"Who launches a $100 million dollar ship without a rudder and who's getting fired for this? I think someone should be shot but I'm not in charge..." - William H. Macy during the filming of "JP3"

"Stephen (Spielberg) has a great idea for 'Jurassic Park 4.' Whoever directs it is going to have his hands full..." - Joe Johnston director of "JP3"

What you get with "JP3," a film directed by Joe Johnston and only produced by Spielberg, is a grittier, more thrilling and more hard-hitting ride. Johnston isn't so much concerned with pesky things like character development and plot as he is with giving us a thrill ride that really gets under our skin. I'm telling you, it's been a long time since I've seen the other two films in this franchise, but I think this one might be my favorite.

Here, as in all the "JP" films, the cheap and exploitive device of putting children in harms way is again used. "JP2" overcame this obstacle a bit by giving us a young African-American female who really kicked ass. "JP3" levels off the vapidity of this device by providing the child in question with a plotline that proves he has superior skills and knowledge. Of course, almost as soon as any adults come round, he sinks back into the level of "runner/victim." At least they give him a chance at first appearance to prove he could be so much more.

Anyway, everyone in the film is pretty much victim/runner as Johnston and scripters Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor waste little time getting the meat to the dinosaurs. Tea Leone, William H. Macy, and Michael Jeter join the returning Sam Neill (whom I generally cannot stand) on the island of predators. Also newcomers Bruce Young, and child actor Trevor Morgan appear here. Everyone does a fine job. They realize they are mere meat packets and not real characters and so they don't really try. This helps out all around. What plot and character development there is becomes a hackneyed', typical mess anyway.

In addition to raptors, who are generally terrifying, Johnston et al introduce pterodactyls into the mix and the effect is amazing. There are some really terrifying and wonderfully tense moments involving the immense birds. It adds just the right amount of out-of-control intensity to the film. I tell you, I was on the edge of my seat watching this film. I even screamed out loud a few times. This film is as much of a rollercoaster as any in the series,

The computer effects here are, again, top notch. Spielberg pretty much invented CGI effects as far as most American filmgoers are concerned and he started the trend with the first "JP." Johnston does not let the reality of the film falter but once. An early aerial shot of the dinosaurs on the island looks pretty fakey. But when they are up close and interacting with the "real" actors on the screen, they look frighteningly real. They are ferocious. It is heart-stopping.

I suppose folks who expect good characters and good plot will allow the lack of it here to diminish their enjoyment of the film. Too bad. They're missing what is, so far anyway, the cinematic thrill ride of Summer 2001.

I'm actually looking forward to "JP4."

Note:

Laura Dern appears in what amounts to a cameo role.

Theme by John Williams. Music by Don Davis.

Macy complained to the press during filming that Spielberg never came to the set. Universal paid Spielberg 20% of the first dollar gross simply to produce the film under his Amblin banner.

A scene here uses a clip from the "Barney" television show. Morgan appeared in the Barney feature film.

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