re: Let’s Overanalyze Jurassic Park and it’s Sequels

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I’m apparently in a small minority that didn’t think JP3 was that bad.

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I hated Lex’s character so much. How can someone be intelligent enough to hack into and reset this advanced security system for the entire park, yet this same person chooses to shine a giant flashlight at a Trex that she’s trying to hide from, and to that point was successfully hiding.

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that subplot made no sense

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. Give it a better ending. Calling Ellie, show up with military, roll credits... WTF? Forgetting how strange it was for her to pull off that kind of rescue they should have at least have the dinos battle the military. The ending was extremely abrupt and anti climatic. It felt like they just gave up and called it a wrap instead of filming the final 15 pages of the script.

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A final draft of the script was never completed during production. Johnston said, "We shot pages that eventually went into the final script but we didn't have a document".[5] While the first act was mostly in place, the middle portion of the script was not as complete, and the ending had yet to be written.[49][50] Principal photography began on August 30, 2000,[51][52][53] and it lasted five months.[54] Filming the script was a lengthy process because of technical preparations before scenes.[55] Macy criticized the project during filming.[8] Commenting on the slow pace of filming, Macy said "we would do a quarter-page–some days, an eighth of a page. And that would be a full 12-hour day."[55] Johnston said that filming ultimately went over schedule by a few days, primarily because of weather and unexpected technical issues, although he was satisfied with how the schedule eventually turned out considering these issues.[56]

Macy also noted that executive producer Spielberg was not seen on set, despite a chair bearing his name that was always present, with Macy saying, "You don't know if it's a threat or a promise!"[56] Spielberg was busy creating the 2001 film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.[57] While Macy was impressed with the Jurassic Park III footage, he criticized the project for starting without a finished script: "The script has been evolving and being rewritten as we go, and what you want to say is, 'Who launched a $100 million ship without a rudder, and who's getting fired for this?' But that's the way it goes. That's the way they make these movies... big deal. I think someone should be shot, but I'm not in charge."[58] Johnston said the actors went through an uncomfortable production shoot and that Macy may have simply made the critical comments on a bad day of filming.[48] As the film approached its release, Macy said, "It was about the most amazing thing I've ever done in this business."[8]

Johnston thought about quitting the project on a few occasions because of uncertainty about how the film would turn out, considering that it did not have a finished script.[39] He said that making the film was "a living hell on a daily basis",[4] and that shooting without a finished script was "nerve-wracking, but it was also a way of freeing up the whole creative process. We could literally decide on the day how we wanted a scene to progress. I'm not saying it's the way to make movies, but it gives you more freedom." Johnston said the actors were "very flexible" and that they dealt with the lack of a finished script "the best they could."[59] Alessandro Nivola criticized the film after its release, saying, "It was like the only part I've ever done that just had nothing for me to latch on to, character-wise," saying, "It was kind of maddening."[60] The actors were frequently bruised during filming.[54][8] Leoni said "more of my makeup was to cover the real bruises than to create fake ones." Michael Lantieri, who worked on the previous films,[61] returned as the special effects consultant. Lantieri said that Jurassic Park III was the most physically demanding film of the series: "We had a cast that was willing to get real bruises and bumps, be around real heat, and actually go underwater."[54]

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I’m apparently in a small minority that didn’t think JP3 was that bad.

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3. Give it a better ending. Calling Ellie, show up with military, roll credits... WTF? Forgetting how strange it was for her to pull off that kind of rescue they should have at least have the dinos battle the military. The ending was extremely abrupt and anti climatic. It felt like they just gave up and called it a wrap instead of filming the final 15 pages of the script.

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Timmy is the Dino expert kid. Lex was the socially awkward computer nerd crushing on father figure Grant.

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Which was vastly different from the book, IIRC. Timmy was the older sibling/computer nerd who knew all about dinos. Lex was just an annoying little brat.

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