Jurassic Park III

It may seem odd to speak of a made-to-be-blockbuster as unpretentious, but the aspirations of this movie are remarkably -- almost endearingly -- modest. Jurassic Park III doesn't waste time with chaos theory mumbo-jumbo or dumb "dinosaurs come to America" plot twists like the second episode, The Lost World. It just gets right down to business in 90 quick minutes of little people being chased by great big scary things, with just enough plot and character to provide breathing space and a reason to care who survives. It's not art, but it is fun.

There are few surprises. Two good things to have when fighting smart dinosaurs are opposable thumbs and a cell phone. When a man's ex-wife says that he never takes chances, you know what's coming, and you'll probably be able to guess as we meet each character which ones will survive to the end of the movie. But the script has clever moments, including some sly digs at The Lost World. There's a delicious variation on Peter Pan's crocodile that once swallowed a clock, so Captain Hook can always hear ticking when he is approaching. And there's a nice Blair Witch moment when some characters find a video camera dropped by another character and replay the footage to see what happened to him. The dinosaurs are bigger and better than ever. This time, they swim, they fly, and they fight each other. They appear to play a sort of kick-the-can with the downed plane's cabin. They also work together to trap the humans, so it's a war of brains, not just brawn.