"Jurassic Park 3" begins with 14 year old Eric Kirby (Trevor Morgan) parasailing with his mother's new boyfriend, Ben.  Without giving away too much, things go wrong, and they wind up landing on the island Isla Sorna, the other Dino island.  Ingen, the company behind these islands of terror, had created a second park in case the park on Isla Nublar had "problems".  Well, if you watched the first movie, you know about those "problems".  

      So, Eric and Ben crash land on the island and the movie cuts to Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler's (Laura Dern) house.  Dr. Grant doesn't want to remember anything about his experiences in Jurassic Park.  He still digs up the bones, but he doesn't want to go back to Isla Nublar or Sorna.  This is where we meet another new character, Billy Brennan (Alessandro Nivola).  He's young, and eager to learn about Dinosaurs.  Then one day on a dig site, Paul (William H. Macy) and Amanda (Tea Leoni) Kirby arrive and offer to take Dr. Grant out to dinner.  They want him to be their guide on a trip to fly over Isla Sorna.  At first Dr. Grant wants no part of it, but Billy, being the eager one,  accepts the offer and they go to dinner.

      The Kirby's basically bribe Dr. Grant to get him to go with them, and he does.  But the Kirby's aren't really going on vacation, they want to rescue Eric and Ben, because the government won't fly over the island; they have more common sense than that.  When they get there, Dr. Grant is confused because he is telling them that there are dinosaurs roaming below, but the Kirby's, looking for Eric and Ben, keep saying "I can't see them".  Then the Kirby's want to land the plane, and Dr. Grant is even more confused.  The confusion ends when Paul Kirby explains why they are really here.  They land the plane, only to almost immediately take off again, and crashing.  Now they are stuck.  

      Dr. Grant says that after 8 weeks, it is unlikely they will find Eric and Ben alive and suggests they all head to the coast.  Which they do, but they still are looking for Eric and Ben. Well, the quickly learn that Ben is dead, but Eric is still out there.  You really think they'd kill off the only kid in the movie?  A few more dead insignificant people later, Dr. Grant becomes separated from the rest, and is about to eaten by Raptors, when Eric comes to the rescue.  Eric shows Grant where he had been hiding, and there's this funny bit about T.Rex pee.   Grant and Eric then continue on and meet up with everyone else. There's a couple more exciting scenes and then they are saved by the Marines.

      Whew!  That took awhile to type, but the movie isn't that long.  Not counting the credits it's only 80 minutes long.  The movie is fast paced and contains lots of action. It's better than "The Lost World", but not as good as "Jurassic Park".  In other words, it meets my expectations.  It doesn't try to pretend to be an Event picture, just pure entertainment.  Art it ain't, but entertainment it is.

     -- James ( 3 out of 4 pops )

Talk about this film with other Popkorn Junkies

      Patsy ( 2 1/2 out of 4 pops )

      To explain how I feel about this movie I need to tell you about the Indiana Jones logic of trilogies: "Raider of the Lost Ark" was a great movie, it's a classic definitely.  Since the first film was such a hit, it makes sense to have a sequel or two.  Unfortunately the sequel "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", was pretty terrible (I think).  Ok, so we've got a good initial movie and a stinky sequel...now Hollywood is making an other sequel?!  Sounds like a  bad idea right?  Of course, but....I thought that although the third movie, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was a little cheesy...it was also a lot of fun to watch and very entertaining.  How does this relate to "Jurassic Park 3"?  Substitute in "Jurassic Park", "Lost World", "JP3", and emphasize the cheese factor and it will all make sense. :)

      Mike ( 3 1/2 out of 4 pops )

      This sequel was much better than I had anticipated.  Loads of exciting scenes of dinosaurs chasing humans and lots more dry humor, especially by William H. Macy.  The scene with the guy para-sailing and the flying dinosaur after him is worth the price of admission all by itself.

      Matt ( 1 1/2  out of 4 pops )