The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

I had to own all three Jurassic Park movies: Dinosaurs, dinosaurs, dinosaurs. The second and the third movies are each progressively weaker than the preceding film -- probably because each strived to present a bigger dinosaur more than to perpetuate the first movie's visceral thrill or even to extend that foreboding sense of "Aiiieeee--!" *GULP!* (Selling the gristle not the sizzle.) Actually I liked the second film just fine; it had a lot of the Jurassic Park spirit, just in a different way. Jeffrey Goldblum is always superb, here as the persecuted whistleblower: "There are no versions of the truth" and "Sure, that's how it starts: The oohing and the aahing. But later, there's the running and the screaming..." Richard Attenborough (God rest his cinematic and his eternal soul) has come around and wants to redeem his sins by mounting an emergency expedition to save the dinos' legacy. Can the Earth lovers -- or the thunder lizards -- defeat the corporate pirates? Julianne Moore has gone rushing in where mortals fear to tread. At least Pete Postlethwaite wisely quits while he's ahead -- before the nocturnal stampede. Don't drink the crimson creekwater! And that's just the first half of the movie before things really run aground and the T-Rex goes rushing in where mortals -- scream. "Cleanup in aisle 3." How high a body count can a body count? The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2 -- come for the menace and stay for the mayhem. It's always a thrill to watch. The John Williams musical score remains, of course, unforgettable. 4.5 stars.