It's been eight years since the events of the original Jurassic Park, and the area of dinosaur research has hit hard times. Desperate to fund his continuing research, paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) reluctantly accepts the offer from wealthy adventurer Paul Kirby (William H. Macy) and his wife Amanda (Tea Leoni) to accompany them on an aerial tour of Isla Sorna (the island from The Lost World).

Once they get to the island, the truth comes out: the Kirbys are a middle-class, divorced couple reunited for the sole purpose of finding their 14-year old son, Eric (Trevor Morgan), who disappeared on the island two months prior while vacationing with Amanda's boyfriend. When the plane collides with a dinosaur and crashes, Grant, the Kirbys and Grant's protégé, Billy Brennan (Alessandro Nivola) attempt to rescue Eric and escape with their lives.

With many a film today, the main problem here is the screenplay: it stinks. The first two movies, while no great shakes in the writing department, at least had acceptable stories based on Michael Crichton's novels to hang the set pieces on. Not so here. Bits and pieces are picked up from the first two films and some really, really weak domestic melodrama involving the Kirbys is thrown in to bridge the scenes with the dinosaurs. Apparently, the script was being written and rewritten as the production got under way and let me tell you folks, it really shows (especially in the film's incredibly lame conclusion. I've seen episodes of Captain Caveman that ended with more of an impact!).

As for director Joe Johnston, he is a helmer that certainly runs hot and cold. I enjoyed The Rocketeer and October Sky quite a bit. Then again, he was responsible for Jumanji and Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. You can safely add Jurassic Park III to the latter. Far too often in this film, Johnston is attempting to be Steven Spielberg. He doesn't succeed. He stages a couple of set pieces with the dinosaurs rather well (a showdown between a T-Rex and the Spinosaurus, a new dino on the block and a chase through a giant bird cage that houses the flying Pteranodons and their babies), but really can't balance the human drama with the visual effects (once again, a crap script is always a hindrance).

The cast try their best to make things work, but their efforts are to little or no avail. Sam Neill underplays Grant the way he did in the first Jurassic Park, which is fine. Tea Leoni does a good job screaming, but that is about it. William H. Macy obviously took one look at the script and decided to go on autopilot (smart move).

In the technical department, the dinosaur effects once again deliver (I actually think it would have been interesting if they had not). However, in the other departments, the quality is far below the first two. Don Davis, who contributed a horrendous orchestra score to The Matrix, delivers a completely unmemorable score here as well (he sure did use John Williams' theme quite a bit). Shelley Johnson's cinematography is drab and claustrophobic and the editing by Robert Dalva is far too quick for the viewer to get involved with the action on screen.

In the world of the Jurassic Park movies, dinosaurs are no longer extinct. Plots and characters, however, are. This slapdash, completely unnecessary third installment in the Universal Pictures cash cow offers the viewer some cool dinosaur effects and a couple of segments that are fun, but very, very little beyond that. This is one trip to the Park that you can most certainly do without.

I wasn't looking for high art with Jurassic Park III. I didn't get it with the first two films, so why go looking for it with the third? What I did get from the first two films was a piece of Hollywood fluff delivered with energy, fun and some kickass visual effects. Alas, the energy and fun have evaporated and the effects, while impressive, don't seem to have improved since the last film. The only ass that will be kicked is that of the viewer after they pay ten bucks to watch this drab sequel that no one seemed to be clamoring for (aside from the bean counters at Universal Pictures). Let's hope that this is the last visit any of us make to Jurassic Park.

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