Jurassic Park III

Director Joe Johnston (October Sky, Jumanji) steers this latest helping of amazing CGI dinosaurs on the rampage faithfully through the franchise formula of trapping folks on that infamous island. The excuse this time: a hardware store owner (William H. Macy) and his ex-wife (Téa Leoni) pose as millionaire adventurers offering research money to trick Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) into taking them to the off-limits island to search for their 14-year-old son (Trevor Morgan), who disappeared there with his mom's new boyfriend. When their plane crashes after a close encounter with the ominous new Spinosaurus--a savage, T-Rex-dwarfing carnivore--everyone goes on the run and expendable cast members are eaten. Over-produced and highly predictable, Jurassic Park III does benefit from a screenplay helped out by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (Election), who infuse the proceedings with a peppery sense of humor. Given the sell-through price, this is recommended, overall. (R. Blackwelder)