Paul Kirby (William H. Macy) and his wife Amanda (Tea Leoni) persuade Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) to give them an illegal aerial tour of Isla Sorna’s Site B in return for them funding his velociraptor research. However, it is all a ruse and in fact the Kirby’s are kidnapping Grant in order for him to help them with a rescue mission. The couple are in fact not rich, not together and are just searching for their son who went missing 8 weeks earlier whilst paragliding with Amanda’s boyfriend.
With Grant and his research assistant Billy Brennan (Alessandro Nivola) on the plane the Kirby’s comically discover that Grant never actually set foot on Site B before disaster strikes and they all find themselves stranded.
Jurassic Park III is an interesting feature that was beset with huge script issues that somehow turned it into a rather streamlined and fun action movie. Director Steven Spielberg and writer David Koepp who had been responsible for overseeing the first two films in the trilogy had stepped aside into production and advisory roles. Joe Johnston whose credits prior to this feature included Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer and Jumanji had expressed an interest to his friend Spielberg in taking on the reigns of a sequel and had been given the job. But the original script from Peter Buchman had been rejected and Alexander Payne (most famous for directing comedy film Election at this point but who would go on to make About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants and The Holdovers) and Jim Taylor were asked to improve the characters and inject some comedy. However after various rewrites Johnston ended up filming without a finished script which is something that he and some of the actors would later talk about as a rather stressful and difficult situation.
The end result comes in with a running time of only 92 minutes. The shortest of all Jurassic Park/World movies by over 30 minutes. And the film zips along from set piece to set piece incredibly quickly. But somehow there is a level of character within that keeps you interested. William H. Macy and Tea Leoni are skilled enough actors to create a couple who once loved each other and perhaps still might. Reuniting to find their son sparks feelings that are not overtly said but shown by them. Whilst Sam Neill does a brilliant job with his two main relationships in the film. The protector of the young Eric Kirby (Trevor Morgan) is an extension of what he did so well in the first film and his brief appearance alongside Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) seems like a friendship that has existed forever.
That is not to say it all works though. Alessandro Nivola is rather hamstrung with the ‘nothing’ character of Billy Brennan who at one point seems to have ulterior motives for being there before a quick change of heart and actions. It is definitely a weak point in the film as it is his actions that drive some of the peril relating to the Velociraptors as the film progresses. How this comes to pass and is resolved are definitely the weakest story links but they are not so jarring to interrupt the overall thrill ride.
Add in a new super dinosaur in the Spinosaurus and a sequence set in a dinosaur aviary and the set pieces are lots of fun. It is also interesting to see that in this one the use of model dinosaurs is perhaps a bit more noticeable against the CGI, but again its not going to pull you out of the film for too long.
An entirely different type of Jurassic Park film but one that manages to be lots of fun.
If you want to read more of my opinions on Jurassic Park/World check these out:
Phil the Bear's Film Reviews 
The best scene for me is when the velociraptor says Alan in his dream sequence. Gets me every time
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