As always let us begin by discussing about all our different characters. First we have our main character Dr. Alan Grant, played by Sam Neil. At times he seems like the usual stick in the mud and one of those guys who is not a big fan of children and always criticizing them. And then later once as he gets to know some children, he gets fatherly and starts to open up to them, all that cliched stuff. As some of that is present, what still makes a Grant still look fresh and original is that even though is is not a fan of children, situations force him to be with the child stars of the film Tim and Lex. And when he does interact with them and have conversations with them, they seem very genuine and real. Nothing seems forced, cliched, or fake about it. You can tell that the three really do care about each other and that Grant would do anything to protect the kids. On top of that there is a high admiration to how smart and passionate he is about dinosaurs. Whenever he talks about dinosaurs, there is a really sense to how much he knows about his field and his love for it. There is very much passion and likeablility in these very scenes, and whenever he talks about his passion, we feel passionate along with him. Sam Neil's performance as well as the character himself makes it seem so genuine. Then there is Dr. Ellie Sattler, played by Laura Dern, and what I really appreciate about this character is that she acts and reacts to things like any other normal human being. She is not there just be the token female of the group, she gets things done, she contributes, she uses her brain, and it is very easy to admire how is she is able to take of herself. Also like Dr. Grant, there is a true admiration to how smart she is and how passionate she is for her field. Even though I said she is not portrayed as the typical female token, there are a couple of feminist related jokes linked to her. I guess the "dinosaurs eat man and woman inherit the Earth" joke was pretty funny but the bit where she calls Hammond a sexist because she wanted to go in his place to turn on the switches was a bit pushing it in my opinion. But then again its quick and it does not linger long, but it still could have been done without it. Maybe if she just shook her head or responded with a "really?" it would have worked for me, but again it was quick. The character is still great and strong and she makes such an impression that I cannot see any actress other than Laura Dern play her. Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm is without a doubt one of the most entertaining characters in the entire film. His constant rambling, witty one-liners, and quick comebacks is what makes the character stand out. Since he a chaos theorist, he loves to point out flaws and the outcomes they can bring and when he talks about them. When you get past his enjoyable rambling, his theories actually do seem interesting and true, it sometimes hard to disagree with him. He may seem like a typical type of rambling neurotic that Jeff Goldblum usually plays, but here is the most likeable and fresh of the bunch, which makes the character not a Jeff Goldblum character but instead as Ian Malcolm. Hammond's grandchildren Tim and Lex, played by Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello, I guess are supposed to be the innocent blank slates in which not only the children audience can fill in but possibly even some of the adult audience while they are surrounded by other characters who can be looked at as authority figures. But even if they were meant to be blank slates these two characters are still entertaining and well developed. Tim is portrayed as the little dinosaur expert but at the same time his knowledge is never too obnoxious to the point where he acts more like an adult than a kid. He's still a kid and acts like a kid, he's just a very smart kid. The character and Joseph Mazzello's performance are highly likeable. Then there is Lex, portrayed by Ariana Richards, who is more of the blank slate than Tim but still good character. The reason I say this is because she is more like the general audience where she knows little to no facts about dinosuars, constantly makes mistakes that get her into trouble, but also has that one talent which makes her unique, which in this case is computer hacking. I think she is one those perfect representations of not only girls or kids in general, but the average audience in general. And even though she is a mirror to them, she still comes out as an entertaining and unique character. John Hammond, who from the original novel was originally a cold-hearted villain who only wanted money and did not care for the park's safety status. Of course two have the children's grandfather to be a sadistic miser would be a little too mean spirited, especially for Spielberg's taste. So instead he is portayed by Richard Attenborough as an optimistic, giddy, excited, innocent, and jolly old Santa Claus-type billionaire philanthropist and grandfather and in my opinion I think this one of the few changes in any type of adaptation that greatly works to the film's advantage. Because if you really think about it dinosaurs have always been the greatest wonders to mankind, all ages alike, as majority of the human race never existed when dinosaurs had. They never even have crossed paths. Which is why it would make a whole lot of sense that someone has hopeful, optimistic, and adventurous as this film's version of Hammond would be in charge of a project that included resurrecting dinosaurs back from extinction and sharing these wonders with the world. What makes Hammond such a complex and engaging character is that you know his methods of fascinating the world is beyond a very bad idea, but at the same time you know where he's coming from. Instead of wanting to make fast money and hoarding cash like Ebenezer Scrooge, he wants to share dinosaurs with the world. He felt that they have been extinct for long enough and it was time for them to finally share the world with humans. And though what's expected to happen actually happens, it is very easy to feel pity for Hammond as the idea sounds out of this world crazy, but its still an understandable motive. But his complex motives is not only what really makes Hammond a great character, but his overall personality as well. including Attenborough's acting. Plus as positive as he is with his idea, he admits to his mistake, which makes him like his granddaughter Lex who is a mirror to the average human being. He makes mistakes, but he certainly learns from and owns up to them. Then there are the four characters which I call the "dino-chow" because things do not work out for them by the end. Half which is probably mean to say, but they sort of deserved what was coming for them, and the other half are actually pretty cool characters. There's the lawyer for Hammond's investors named Donald Gennero (Martin Ferrero), who is a bit of an annoying twerp. He wants to go against Hammond for his idea of allowing any one of any age and any income status to enjoy the park while Gennero expects the tourists to spend TEN THOUSAND A DAY, he's always whining, he always scolds Tim and Lex for the most dumbest things like not playing with a night vision binoculars even though he has no authority over them, and also leaving the children stranded in a car to save himself from the T-Rex. Yeah as cruel as it sounds it was nice to see him as the T-Rex's main course. Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) is a disgruntled worker for Jurassic Park who is in charge of the park's security but is unhappy when he thinks he's underpaid. So the whiny and slobbish programmer goes behind Hammond's back and tries to steal the dinosaur embryos from the park and sell them to Hammond's rivals. That and he totally underestimates a Dilophosaurus. He had it coming. But some of the actual cool characters are more than worthy to stay throughout the film. Take Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson) who is the chief engineer of the park. He's wise, strict, determined, and hard-working. By far one of the coolest characters in the film. But one of my absolute favorites has to be the park's game warden Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck). This guy is amazing, because he is not just a professional hunter, he also is a predator. Why? Because he thinks like a predator. When ever you look at him, he's always thinking to himself, he always looks like he's trying to figure something out. You can just see the gears turning in his head. He also always has his eyes bugging out, because he is also always on a sharp lookout, just like any other predator. A character that truly deserves to butt heads against some of nature's deadliest predators.
The visuals even till today more than hold up. The reason for that is because whenever the dinosaurs appear, it is hard to doubt that they are actually there. Some of the dinosaur effects are practical like they would use animatronics, other effects were CG, and some even make the use of both. But whether it is practical or CG the dinosaurs always seemed real to me no matter how many times I watch the film or how I watch the film, on the small screen on my DVD copy, or even recently as the film was re-released. Speaking of which since I did recently see the 3-D re-release of the film I might as well talk about how the 3-D effects affected the film. Some opportunities worked, some did not. Obviously all the scenes with the dinosaurs in 3-D I think add a good amount, but other times when the film decides to take a breather and just stay still, all the characters just look like cardboard cutouts. But I was super happy that I finally got to check this film out on the big screen as I never got the chance to and boy I don't regret it!
I do not recall mentioning this earlier in the review, so I'll mention it now, Jurassic Park is by far my favorite Steven Spielberg film. I know a lot of people like E.T., Close Encounters, Jaws, or even Raiders of the Lost Ark, and though I really love the two former, this one is personal favorite? Why? Well I always had the thought that with Spielberg he always wanted each and every one of his films to leave some sort of impact. He always wanted to do films that not only captivated the thoughts and imagination of his audience, but also left a huge impact. He may think that the film that did that was E.T., but in my opinion it was Jurassic Park. Because whenever anyone sees this film whether it would be in a theater, on home video, of even if they had seen it for the millionth time, the "wow" reaction is always there and it never goes away. I also felt that Spielberg always wanted to get the "wow" reaction out of his audience whenever he releases a new film, and I get the "wow" reaction throughout the entire film not just because of the incredible dinosaur effects that hold up even to this day, but mostly also because of the film's impressively timeless story and characters. I always said that Jurassic Park is the King Kong of its time because not only does it include groundbreaking special effects that were huge back then and still impressive today, but it set up a story and a cast of characters that no one would forget. Again, much like Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman, I get the "wow" reaction whenever I see any of these characters and I believe that they are the characters, even though unlike Batman, where I was already familiar with the characters through the comics, I was not familiar with these characters because I had never read the book before the first time I watched the film. I don't see the actors trying to portray a character even if they are doing a marvelous performance, I see characters instead. I see Alan Grant, I see Ellie Sattler, I see Ian Malcolm, John Hammond, Tim, Lex, Muldoon, etc. And I think a part of it, even though I was barely in existence in during the early 90s, was that a lot of the main cast where not that big of names like other A-list actors. The only cast members who I can think of who were probably popular at the time where Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough. I don't know maybe a lot of them were popular, and I call myself a film buff. But even if they were not, I think that highly works to the film's advantage because it allows the audience to connect with and be invested in the characters a lot more, and it could be used as a way to make them unique and stand out. This works instead of the audience being distracted that a big name actor at the time let's say Tom Cruise or Arnold Schwarzenegger is playing Alan Grant or having Julia Roberts play Ellie Sattler. No, Sam Neil is Alan Grant because from now on I do not see Sam Neil, I see Alan Grant. So not only do the dinosaurs seem to real to me but also the characters, and if a film can make its characters like that in order for the audience to care for them so much and never forget them, then that is a hell of an impressive feat. Not only are Jurassic Park's characters unforgettable and timeless but also its story and message. No matter what you're belief is, nobody has the privilege to mess with the forces of nature, even if your goal is to make the world happy. Like I mentioned earlier, dinosaurs have always been the greatest wonders to mankind and John Hammond decided that they should no longer be the world's greatest mystery of nature. And to be fair which makes the film indeed have a rather complex story is that while what he is doing is wrong, it is also hard to disagree with him. Of course Malcolm does remind Hammond as well as the audience for that matter that nature should not be tempered with as it disrupts the balance that nature has already set for itself. And Malcolm is right we should not bring dinosaurs back from extinction because not only would there be chaos but the creatures themselves along with other living beings that went extinct years ago are too primitive, even to wild animals of the modern day, to live in today's world. Malcolm's theory is acts like our conscience belief while Hammond himself acts like our subconscious temptations, but not temptations that want to do evil but instead what makes us think that it will help us be happier and make our lives better. Which is one of the many reasons why I loved that they changed Hammond's personality from the book. Science is always evolving, and the more human kind gets more curious and smarter, the more we experiment, thus the more we accomplish or think we accomplish. It's a story that has been told to death but never gets old due to the amount of twists and changes that prevent it from being tired, and they rather always make it new. And Jurassic Park did that. Not only is it impressive with its visual effects, but also through its story and characters. Feel free to disagree that I might be giving this film much more credit than it deserves, since most people see it as just a fun popcorn flick. But for me honestly, I see much more than that. The film for me can work in both ways, as a fun popcorn movie or as cinematic brilliance. It just knows how much it wants to give to its audience and the extra that it wants to give whether people notice it or not. It's my favorite Steven Spielberg film because it accomplishes what his films were always trying to accomplish, full of imagination, wonder, excitement, packed with unforgettable characters, and of course not forgetting the inclusion of a wonderful timeless story. Jurassic Park is marvelous, it will continue to be marvelous, it will continue to be one of my all time favorite films, and it will do so 65 million years from now.
GRADE: E
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