Movie Scene
More of the same with 'Jurassic Park III'

By Anthony Breznican
Associated Press Entertainment Writer

We know all too well what to expect from dinosaurs these days.

Michael Jeter, left to right, Alessandro Nivola, Tea Leoni, Sam Neill and William H. Macy in a scene from the motion picture "Jurassic Park III." Universal Studios "Jurassic Park III," a Universal Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi terror and violence. Running time: 90 minutes.

When all hope seems lost, a bigger dinosaur will swing by and bite the attacker, allowing the celebrities among the prey to escape.

These great beasts were novel to moviegoers back in 1993, when Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" first introduced them with incredible detail through cutting-edge digital effects. Eight years and one sequel later, the story is painfully familiar. "Jurassic Park III" is just a lot of the same.

A group of travelers enter a remote island that's home to genetically engineered dinosaurs. First, they marvel at the gentle giant herbivores. Then they talk about how these experiments are a bad idea because nature always runs amok.

The arguing ends when disaster inevitably strikes. In the first film, a saboteur knocked out the theme park's safety measures. In the second, the Spielberg-directed "The Lost World: Jurassic Park II," the scientists clashed with greedy poachers.

In this film — directed by Joe Johnston, whose credits include "Jumanji" and "October Sky" — a plane crash cuts short the discourse by stranding the trespassing adventurers on the deadly island.

Paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) is among the crew, duped into the trip by a businessman (William H. Macy) and his estranged wife (Tea Leoni.)

Grant survived the original "Jurassic Park" and, after skipping the first sequel, is none-too-happy to be fending off more of the attacking lizards.

Early in the film, Grant says, "Nothing on Earth or in heaven could get me on that island." Then Macy's character cuts him a huge check to finance his research, and next thing you know: Grant's airborne over the island.

Anyone who has seen the first two films can guess the rest of "Jurassic Park III." Anonymous characters are the first to go, then the colorful character actors, then one of the leads will appear to die and we will later learn he survived.

Finally, the filmmakers try to spice things up by revealing that velociraptors can talk to each other.

Big deal! Disney had all kinds of them speaking English last summer in "Dinosaur."

"Jurassic Park III" also includes flying reptiles in its prehistoric menagerie, which sets up a ridiculous scene in which a man uses a parafoil to chase the creatures as they ascend into the mountains. Sorry, parafoils can be steered as they descend, but they can't be flown around like a little plane.

Although Spielberg didn't direct this one, he served as executive producer.

But until someone thinks of a new premise for these dinosaurs, the "Jurassic Park" franchise seems to be fossilized.