5 Ways Jurassic Park III Has Aged Well (& 5 Ways It Hasn’t)

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Jurassic Park III gets a lot of flak, but looking back, a lot of it still stands up to scrutiny today.

Franchises tend to have an evergreen factor about them, as newer films serve to make the older ones stand out as products of their time. Looking back, fans tend to find many things that have changed over the years, some for the better and some not-so-well. With the Jurassic World movies coming about, the earlier Jurassic Park trilogy has become a legacy series.

However, there are factors that have made certain aspects here age rather badly, and some of these weren’t good to begin with. Jurassic Park III gets the most flak in this regard, but there are definite solid points from the film that were great and remain so. 

10 - Aged Well: Special Effects

The effects used in the original Jurassic Park series have been able to outdo even the Jurassic World films, and Jurassic Park III is probably the peak of excellence in this regard. Even today, watching the dinosaurs is awe-inspiring.

You won’t find any of these creatures look even remotely fake, and compared to the CGI-heavy films today, Jurassic Park III comes across as a benchmark to use for mastery in the special effects department.

9 - Hasn't Aged Well: Silly Decisions By The Characters

Audiences have gotten quicker over the years in picking out nonsensical elements from films, and Jurassic Park III suffers by hoping the viewers adopt a very simple mindset. However, watching the characters make dumb decisions does become very tiresome.

For instance, watching Mrs. Kirby use a megaphone in an area filled with carnivorous dinosaurs is just plain stupid, along with witnessing Billy take raptor eggs from their nests and not expecting any retaliation. This kind of stuff just seems like lazy ways to create tension in the movie, and fans these days don’t take them on well.

8 - Aged Well: Fast Paced Style

One of the reasons that The Lost World doesn’t have much replay value is because the film tried to replicate the whole moral issue the first movie raised, only for it to interfere with the pacing of the action onscreen. With Jurassic Park III, this is no issue, and it’s a breeze of a watch.

With material that is hard on the action and very less reliant on dialogue, the film is prime for moviegoers these days who love blockbuster style entertainment. Jurassic Park III wastes little time in kickstarting proceedings, following which the thrills only stop when the film reaches its conclusion.

7 - Hasn't Aged Well: Spinosaurus Taking Out The T-Rex

Having an official mascot for a series is something that is hard to manufacture, and audiences are the ones who choose which thing shines the most. The T-Rex became the figurehead for the series, only for Jurassic Park III to make an attempt in making the Spinosaurus fill this role.

It might have been achieved, had the rather awful fight scene between the Spinosaurus and the T-Rex not having taken place. Looking back, the choreography in this sequence seems laughable, and the Spinosaur’s victory through snapping the Rex’s neck is mainly just goofy.

6 - Aged Well: The Island Backdrop

Rarely do you feel both uneasy and at home in a film’s setting, and Jurassic Park III achieved this by carving out Isla Sorna as a cool backdrop for the film’s events. This happened to be a criticism for The Lost World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, where audiences didn’t like how the action kept changing from one place to another.

In this film, Isla Sorna has the feel of a jungle where anything can happen, and the various places the heroes go even seems like they’re part of a survival game as a fresh obstacle is thrown at them. You really have to appreciate the cinematography and set design for pulling this off.

5 - Hasn't Aged Well: Cheesy Comedy

The Marvel Cinematic Universe films have made cheesy comedy a staple of its franchise, but this isn’t something that can be passed on to other series. And while Jurassic Park films certainly had comedic elements, this movie’s hammy jokes don’t hold up.

Stuff like arguments over misnaming dinosaurs into “Tricycloplots,” or making fun of Eric collecting T-Rex’s urine is more geared toward juveniles rather than a global audience at large. There are some good comedic moments, but the weaker points are far more jarring.

4 - Aged Well: Horror Moments

In many ways, the Indominus Rex from Jurassic World can’t hold up against the Spinosaurus, which came across like a complete killing machine. This dinosaur and its psychotic obsession with the heroes - during which it sprang out of nowhere numerous times - make for riveting entertainment.

The raptors, too, were made out to be far more menacing in Jurassic Park III, and these ones are way better to follow than those seen in the Jurassic World movies. Along with that, the eeriness brought from silent moments can still make you feel the chills of an incoming horror-fest.

3 - Hasn't Aged Well: Kirbys Serving As Pinball Protagonists

There’s a trope known as the “Pinball Protagonist,” in that these types of lead characters offer nothing to the plot other than be used as the framing device. The Kirbys fit the bill for such a trope, serving as annoyances rather than actual heroes.

Characters like Alan and Billy save the film’s point-of-view from becoming too frustrating to follow, as the Kirbys with their frequent mishaps and bickering seem out of place in a dinosaur movie. Audiences today almost exclusively single out this family as being the weakest point of Jurassic Park III.

2 - Aged Well: The Soundtrack

Even if you happen to dislike Jurassic Park III, there’s no way you can criticize the soundtrack. This happens to be the brightest aspect of the movie, especially during the final moments as the departing soundtrack is just heaven to the ears.

In times of duress for the protagonists, the music shifts sharply over to thrilling levels, greatly solidifying the theme of the moment. When the time comes to make the audience feel a sense of wonder, the soundtrack does the charm. Even today, hardly any other film can be considered to be on par with Jurassic Park III’s musical range.

1 - Hasn't Aged Well: The Airplane Dream Sequence

Here, a raptor in Alan’s dream sequence on the airplane sat rat beside him as if it were a passenger as well, even going so far as speaking to him! Unfortunately, the scene has ended up remaining in memory, and almost two decades later, this moment sticks out as the sequence that has aged absolutely horribly.

Was this supposed to be funny, or was it supposed to be scary? And what was the point of it in the first place? There’s a lot of questions that have gone into this bizarre scene. But while the consensus isn’t certain, what’s for sure is that it has ended up being the most talked-about scene from the film, and not in a good way.

Source: https://screenrant.com/