Banks, Soda, And The Scammer

And rounding out the month, another of these grievous examples of halfwits and morons, useless and worthless people known as internet scammers and spammers. Yes, that infernal lot of twits who can't find a real job and so spend all their time cooking up preposterous too good to be true (because they're not) schemes in the hopes that someone they send it to will be dumb enough to believe it. These people are more irritating than... well, blackflies. And if you've ever been around those in May, you'll know what I'm talking about.

The following has been turning up with some regularity in my email over the last couple of weeks.

Attention,

This is to inform you that a Lottery Winning payment in the amount of US$12,000,000.00 (Twelve million United State Dollars) was legally approved and deposited with this Bank, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). The lottery won by your e-mail address via online active e-mail address selected from sponsor of Coca Cola Company award. It was registered with your email address by the Lottery Board Executive Directors Of Coca-Cola Company Canada Branch, and they instructed this Bank to credit this Winning directly to your private bank account with immediate effect.

Please take note that Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) have decided and agreed together towards the actualization of the above subject matter which will be conducted under a legitimate arrangement that will protect both parties from any breach of law. To actualize this The new arrangement. Be well informed that the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) was successfully opened a Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Checking Account on behalf of your personal name and the total $12 million has been transferred to the non-resident account.

Meanwhile, the good news about your payment now is that this paying have made a Royal Bank Of Canada (RBC) Checking Account Booklet and Royal Bank Of Canada (RBC) Platinum MasterCard on behalf of your personal name, which you will be using to withdraw from your non-resident account with this Bank smoothly.

And we shall proceed with the delivery of your Royal Bank Of Canada (RBC) Checking Account Booklet and Royal Bank Of Canada (RBC) Platinum MasterCard to you, upon receipt of the Activation fee of $320.00 USD only. This means that as soon as we receive the activation fee we will activate the account for you to be able to withdraw immediately from the account, once we make the delivery of your Royal Bank Of Canada (RBC) Checking Account Booklet and Royal Bank Of Canada (RBC) Platinum MasterCard with some of the legal documents backing this prize to your address within 24 hours, because we were mandated to transfer this Winning to you as one of the winners whose name is listed in the Coca-Cola Company Canada Lottery award . Please expedite actions as the rightful winner, as the administrative overheads statement account valued added balance sheet have been issued in your favor. $12,000,000.00 USD Payment notification from Royal Bank Of Canada (RBC).

So you are therefore advised to send the requested fee of $ 320 USD to us, the payment details will be sent to you as soon as you provide the below data:

Below are the details we need from you.

1. Your Full Name:.........
2. Address:..........
3. City:..........
4. Country:..........
5. Cell/Mobile Number:...........

Email : offiefdxebsjwme@gmail.com

If at any time you have questions, concerns or comments, please contact us as we strive to ensure that you will always receive prompt and courteous attention.

Yours faithfully,

David I Mckay
The President and CEO.
Royal Bank Of Canada (RBC).
Head Office Location Address: 200 Bay Street,
Royal Bank

Okay, so where to start? Well, how about the end- with David Mckay, as spelled here. The president and CEO of Royal Bank of Canada is in fact David McKay, so you'd think he'd know that k should be capitalized. But this, of course, is not Mr. McKay. Just as this is not a real offer.

Because when you look up Coca-Cola lottery, all sorts of articles come up about how it's a phishing scam, as if that wasn't already obvious. 

Because there is no such lottery, and because this is all a fake. You can see it pretty quick in, where the standard giveaway of a scammer can be seen when they write it as 'United State Dollars'. I mean, really, is it that hard for you bloody morons to write States? It's one letter, but you bloody idiots trip over it all the time.

There are the other tell-tales. An abundance of capitalized words that don't need capitalization. Overly formal phrasing that does not read like it was written by someone with a strong grasp of the English language but instead put through translation software without being vetted. The millions of dollars serving as the hook for the sucker to believe this is all real.

I should point out that they mention the "activation fee" of 320 dollars, which is rare for a scammer. Usually they do this after the sucker has bought the scam, bringing up a processing fee or something of that sort. That 320 bucks is pretty much all these scammers expect to get out of these before the mark gets wise to the scam.

I should also bring up the irony of these weasels bringing up the non-resident account notion. Because I'm Canadian. And the Royal Bank of Canada is a Canadian bank. Not the one I use, but that's beside the point. Because they're forgetting that some of the 500 000 random emails they send this crap to will be Canadian, and we might find it annoying that we're not residents of our own country.

But I digress. Because I've seen far too many signs that tell me when I'm dealing with scammers to have a go at that bait. I know better. Maybe one of the other half a million email addresses you sent this to might believe it, but I don't. 

In closing, whoever you really are at the far end of that daisy chain of emails that sent this crap to me, I can only tell you, from the bottom of my heart....

A Pleasant Excursion To The Island

“These creatures were here before us. And if we’re not careful, they’re going to be here after. Life cannot be contained. Life breaks free. Life… finds a way.” ~ Ian Malcolm

“The man who proved raptors can follow orders. You never thought how many millions a trained predator might be worth?” ~ Eli Mills

“Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur? First time you see them, it’s like… a miracle. You read about them in books,  you see the bones in museums, but you don’t really… believe it. They’re like myths. And then you see… the first one alive.” ~ Claire Dearing

“If I don’t make it back, remember, you’re the one who made me come here.” ~ Owen Grady

The fifth film in the Jurassic Park franchise, and the second in a planned Jurassic World trilogy, has hit theatres. The film series, about science stepping over a moral line in resurrecting dinosaurs through cloning, has been a thrill ride ever since, weaving between reptilian terror and the ethical question of where the line between right and wrong is. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom reunites the stars of the previous film for another round of dinosaur mayhem, while bringing in a fresh director to handle the project.

Three years after the events of the previous film, Senate hearings are underway, as the abandoned Isla Nublar is facing impending destruction because of volcanic activity, and the question remains- should the dinosaurs be rescued? Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum, reprising his role) feels that nature is correcting the mistake made in cloning the animals. Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), former operations chief at Jurassic World, has founded a group called the Dinosaur Protection Group and is advocating saving the animals. She is contacted by Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) and his assistant Eli Mills (Rafe Spall); Lockwood was once partners with the late John Hammond, and offers a new island as a sanctuary for the animals. Claire must bring in Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), the former raptor wrangler, to aid in the efforts to save the dinosaurs. It doesn’t take long for volcanic eruptions and hidden agendas to assert themselves.

Director Colin Trevorrow took writing duties this time out, due to return for a final film in the trilogy as director. The story, crafted with Derek Connolly, who worked with Trevorrow and others on Jurassic World, continues the tradition of the franchise’s mixing of wonder, terror, and the ethical debate of science. It’s familiar ground by now, this being the fifth film of the series, and while it might seem dinosaurs living in the present might well have lost their sense of wonder by now, the story still maintains the tension and dread when things go inevitably wrong (as they always seem to do when you’ve got a plan involving dinosaurs).

Trevorrow and Connolly’s script not only works off that tension, but it uses the characters to frame that ethical debate. Just because we can do something, does that mean we should? Some of the characters are quite firm in their moral code on the matter, while others only see their own ambitions, driven by their own greed and self-interest. Those are qualities that often come back to haunt the individual in these films, and that certainly applies here. One might even say it’s a statement at the state of the world today.

Spanish director J.A. Bayona has come on board to helm this film. He would best be known to American audiences for his disaster film The Impossible, and some of his work at home includes horror. He has the experience then for something on this scale, an epic that still grounds itself in its characters. The CGI mix of dinosaurs with locations has already been well established in the franchise; the animals have a real look that makes them blend seamlessly in with everything else. We are a long way past the stilted awkwardness of Ray Harryhausen effects, and this franchise has been a big part of that push forward. Bayona paces the film well, with the first half coming across as a disaster film before weaving into what feels like a haunted house scenario with the second half.

The cast is diversely chosen, some returning from previous films, others new to the franchise. B.D. Wong has previously appeared as the geneticist Doctor Wu, the man most responsible for the cloning of dinosaurs in the first film. The actor plays the role as cold, clinical, detached, and amoral, a scientist who’s more concerned with his ego and his accomplishments than the wisdom of whether or not something should be carried out. Justice Smith makes his debut as Franklin Webb, a computer technician for the old theme park who’s become a specialist for the Dinosaur Protection Group. He is brought in on the endeavor, and the actor gets some of the comic relief of the story. Daniela Pineda plays the capable Zia Rodriguez, a former Marine who’s become a paleoveterinarian for the group. She’s tough and resourceful, and the actress plays to that in her performance. Isabella Sermon appears as the pre-required kid (there's always a kid in these films) in peril- Maisie Lockwood, granddaughter of the benefactor, and keeps her cards close to the proverbial vest in her performance, as there is more to her than meets the eye.

Rafe Spall is an English actor, the son of Timothy Spall, and he’s done work in television and film on both sides of the Atlantic. He gets to play the villain this time out, the ambitious executive with plans of his own and little in the way of ethics. Seemingly pleasant at first, he’s of the sort who keeps his agenda hidden and his malice concealed, but it’s there. The character seems to think he’s doing the right thing, which is an interesting angle in a movie. James Cromwell, the well-known character actor, appears as Benjamin Lockwood, a former associate of John Hammond who’s seemingly benevolent in his intentions, but hides secrets of his own and ignores the dark side of his associates. Cromwell has played both good and bad people before- this is a mix of both elements. Ted Levine, who's played many a nasty person in his career, gets to chew the scenery as the mercenary team leader Wheatley, throwing his weight around and serving the interests of his employer. And Toby Jones, the character actor, plays an unscrupulous auctioneer.

Jeff Goldblum, who appeared in the first two films of the franchise, isn’t as heavily involved this time out, but is still a welcome sight to see (perhaps Sam Neill might reprise his Alan Grant one more time?). Ian Malcolm is of course a chaos theory academic with some personal experience with dinosaurs from the first two films, and Goldblum’s take is much the same. Ian is older now, but still as charming, still as irreverent, and still as principled- he draws a line in the sand, adheres to an ethical code, and expresses most strongly the moral dilemma of the story.

Bryce Dallas Howard has already played Claire Dearing in Jurassic World, and returns with the character in a very different place. She has gone from being operations manager in a dinosaur theme park with all the responsibilities therein to seeing that all come apart in the previous film. The character has learned lessons from that, and changed her world view, heading a group dedicated to protecting the animals. She plays Claire as sympathetic, having had taken hard lessons to heart, and become more of a principled person because of it.

Chris Pratt returns as the affable, capable Owen Grady, once a trainer to the velociraptors in the theme park. Having had managed to establish a working relationship with the predators, the experience also taught Owen respect for their nature, and it’s that previous relationship that drives him to join the rescue effort. Pratt plays the character with a combination of laid back humour at times, focused dedication at others, but always resourceful. He and Howard have an easy going chemistry that builds on their character’s established histories, and the two make for likable leads.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom appears to be the second to last of the franchise, with one more film coming. It certainly leaves things off in a way that points to the future of the films, though I do think the studio would be wise to leave it at that afterwards. We’ve gotten ourselves so used to the wonder of the dinosaurs brought back to life onscreen that it all seems quite familiar. The film maintains that ethical debate of the morality of generating life without heeding the consequences, framing that debate with the terror of plans gone terribly wrong and the mayhem of dinosaurs on the loose. All in all, it’s an entertaining new chapter for the series.

Beware The Rampaging Critters

It's been twenty two years since Jurassic Park first wowed audiences with visions of dinosaurs on a tropical island, a film that gave us awe before moving right into shock and carnage as the notion of a theme park and the disregard for ethics went completely wrong. Director Steven Spielberg followed that up with The Lost World, and Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger) came on board to direct Jurassic Park III. Now Jurassic World, the fourth film in the series, has hit theatres, from new director Colin Trevorrow, whose previous work includes a rather quirky film from 2012, Safety Not Guaranteed.

The film picks up on Isla Nublar, the same locale of the first film, where a dinosaur theme park is fully functional and running, attracting thousands of visitors a day. Apparently the lessons of the first film, not to mention the San Diego incident in the second film, have been lost on all concerned. Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) is the owner of the island and park, with a staff that includes the park manager, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), animal wrangler Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), tech experts Lowery (Jake Johnson) and Vivian (Lauren Lapkus), and the only character from any of the original films to return, the conscience free geneticist Dr. Wu (B.D. Wong), who got off the island before things started going wrong in the first film.

To bring in the required children in distress element of the film, Claire's nephews Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) come to the island to pay their aunt a visit. There's also a wild card in the mix, Vic Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio), a security fixer with the InGen corporation of the first two films, who has an agenda of his own. Of course it doesn't take long before things start to go terribly wrong. If only they'd listened to the much missed Ian Malcolm- when things go wrong at Disney World, the Pirates of the Caribbean don't eat the tourist (they just keep making more and more movies).

Trevorrow has a hand in the screenplay, along with three other credited writers- Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly. The film was in development hell for years on end, usually not a good sign. Still, the story plays around with some of the same ethical questions that come before. I found it interesting, for instance, that the park owner is the one with concerns that the well being of the animals is being put behind the notion of profits- the animals are being referred to as assets, and he finds it troublesome. The story also turns things around by having the heroine initially be oblivious to those ethical concerns- Claire seems more concerned with a park running well than little things like "is this such a good idea?"

The story also comments on the consumer society- it's not enough to see dinosaurs in this theme park setting (again, why was no one listening to John Hammond at the end of The Lost World when he insisted these animals required the absence of humans?). The park's visitors numbers need a boost, and they come in the form of the big new dinosaur draw, a synthetic mix called an Indominus Rex, which is a symbol of consumer excess- bigger, louder, and brasher. There are consequences to messing around with nature, and in creating that particular beast, that's really messing around with nature. And there's an inherent irresponsibility that underlies any corporate ventures in these films, and that factors into the story- as does the notion of irresponsibility when someone stands by and does nothing while these wrongful actions proceed. Trevorrow continues to balance the tension and comic moments of the franchise. He handles action sequences- particularly the climactic confrontation of the film- reasonably well. Trevorrow manages to keep the film moving along, giving us heroism and lots of dinosaur action along the way.

The special effects continue to be effective throughout. It's impossible to top the awe of Jurassic Park, but as before we see dinosaurs looking like living, breathing organisms, with strong detail in their look, a clarity of movement, and as if they're part of the same environment as the actors and setting. The look of the engineered Indominus is particularly effective, a newcomer to these films. And it's a welcome thing to see the T-Rex and raptors again. These beasts and plenty more dinosaurs all feature into the film, and we get to see a lot of them. Michael Giacchino, who seems to be composing every other score out there these days, takes the movie in new directions, while incorporating some of John Williams' classic themes into the mix.

I liked the casting. Vincent D'Onofrio is one of those character actors you've seen in so many things down through the years, often a tough guy or every day man with flaws. He's certainly the antagonist this time out, a scheming, ruthless bastard with his own designs on the animals- he sees them not as animals, but as weapons, and his ambitions run deep. It's a character you quickly dislike, and things don't improve for the odds of the audience sympathizing with him. D'Onofrio makes him fun to watch, though.

Bryce Dallas Howard comes from good acting stock- her father is actor-director Ron Howard, and she's been in a mix of films since M. Night Shymalan cast her in The Village. I've liked her in what I have seen her in, and the same applies here. The character's lucky she's likable- neglectful aunts and park managers who lose control of their parks usually meet bad ends in this sort of film. There's history between Claire and Owen, and Howard plays to that. Despite being a yeasayer as far as the viability of the park is concerned as the story gets underway, Claire's a sympathetic character, and much of that comes from Howard's performance.

Pratt, who made a big impression last year with Guardians Of The Galaxy, is pretty straightforward as the hero of the film Owen (though they couldn't have given him a better first name?). There's something of a swashbuckler in the character, an ex-military type who's capable and resourceful (his method of evading detection by the rampaging Indominus is inspired). The character has some odd ideas about raptors, and is a nature lover with his own hesitations about the park, but he comes into his own in a crisis, as a hero should.

Carrying on the Jurassic Park franchise after several years away works, though it's not quite up to the standards of the first two films. I did find myself missing Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, and Julianne Moore. The lessons of previous films seem to have gone unlearned, and of course there are repercussions to be seen to. Not that the dinosaurs mind... they're too busy snacking on tourists.

Dinosaur Hunting And Other Disasters

Some links before getting started today. Norma wrote about the Triple Crown. Parsnip checked in. Eve wrote about naughty or nice. And Maria had tips for writers in regards to disposing of bodies.

Today I have another movie review...

“Oh yeah. Ooohh, aahhh, that’s how it always starts. Then later there’s running, and, ah... screaming.” ~ Ian Malcolm

“Please. Don’t treat me like a grad student. I’ve worked around predators since I was twenty years old. Lions, jackals, hyenas.... you.” ~ Sarah Harding

“Yeah, well, noble was last year. This year I’m getting paid. Hammond’s check cleared, or I wouldn’t be going on this wild goose chase.” ~ Nick Van Owen

“Saddle up! Let’s get this moveable feast underway!” ~ Roland Tembo

“Careful. This suit cost more than your education.” ~Peter Ludlow

 “These creatures require our absence to survive, not our help. And if we could only step aside, and trust in nature, life will find a way.” ~ John Hammond

“Remember that chap about twenty years ago? I forget his name. Climbed Everest without any oxygen, came down nearly dead. When they asked him, they said why did you go up there to die? He said, I didn’t, I went up there to live.” ~ Roland Tembo

“Why don’t people listen to me? I use plain and simple English, I don’t have any accent that I’m aware of...” ~ Ian Malcolm  

“Oh, shut up.” ~ Sarah Harding

After the success of Jurassic Park, it was inevitable that there would be a follow-up. Author Michael Crichton wrote a novel, The Lost World, which would be very loosely adapted in a screenplay by David Koepp, who had co-written the screenplay for the first film. The film follows some of the characters from the original film on a new island where dinosaurs have survived, and features a power struggle between those who wish to protect the animals and those who seek to exploit them.

Four years after the events of the first film, a wealthy family has stopped for a break on the beach on Isla Sorna, off the Costa Rican coast. A young girl wanders off, encountering little dinosaurs that quickly turn on her. The incident allows Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard), the nephew of John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to take control of InGen, the company that built the ill fated theme park on the nearby Isla Nublar. Hammond has spent the last few years trying to keep Isla Sorna from being exploited; it’s the site where the dinosaurs were nurtured before being moved to the park, and with the events of the previous film, the animals have been left there to roam wild, and are thriving. Hammond calls in Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), whose reputation has been wrecked by whistleblowing the events at InGen, and explains his dilemma. He can only safeguard the island by getting public opinion on his side, and that requires sending a team in to document the animals in their natural environment. Hammond wants Ian on that team, given his previous experience.

One of the team members happens to be Ian’s girlfriend, Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), a behavioural palaeontologist who’s already gone ahead to the island. Ian is annoyed by the fact that Hammond’s already taken liberties, and is determined to go to the island and bring Sarah back. He meets the other two members of the team, a logistics specialist, Eddie Carr (Richard Schiff) and a videographer, Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn). Things are also complicated by the arrival of Ian’s daughter Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester). The team set out for the island and a rendezvous with Sarah, not knowing they have a stowaway, and unaware that there is another team with a different agenda- collecting dinosaurs and taking them- coming to the island as well.

The story is more of an adventure straight off than the first film. The characters and the audience know there is no illusion of control about this island, that the threat is paramount. The ethical question shifts from what we saw in the first film, as the right of people to tamper with life, to what we see here, the struggle of two different agendas. On the right side of that equation is the need to protect the animals and keep them out of harm’s way. The other side is the greedy disregard for what’s right- the desire to exploit and use the animals no matter the consequence. Hammond, who’s learned lessons the hard way, has gone from venture capitalist to environmentalist, lessons that his nephew doesn’t learn. I like that shift in the ethical side of the film. Aside from moving the narrative along, providing thrills, a measure of horror, and humour along the line, the story also grounds itself in relationship dynamics, and they’re best expressed in the relationships between Hammond and Ludlow, Kelly and Ian, and Sarah and Ian. Those are explored as the film goes along, though in the first case, only indirectly.

The special effects once more make dinosaurs come alive. We get the tyrannosaurus rex, the raptors, and a variety of other dinosaurs that seem to be sharing the screen with the actors as opposed to being a special effect. Full use is made of them, in a variety of ways- I love the way Spielberg sets up the scenes of raptors stalking a group of people running through tall grass- we see glimpses of the predators, their paths through the grass, a flash of their tails as they converge on their prey. And he doesn’t shy away from giving us full view of them either. 

The climax of the movie, with a Rex loose in San Diego, brings both terror and a sense of sly humour to it- and that beast certainly looks like it is alive and stomping around city streets late at night. Spielberg also brings back composer John Williams, who makes spare use of his previous themes and instead infuses dangerous, thrilling sounds into the score, with a hint of the jungle in the music.

The cast again is well chosen. Richard Attenborough appears only briefly as Hammond, who’s learned his lessons the hard way after the previous film. He seeks redemption for his earlier mistakes by safeguarding the island, and his intentions are at least better this time out- though he takes liberties in how he carries them out. Still, the character continues to come across as the kindly old grandfather. 

This is not the case for Arliss Howard as his nephew Peter Ludlow. The executive is a sneering, arrogant man, obnoxious and condescending, thoroughly unlikable and not as bright as he thinks he is. There’s a basic antagonism that he brings out in everyone- even the people working for him. Though the two characters never share a scene, there’s a sense that Ludlow holds his uncle Hammond in contempt. And for all his arrogance and bluster, deep down the character is a spineless excuse for a human being.

Vanessa Lee Chester as the stowaway daughter Kelly has the bulk of her interaction with Goldblum and Moore, filling the place of having a kid in the movie that Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello had in the first film. The relationship Kelly has with her father is somewhat tense- part of that is normal teenager stuff, the roll the eyes at whatever Dad says routine. Part of it is also the dynamic between them- her parents aren’t together, she feels her father doesn’t particularly want to be a dad. It’s a complicated relationship- she doesn’t understand that what’s driving Ian is keeping both her and Sarah safe; he of course has extensive experience with these animals, and knows how dangerous they can be. Actually Ian and Kelly have more in common than she realizes. Richard Schiff is good as the sardonic but capable logistics man Eddie Carr, who seems to have the right equipment for the right occasion, but isn’t really ready for what’s on the island until he sees dinosaurs with his own eyes. The character has a dry sense of humour, and while things end badly for him, he goes out working to save others, which is a nice touch. After this movie, Schiff went on to be one of the core cast members of The West Wing. Vince Vaughn plays the charming and somewhat idealistic Nick, bringing some of his motor-mouth personality to the role; this was an earlier role for him, and while I don’t mind the motor-mouth act in this film, it’s gotten tiresome in the years since as he’s pretty much kept using it. That said, however, Nick’s an interesting character, sarcastic but principled.

Pete Postlethwaite became better known later in his career to international audiences, particularly because of his outstanding work in the 1993 film In The Name Of The Father (far and away the best film of that year). Here he gets a really good role as Roland Tembo (what a name), a big game hunter who leads Ludlow’s team on the island. The character’s a boisterous, tough, and capable leader, a thoroughly dangerous man (one would not want to get into a fight with him). There’s something of a Captain Ahab to the man- he seeks the challenge of hunting a Tyrannosaurus Rex- and yet he can pull back from that hunt and let it go- a vital difference from Ahab. Where he ends up is a different place, personality wise, than where we first meet him. While he might work for the opposing side, he’s not unsympathetic, and we get to like him more as the film goes along. The character’s a force of nature, and Postlethwaite seems to be having a ball playing him.

Julianne Moore’s one of those actresses who could read the phone book and make it fascinating- she’s just that compelling and interesting in what she does. She’s resourceful, curious, and smart- and perhaps not wary enough of the dangers of the island until things go wrong. We believe her as an expert in the field- she seems entirely comfortable in her surroundings and carries herself with authority as you’d expect out of an experienced palaeontologist. Sarah’s relationship with Ian also feels real. The two have their disagreements, but have a lot of history, too, and for the most part seem to get along. Sarah’s touched that Ian’s come to rescue her, but adds that it would help if he did so on occasions when she could really use the help- such as a dinner with parents he missed. They’re not a perfect couple (who is?), but they seem grounded and real, and Moore plays to that, adding a sense of spirit and strength to her role.

Jeff Goldblum is fun once again as Ian Malcolm. He’s more cynical when we first meet him- having one’s academic career dismantled will do that. Having lived through the experience on the other island, he’s also the one character who understands the dangers the animals present. Try as he might to warn everyone around him, they don’t listen- until it’s too late. His motives are more personal this time out as well. While his ethical world view remains the same, his driving motivation is the safety of the woman he loves, and the daughter who thinks he doesn’t understand her. He might not go about how he deals with both in the right way, saying the wrong things at times, but we get what drives him, because like him, we know where this is going to end up- with lots of bloodshed and dinosaurs ripping people in half.

The Lost World was a fitting follow-up to Jurassic Park. Given that we already had the awe and majesty of the first film (before the chaos started), this film goes pretty much for the chaos, particularly in its second and third acts. It has a terrific cast, a good sense of humour, an adventurous spirit, and a fine way of driving up the tension.