Post by orangejesus on Jul 10, 2008 3:13:55 GMT -5
Rating: Fluff--It's not just that weird green stuff at the Thanksgiving dinner table.
In this world we (well, most of us anyway) call home, there are certain small joys that keep sanity within armsreach. Things we can turn to, when life gets bogged down with unnecessary complexities (an extra bit strapped to the workload on a Friday afternoon, your girlfriend's insistence that Dancing with the Stars counts as intellectual indulgence, a landlord's attempt to convince you that the mold spores attatched to your window unit air conditioner is part of his new "Go Green" initiative, etc.). For me, The Lost World has been a mainstay of
the "small joys" list for several years.
Yes, the plot is simple, even by monster-movie sequel standards: Dr. Jeff Goldblum & his Merry Band o' Cohorts attempt to convince the head cheeses of Corporate Villainy, Inc., to let sleeping prehistoric dogs lie, are rebuffed, and the appropriate PG-13 violence/bloodshed ensue. Oh, and a T-rex sticks his face in a family's pool (which I can't imagine is wholly sanitary given the lack of vets trained in dino-dentistry).
Yes, the acting is mostly on autopilot-- you may have guessed that from the presence of Jeff Goldblum, but this installment of The Trilogy (just kidding--you almost stopped reading there didn't you?) also features the presence the ever-rascally Vince Vaughn. It's a ham fest of the best sort, I assure you.
And, yes, the script leaves a little to be desired at times (I'm sorry, but the line "Run. As fast as you can," should never be delivered in a slow monotone and followed by a pregnant pause before the speaker decides he is actually going to move.)
But. . . it is so much fun. Dinosaurs rampage in glorious rampagey fashion. Jeff Goldblum makes sure that every line he delivers is dripping with sarcasm, or dread, or sarcasm. Plus, I dispense an automatic 23 bonus points to any film or television program that gives a speaking role to Richard Schiff, because that awesome gentleman could rattle off the ingredients to Spam and I would likely be enthralled. So I'm biased towards an actor or three (or, like, seventy). Sue me.
Also I think it is important to point out that, like all of the greatest cinematic escapades, JP2 makes a point of allowing the viewer to develop his or her own answers to a litany of dangling plot threads. For instance:
Doesn't organizing a rampage of giant lizards through a human-infested camp site qualify Vince Vaughn's character for some sort of ecoterrorist I.D. card?
Does Pete Postelwaithe ever have a moment of uncertainty? Ever?
Why do Tyrannosaurs only sleep if they are under sedation?
All this and more, left up to us, the gentle viewers to decide. See, and people think generic sequelization is all brainless. I say to thee, it is not. . . kinda.
In this world we (well, most of us anyway) call home, there are certain small joys that keep sanity within armsreach. Things we can turn to, when life gets bogged down with unnecessary complexities (an extra bit strapped to the workload on a Friday afternoon, your girlfriend's insistence that Dancing with the Stars counts as intellectual indulgence, a landlord's attempt to convince you that the mold spores attatched to your window unit air conditioner is part of his new "Go Green" initiative, etc.). For me, The Lost World has been a mainstay of
the "small joys" list for several years.
Yes, the plot is simple, even by monster-movie sequel standards: Dr. Jeff Goldblum & his Merry Band o' Cohorts attempt to convince the head cheeses of Corporate Villainy, Inc., to let sleeping prehistoric dogs lie, are rebuffed, and the appropriate PG-13 violence/bloodshed ensue. Oh, and a T-rex sticks his face in a family's pool (which I can't imagine is wholly sanitary given the lack of vets trained in dino-dentistry).
Yes, the acting is mostly on autopilot-- you may have guessed that from the presence of Jeff Goldblum, but this installment of The Trilogy (just kidding--you almost stopped reading there didn't you?) also features the presence the ever-rascally Vince Vaughn. It's a ham fest of the best sort, I assure you.
And, yes, the script leaves a little to be desired at times (I'm sorry, but the line "Run. As fast as you can," should never be delivered in a slow monotone and followed by a pregnant pause before the speaker decides he is actually going to move.)
But. . . it is so much fun. Dinosaurs rampage in glorious rampagey fashion. Jeff Goldblum makes sure that every line he delivers is dripping with sarcasm, or dread, or sarcasm. Plus, I dispense an automatic 23 bonus points to any film or television program that gives a speaking role to Richard Schiff, because that awesome gentleman could rattle off the ingredients to Spam and I would likely be enthralled. So I'm biased towards an actor or three (or, like, seventy). Sue me.
Also I think it is important to point out that, like all of the greatest cinematic escapades, JP2 makes a point of allowing the viewer to develop his or her own answers to a litany of dangling plot threads. For instance:
Doesn't organizing a rampage of giant lizards through a human-infested camp site qualify Vince Vaughn's character for some sort of ecoterrorist I.D. card?
Does Pete Postelwaithe ever have a moment of uncertainty? Ever?
Why do Tyrannosaurs only sleep if they are under sedation?
All this and more, left up to us, the gentle viewers to decide. See, and people think generic sequelization is all brainless. I say to thee, it is not. . . kinda.