Don’t Whiz On The Electric Fence

For whatever reason, when I think of Jurassic Park, I think of the kid flying off the fence and this jingle plays in my head:



Quickview: Carnivorous dinosaurs, lawyer jokes, Samuel L. Jackson, and bathroom humor. All the ingredients for an awesome movie. This was one of my favorite movies growing up. When it was chosen as a selection I tingled with anticipation and, I’ll admit, a smidgeon of dread. What if the movie was not as good as I remembered it to be? What if the effects didn’t hold out? What if having a vegetarian for a wife had softened me? All those what if’s were for naught.

Overall: 4 out of 5 Mr. DNA’s
Direction: 4 out of 5 Mr. DNA’s
Screenplay: 3.5 out of 5 Mr. DNA’s
Acting: 4 out of 5 Mr. DNA’s

Breakdown

Direction: This movie was one of Spielberg’s best movies, following closely behind Saving Private Ryan and trailing his work on the original Star Wars Trilogy. The only reason it didn’t get the full 5 Mr. DNA’s is because he didn’t allow Sam Jackson to do what he does best, and beat the hell out of all the dinosaurs, computers and white men that appeared on screen. The fact that he didn’t nail Laura Dern just strikes me as wrong and quit possibly racist.

In addition, it has already been talked about by other reviewers so I will not discuss it in length, but the fact that I remember in 1993 when I saw the movie I thought the computer readouts looked extremely outdated (and I reiterate, that was in 1993). Seemed Mr. Special Effects Wizard could have done something better.

Screenplay: Nothing Oscar worthy, but it was what it needed to be. It was witty when it needed to be, and corny when it needed to be. It simply worked. Extremely well. It took some of the science out of the book but summed like 100 pages of nerd talk into an entertaining 5 minutes theme park ride. And for whatever reason, the line “Hold on to your butts” has stuck with me throughout the years. Which is an example of good writing, when it sticks with you this long (considering I have only seen it a few times).

Acting: This movie is responsible for making Jeff Goldbloom cool enough to tackle aliens with Will Smith. He was himself in it, albeit a cooler edgier version of himself (i.e. he was in black). So I give him an A.

The early 90’s was the best time for child actor’s, and the kids for this film were spot on. They played well of each other, the adults, and the dinosaurs. It could have easily been a silly kid movie if the actors acted like Disney kid actors nowadays. But they held their own.

But Samuel L. Jackson stole the show. Not because he was dramatic. Not because he was tougher than life. Not because he was funny. But because he was all those things that he was not. In trying to be a subtle background character, he thrust himself center stage. He accurately portrayed a nerdy loser who was not important enough to film being made dino fodder. Which is not the Samuel L. Jackson we know and love. The Samuel L. Jackson we know would have backhanded the velicoraptors, shot down the T-Rex with his eyes, banged the ladies, and verbally abused Newman into submission. The fact that he allowed his character to be submissive enough to die offstage, leaves me with only one word…wow… What’s next, Chuck Norris wearing a dress? Sam Elliot shaving? Me looking tough?

Overall: It is still a great movie, maybe not as great as I remembered, but still great. The fact that it is almost 20 years old and the dinosaurs still look more real then half the crap Hollywood produces now says something. I think this was one of Spielberg's last movies before he started to “jump the shark” and start sliding downhill into overt the top, not so stellar movies with sucky endings.

P.S. Perhaps the best thing about Jurassic Park, is the Weird Al Yankovic song/claymation video: