The Jurassic Park franchise is a landmark series of movies, namely due to its original entry. Though the follow-up, The Lost World, wasn't considered as good, it's still seen as far better than the third movie. Jurassic Park III was long-awaited by fans due to the gap between its release and the previous movie, but it only ended up being a disappointment to many.
Nevertheless, Jurassic Park III has its fans and defenders, one of which is the film's star, Sam Neill. Though this seems like merely a situation where the star of the movie is defending their work, Neill's statements about the third Jurassic Park make a lot of sense. This defense shows how intimate filmmaking can become for actors, all while highlighting some overlooked positive aspects of the movie. As the Jurassic series comes to a close, here's a look at why its original ending wasn't as bad as many thought.
Sam Neill Liked Making Jurassic Park III for Its Action and Pacing
Sam Neill has consistently defended Jurassic Park III, which is seen by many as easily the worst of the original trilogy. The actor who portrays Alan Grant has stated that he had a lot of fun while making the movie, namely working alongside Alessandro Nivola. The biggest point that he comments on liking is the action, which is something that Jurassic Park III does incredibly well. The movie's quick pace sees it move from set piece to set piece, each filled with gruesome deaths and harrowing action sequences where the heroes run for their lives in terror. The dinosaur action is especially better than ever, be it the chase scenes involving the raptors or anything with the Spinosaurus. The battle between the latter and the franchise's iconic T. Rex may be criticized by some fans, but there's no denying that it's a cool visual treat to watch.
The biggest criticism that Neill has is one that many have commented on before in that Jurassic Park III ends too abruptly and cleanly. The film feels light years faster than Jurassic Park and especially The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which again is due to it jumping from scene to scene so quickly. This wraps it up at lightning speed, but the ending doesn't feel particularly earned or impactful. Several characters go underdeveloped because of this, making their survivals or deaths a lot less impactful. Even with these remaining valid criticisms, Neill is correct in how good the action is, and how the hurried pace sometimes enhances the tension.
Jurassic Park III Tried New Things With the Franchise
Another aspect of Jurassic Park III that many fail to give it credit for was how it took the franchise in different directions. There weren't any major new dinosaurs introduced in The Lost World besides the diminutive Compies, with the Velociraptors and the T. Rex once again reigning supreme on the screen. This made it feel somewhat redundant, especially given that the whole premise was about discovering a "lost world." Jurassic Park III introduces the deadly Spinosaurus, all while featuring redesigned raptors that feel like a full-circle narrative device given how Alan Grant is introduced. Pterodactyls are also finally brought in beyond mere glimpses, and their bird cage scene (which is pulled from the original Jurassic Park book) showed how even seemingly non-threatening dinosaurs could become ferocious threats.
One big change was the character of Billy, who seemed like he was primed to replace Alan Grant as the series' hero. Instead, he betrays him out of his own greed, causing Alan to compare him to the foolish ambitions of John Hammond and InGen. This contrasts Billy from Ellie Sattler, Ian Malcolm and other characters introduced theretofore in the franchise, turning a sidekick into an unexpected antagonist. Of course, this still likely won't save the film in the eyes of many, and it's definitely not on the same level as the first or even second movie. At the same time, there are aspects of Jurassic Park III that pushed the franchise forward, ensuring that life somehow found a way.