewilderment and rightful indignation. Luckily for the actors the dialog, preposterous as it is, is reduced to a minimum, so that the thrills and chases are brought to the forefront.

To be sure, they do not disappoint. The heart-stopping chases and elaborate killings are the main assets of the film along with a couple of new entries in the dinosaur catalog. Spinosaurs have been described as a cross between the T-Rex and Barbara Streisand and, cruel as it is, the comparison is, I dare say, adequately grounded. The Velociraptor is more of a technical achievement than a valuable contribution to the plot.

All in all, one could enjoy the film, even if one cannot be totally oblivious to its shortcomings and routine franchise background. In a summer of dire popcorn-movie underachievement, Jurassic Park III even manages to distinguish itself as better than most. One could justly add that Spielberg's magic touch is tangible, even if it appears a little unconcerned.