Director Report Card: Steven Spielberg (1997) - Part One

19. The Lost World: Jurassic Park

“Jurassic Park” was a genuine pop culture phenomenon, a generation-defining hit. The movie was beloved by audiences, well liked by critics, and scooped up countless awards for its ground-breaking special effects. When a film is that beloved, audiences begin to want more of it. There was a problem. Michael Crichton, the original novel’s author, didn’t write sequels. Spurned by popular demand and the insistence of Steven Spielberg himself, Crichton dusted off a sequel novel called “The Lost World.” Immediately, Hollywood went to work on a film adaptation, with Spielberg behind the camera again. Released into theaters in 1997, “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” was another huge box office hit. It’s reception among critics and fans was more mixed. To this day, people debate the merits of “The Lost World” and in what ways it stacks up to the original.

Four years after the Jurassic Park incident on Isla Nublar, InGen’s stock is plummeting. John Hammond has been ousted by his own company, his greedy nephew taking over. Hammond retrieves Dr. Ian Malcolm, whose reputation was ruined after going public with the first film events. He reveals to an expedition is underway to Site B, the island where the dinosaurs were raised before being taken to the park. In man’s absence, the dinosaurs have run wild, creating their own ecosystem. Malcolm, still suffering from dinosaur-related PTSD, has no interest in returning. When he’s told that his paleontologist girlfriend is already on the island, he changes his mind. Trying to survive the dinosaur-infested island, Malcolm and friends uncovers a sinister plan by InGen’s new owners.

Making a sequel to a film as beloved as “Jurassic Park” would be a difficult proposition for anyone, even a proven hitmaker like Steven Spielberg. Anything he could have delivered likely would have been criticized, for the simple crime of not being the first movie. Perhaps as a pre-emptive move against such criticism, “The Lost World” functions on a time-tested sequel formula: Give the audience more of what they loved the first time. This tendency is most obvious in the decision to have two Tyrannosauruses in the film. We have a sequel with more dinosaurs, more action, more humor, and more human-on-dinosaur chaos. “The Lost World’s” eagerness to please is actually a problem. The film is so focused on delivering the goods that other parts of the story are underdeveloped. The result is an action-packed film that doesn’t satisfy the way its predecessor did.

In “Jurassic Park,” John Hammond created dinosaurs without thinking about the consequences. As dangerous as his creation became, his motivation was pure. Hammond was driven by a child-like glee to provide the world with the gift of living, breathing dinosaurs. This provided an interesting twist on the time-worn “scientists tampering in God’s domain” cliché. The funder behind “The Lost World’s” expedition have a far more basic motivation: Greed. Hammond’s penny-pinching cousin wants to refund the first park’s financial lost. He plans to capture dinosaurs and bring them to the mainland, where they will be displayed in a massive zoo. Why would anyone think this would be a feasible idea, especially after the first film’s events? Peter Ludlow, played by a sniveling Arliss Howard, is so thin and cartoonish a villain that the audience doesn’t have to question why.

The eagerness of the film’s villains to exploit the dinosaurs for profit speaks to the film’s ecological theme. The hubris of capitalism is targeted. Ludlow and his association are so hellbent on making profits that they don’t care who they endanger. By the time the bad guy actually fulfils his hair-brained scheme to bring a dinosaur to San Francisco, most everyone around him is disillusioned. Moreover, the movie is critical of anyone who exploits the natural world. There’s frequent shout-outs to Greenpeace. Man’s intrusion into Site B is seen as unnatural. By the end, even John Hammond is insisting that the dinosaurs be left alone. It’s a valid point. However, making a statement about mankind’s involvement with the world and tying it in with genetically engineered dinosaurs muddles the moral’s waters. 

Steven Spielberg made “The Lost World” after a four year hiatus, an unexpected break for the usually very busy filmmaker. During production, he expressed some misgivings about the movie. He felt like he was making a special effects film with no human heart. Re-watching “The Lost World” for the first time in years, I began to suspect Spielberg might have been making a toy commercial. A long sequence in the film’s middle section is devoted to the dino hunters InGen has hired. They track down the thunder lizards in their high-tech vehicles. The trucks are Mercedes-Benz, their branding proudly displayed. There are fold-out seats in the truck, allowing the hunters better shots. One of the trucks deploys a grasping winch in order to hold the creatures. Unsurprisingly, the extensive “Lost World” toy line revolved around the dinosaur hunters and all the fun gimmicks they could ensnare dinos with. (This ignored the fact that these characters are the film’s bad guys.) I don’t know which came first, the movie or the toys but, at times, the film feels like its in service of the marketing and not the other way around.

The film’s toyetic approach has one big attribute though: More dinosaurs! The first “Jurassic Park” allowed Spielberg the realize a dream about dinosaurs on-screen. The sequel gives him an even bigger toy box to play in. One of the first dinosaurs we meet here is the stegosaurus, a notable exclusion from the first film. The plated creature travels in packs and swings its thagomizer into a log, nearly skewering Julianne Moore. The hunters are introduced tracking a Parasaurolophus, one of the most visually distinctive dinosaurs. They also captured a Pachycephalosaurus, one of my favorites. And, yes, it does smash a vehicle with its famous dome-head. The beloved triceratops was featured in the first movie. However, it didn’t do anything other then lie on its side, sick. “The Lost World” corrects this by letting the Triceratops rampage through a camp. The tri-horned dinosaur smashes through structures and even tosses a car into a tree. It’s awesome.

The first “Jurassic Park” made the velociraptor, a relatively obscure creature before, into a dinosaur superstar. The sequel attempts another reinvention for a similarly unknown species. Compsognathus, referred to as Compies through the film, are small, relatively cute dinosaurs. They resemble saurian versions of geckos. However, their size betrays their dangerous qualities. The Compies descend on humans in swarms, slowly tearing at their flesh and eating them. A left-out element from Crichton’s first book, the film sequel devotes a lot of time to these critters. They have a fun gimmick, and are beautifully created through a smart mixture of CGI and puppetry. However, I think Spielberg and crew thought the Compsognathus was cooler then the rest of us did. Though they have a cult following, the tiny, deadly dinosaur did not crossover to the mainstream the way raptors did. 

Though “The Lost World” makes room for new dinosaurs – even sneaking in a cameo from a pterodon – it knows who the boss is. The T-Rex is given an even bigger role then before. Since the sequel is so intent on topping the original, it gives us a pair of T-Rexes. Nearly the entire first half of the film is devoted to the T-Rex. The big game hunter is eager to face down the Tyrant Lizard King. The duo, a mating pair, make a dramatic entrance into the film. They corner a research lab on both sides. After thinking they’ve appease the creatures, they continue to attack, pushing the trailer over a cliff. The extended sequence, devoted to the cast dangling inside the inverted vehicle, is one of the most intense scenes in “The Lost World.” Another intense sequence has the heroes cornered inside a cave by the dinosaurs. In addition to the mature T-Rexes, the movie also prominently features an adorable, injured, crying baby T-Rex. People liked the undisputed King of the Dinosaurs in the first movie. The sequel successfully gave us more of them.

In attempting to top the first “Jurassic Park,” Spielberg, Crichton, and their teams also made a darker, more violent film. The sequel is packed full of more explicit dino gore. A man is torn in two by the Rexes, each one grabbing a leg, splitting him like a wish bone. A scientist, based off real world eccentric paleontologist Bob Bakker, is chewed up by the dinos. Later, a pack of Compies chew up one of the villains. In a scene that honestly feels protracted and overly sadistic, he’s chewed up, blood spilling into the water. Later on, we even get a boat littered with severed body parts. In addition to the ramped-up gore, “The Lost World” is also visually darker, mostly taking place at night and in thick forest.

Since they were the breakout stars of the original, the sequel makes plenty of room for the velociraptors. An lengthy sequence in the middle of the film is devoted to the speedy creatures. They run and leap, running through a field of tall grass, pinning victims. The dinos jump through glass and wreck cars. This is cool and all but draws attention to the movie’s use of CGI, which is heavier then the first and not as timeless. The movie also makes the odd decision to weaken the raptors. In a moment of almost unbearable Spielbergian sap, a teenage girl kicks a raptor out a window with her gymnastic skills. Maybe because they were such an unexpected, thrilling presence in the first film, the raptors fill somewhat neutered here.

You know how else you can tell this is a Spielberg movie? It’s about family. Introduced early on is Ian Malcolm’s daughter, Kelly. Kelly is estranged from her mother and Ian frankly has a difficult time dealing with the precocious kid. She stowaways on the boat, travelling to Jurassic Park with her dad. She’s reluctant to accept Sarah, Malcolm’s long-time girlfriend, as a mother figure. By the end, after the ordeal they’ve been through with the dinosaurs, the trio renew their familial bond. This theme is connected with the dinosaurs. The two Tyrannosaurs are motivated by the theft of their off-spring. Once reunited with it, they are at peace. Even early on, a mother Stegosaurus is enraged by a perceived threat to its child. The film seems to suggest that parenthood is the connecting fiber throughout every world, even those of the dinosaurs.

In a movie as effects heavy as “The Lost World,” the human cast is almost unimportant. Sam Neill’s Alan Grant or Laura Dern’s Dr. Stattler do not return for the sequel. Instead, Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm is thrust into the role of protagonist. Goldblum does fine as a leading man. His nervous energy and quiet humor is actually a boon to the sequel, providing the movie with some sort of human heart. Playing his girlfriend is Julianne Moore. Moore has admitted she only took the movie for the paycheck. Despite that, she’s entertaining in the part. She has decent chemistry with Goldblum and seems to be having fun among the dinosaurs. 

The supporting cast is an interesting mix bag. Vince Vaugh, during that weird time when he was still a dramatic actor, plays Nick Van Owen, the team’s photographer. Vaughn’s smarmy attitude is weirdly at odds with the movie’s tone. Smartly, he vanishes before the last act. Playing the big game hunter is veteran character actor Peter Postlethwaite. Postlethwaite at first appears to be a thinly drawn bad guy. As the film goes on, he develops a deeper personality, learning to respect the creatures he’s been hunting. Postlethwaite is certainly preferable over Arliss Howard’s paper-thin Leyland. Peter Stromere has fun as Dieter, the greasy henchman, but the part only gives him so much to do.

I think part of the reason people were disappointed in “The Lost World” is because it’s entire marketing campaign was built around the Tyrannosaurus Rex rampaging through San Francisco. This does not occur until the very end, occupying a small portion of the two hour and nine minutes run time. I know this bugged me as a kid. Sometimes, the wait is worth it though. A homage to the 1925 silent version of “The Lost World,” the T-Rex’s rampage is deeply satisfying. People leap off docks to avoid the creature’s snapping jaws. The dinosaur flips cars, smashing his way through a video store, and chomps on David Koepp. Inevitably, the T-Rex corners the movie’s villain and viciously eats him, giving the bad guy an appropriately ironic end. The movie saves its best special effects for this conclusion. Even now, it’s an impressive display. Would I have preferred an entire movie devoted to dinosaurs attacking cities? Sure. (Though I can’t imagine it was feasible budget-wise.) Yet the movie makes its conclusion count. 

If you’re looking for dinosaur action, “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” might actually satisfy more then the original. It’s a rare moment that doesn’t feature some sort of dino-related mayhem. That’s cool and all. Really, it is. However, the sequel does lack a certain something. The character are less well received and given less to do. The story is sketchy and almost an afterthought. It’s not a horrible film. It’s actually quite entertaining at times. Sadly, it does not match up to the original. Because it is possible to have too much of a good thing, even if that good thing is a T-Rex tearing people in two. [Grade: B-]

RECENT WATCHES: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

There had been superhero movies starring black actors before "Black Panther" but none of them made the impact it did. The Afrofuturism tinged story, with the way it exalted blackness, really spoke to a wide audience. The film made massive money at the box office, was nominated for Best Picture, and turned Chadwick Boseman into an icon overnight. This status was amplified by his unexpected death. Seeing a star in his prime cut down, learning he was struggling with cancer while the world was praising him, was shocking. I'm sure it was shocking to Disney execs too. Because the Marvel franchise machine must roll on and now its newest big series was without its star. "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" was announced and moved forward with little indication of how exactly this was going to work. As the advertising campaign for the sequel finally ramped up, it became clear that Disney's main strategy for the movie was to lean into the death of its star, the typical superhero shenanigans being overshadowed by the mourning process. How did this work out for them? 

Following the events of "Endgame," King T'Challa dies unexpectedly of an unknown illness. His little sister, Shuri, feels enormous guilt as she was attempting to replicate the heart-shaped herb – which could have saved his life – as he died. Queen Ramonda must lead Wakanda without her son now. The U.S. government discovers an underwater supply of vibranium with a machine designed by college student Riri Williams. The leader of an aquatic civilization, Namor, demands Wakanda brings Riri to him or face all-out war. Shuri races to protect Riri, save her people, and accept her fate as the next Black Panther. 

The death of Chadwick Boseman put "Black Panther 2" in a hard situation. If Marvel simply recast the role, it would make a sequel story a lot easier to write. It might've also been perceived as insensitive towards Boseman's legacy. Kill him off-screen and the sequel is put in the awkward position of writing around its main character in-between movies. Ryan Coogler and his team chose the latter option. "Wakanda Forever" essentially attempts to move the first film's entire supporting cast into the protagonist role. Letitia Wright's Shuri, Angela Basset's Queen, and Danai Guirira's Okoye all appear to be the film's main character at different times. (With heavy supporting roles for M'Baku, Nakia, and Everett Ross.) It's an unwieldy solution, creating an unsteady story that is always shifting focus, centered on an ensemble that is weighed down by grief. 

Eventually, Shuri does emerge as the story's protagonist, with a clearly understood objective and motivation. Up until that point, "Wakanda Forever" is another one of those Marvel sequels that are burdened by having to set-up future adventures. Riri Williams, who will become the superhero Ironheart, is central to the film's beginning. She kicks off the plot and gets plenty of action beats during the climax. Yet she also disappears from the film for long stretches, making you kind of wonder why she's here at all. (Beyond the obvious reason that Disney has big plans for her.) Dominique Thorne is fine in the part but Riri never feels like the heart of the movie, as she should. The film similarly stops for a lengthy sequence devoted to establishing Namor's origins or showing that or showing that Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Contessa de Fontaine is still kicking around. "Black Panther 2" is so choked by grieving Boseman, writing around his death, and establishing characters that'll be important to other, future Marvel projects that the movie doesn't feel like it's actually started until it's halfway over. 

If nothing else, Coogler and his team assemble a strong cast that do their best to act their asses off. Angela Bassett dominates the screen in several of her scenes, imbuing the Queen with the heartbreak and fury she must feel. Letitia Wright has a more complicated arc this time, as Shuri is shouldering a lot more pain and responsibility. Lupita Nyong'a brings a gracefulness to Nakia, a character the sequel similarly uses and discards as it wants. Danai Gurira's Okoye and Winston Duke's M'Baku are the closest things the movie has to comic relief and they do their best. Moreover, all the actors and the movie around them are clearly heartfelt in their desire to pay tribute to Boseman. This is a movie preoccupied with the question of how we move on after our loved ones die and it's clear the creative team were juggling that query themselves. 

Though clearly an uneven affair, "Wakanda Forever" does succeed in doing one thing really well. It gives Namor, one of Marvel's most compellingly complex antiheroes, the introduction he deserves. The character's back story is extensively rewritten, making him and his city of Talokan (not Atlantis) the last remnant of a Mesoamerican civilization. This was probably done to distinguish the character from DC's Aquaman. Yet Namor's grievances with the surface world are still well founded. He's a proud, regal, super strong asshole with extreme measures but he's not wrong either. Newcomer Tenoch Huerta plays him with all the confidence of a seasoned movie star, immediately establishing a compelling screen presence. Namor is a great villain, even if the world he protects never feels fully fleshed-out. Mostly, I'm relieved that "Wakanda Forever" never flees from the ridiculous image of an aquatic Vulcan in a green speedo who flies with little chicken wings on his ankles. Comic book movies should never be afraid of their own silliness. 

Despite its many strengths, I just can't escape the feeling that "Wakanda Forever" is a movie that was rushed through production when more time was needed to finesse it. You see this in the cinematography and action choreography as well. Coogler and D.P. Autumn Durald Arkapaw do occasionally replicate the splendor of the first film. Such as when Namor introduces Shuri to his underwater world. Yet the film's photography is often way too dark, making many sequences hard-to-follow. The action scenes, all throughout, are also needlessly muddy. The camera work is shaky, the editing is too quick, and slow-motion "ramping" is overused. The result is big budget action spectacle that is never satisfying to watch or even easy to follow. 

Despite the praise that greeted it, the first "Black Panther" was a film whose parts were greater than its whole. The same is true of its sequel, which is further conflicted by Marvel double-stuffing it with set-up for future franchise opportunities. Mostly though, its the Chadwick Boseman-shaped hole in the center of the movie's heart that it can't overcome. "Wakanda Forever" is without its hero and every attempt it makes to get around that feels hopelessly awkward, no matter how heartfelt its tribute to the fallen star might be. At least Namor is badass though. That matters. [6/10]