Magic, in the sense of capturing or creating wonder, is a very tricky thing. It’s often born out of doing something unbelievable. As audiences we go to movies with this willingness to be vulnerable and let the story take us with it. And sometimes we get lucky and watch something that just blows us away. But these moments can only happen so many times and in so many ways; when a movie tries to duplicate them it rarely finds success.
As was already stated, Jurassic Park was a phenomenal success. It managed to tell a grounded and truly human story while also delivering a wealth of spectacle to audiences of all ages. And with its record-breaking success there was very little surprise that the franchise would want to capitalize on the chance for a franchise and build up a string us successive movies that make oodles of money… but there was one problem, the series had already lost its biggest draw.
The first time we see the dinosaurs in the original film is a magical moment. It’s just too awe inspiring to even describe and so it has a quality that just cannot be truly replicated. So, when the same scenes happen in The Lost World, they just don’t land with the same awe-inspiring punch that they did in the first one. The herbivores don’t have this gentle majesty that makes you want to walk up and touch them, and the carnivores don’t have that same mysterious intimidation that causes us to react so strongly to their dangerous nature.
And this problem occurs in many sequels. The problem of movie making as a business is that often things are made less for the purpose of artistic expression and more for the sake of making money. And that drive to make money is often centered around delivering things that are “safe bets”. In other words, the studio doesn’t push the envelope far enough to actually make an impact and while the low points of the movie may not be as disastrous, the high points are not nearly as spectacular either.
And this all comes to a head in the final product of the movie, which has chosen to sacrifice certain choices of story for the potential of making money through spectacle. But in making this choice, it ultimately results in all aspects losing that charm, that joy, that wonder that made the movie before it such a phenomenon. Yes, movies can make money, but if they are focused on only doing that then the final product will be something without the most important aspect of storytelling, and that is passion. Without passion the movies are hollow, and if the movies are hollow then they just can’t succeed, not truly.
So, let’s break everything down.
All Spielberg movies will be judged based on the same five pieces of criteria.
Acting – Are the performances good and do they serve the story or are they distracting and awkward?
Story and Dialogue – Does the story being told make sense and is the use of dialogue allow it to succeed or does the story struggle and/or the dialogue drag it down
Shooting and Editing – How is the camera used, how are the shots arranged, what other elements are used to enhance the movie?
Design – How does the movie look? Does it help the movie or hurt the movie?
Iconic Moment – Spielberg has made several big iconic moments throughout cinema, what are they, how many of them are there, and which ones stand out the most?
All these criteria will be judged on a score of 10 for a total score of 50.
So here is my breakdown of The Lost World: Jurassic Park:
Acting – Jeff Goldblum is really trying to revive the charm of Ian Malcolm, but without the correct cast to play off of the charm gets lost. Julianne Moore is a nice addition but again is competing to create a new character that feels much like a replacement for a previously established character. In the end, like many aspects of the franchise, the movie feels hollow. (7/10)
Story and Dialogue – This plot is slow, and then breakneck, and then slow again. It has these moments where it feels like the movie will never end and then others where it is going so quickly that you miss pieces of it. By and large it does manage to make sense and the dialogue, while at times somewhat poor, does by and large work fine. (5/10)
Shooting and Editing – This doesn’t feel like a Spielberg movie. It’s weird to say that but it just seems too standard to truly be a Spielberg film. The personal choices of camera movements and the choppy pace all seem to take the movie’s personality away in some ways and ultimately just let Spielberg’s voice come through. (6/10)
Design – I feel like the CGI got worse in this one. I’m sure it didn’t but it just doesn’t look as good this time around. The practical dinosaurs are still really well designed but the other aspects replace the great moments with splashes of color. This by contrast is very pale, very grey, and very without life. (7/10)
Iconic Moment – I think the idea of a T-Rex rampaging through San Diego is better in concept than the way that this movie does it. However, it is still the high point of this one and getting to see a T-Rex chasing a care is such a fun moment, even if the movie doesn’t use it to its fullest potential. (7/10)
Total Score: 32/50
Current Ranking:
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Jurassic Park
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Schindler’s List
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Jaws
Hook
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Duel
Empire of the Sun
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The Color Purple
Twilight Zone: The Movie
The Sugarland Express
1941
Always
We’re now leaving the dinosaur’s behind and have reached the halfway point of this wild and fun journey we are on. Spielberg’s big name features are now mostly behind us and we will see a much more mature filmmaker making much more mature films. But that’s not to say that there won’t still be some gems in the mix.
So until then, thanks for taking the time to get Ploominated!
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