Jack of Harts

Yeah, I’m going way back now with Jurassic Park, but there’s a reason. I’ve seen all of the Jurassic Park movies, even 2 and 3. I’ve loved Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. But you know one thing I’ve never done? I’ve never read the book.

So I decided to fix that oversight this week. So I’m reading Jurassic Park as I write this. Technically I’m listening to it, like all of my reading these days. Audible is a bad, bad, drug pusher.

As usual, movies are different from the book, but the original movie was actually a really good version of the book. And so was Jurassic World. And 2 and 3 ended up borrowing many elements from the original book that didn’t end up in the original movie as well. Which is pretty awesome to see as I go through.

The second movie starts with the one of the opening scenes from the book, though quickly devolved into militant Earth Firster propaganda. One of the main characters spends his time protecting the dinos from the bad soldiers by breaking them out of cages and sabotaging weapons. Even when they are defending him from the T-Rexes who are hunting them. Which gets dozens of people killed, and him a glory shot of looking smug about how he’s so much better than those people. About then, I was wishing he’d get the same kind of glory shot as the lawyer from the first movie.

The third movie, and Jurassic World, show the aviary, and one of their primary plots is of a boy lost in the park whose parents are divorced or divorcing. Two boys in Jurassic World. And the third movie features the river that Doctor Grant travels down in the book as well. It’s amazing how many movies could be made from the genesis of a single book.

Also of note, I have friends who dislike watching Jurassic Park because of all the stupid stuff in it. They love to tear it apart over idiotic things done in it. Basically, critics who love to complain. I can now smile and say “It was explained in the book. They weren’t mistakes. They were onpurposes.” That makes me giggle just a little bit. No…let me be honest here. That makes me giggle a LOT.

At this time, I’m not done with the book, but I’ve read other books by the Michael Crichton and he’s never failed me before. Yes, I’ve read other books by him and never read this one. I know. I loved the movie so much, I didn’t think I could love the book more and didn’t want to be disappointed like I was with the second movie. So I just never pulled the trigger. Now I have, and I love it more than the movie. All of them.

So that’s two thumbs, way up. Look higher. Look higher. Those aren’t tree trunks. Those are legs. Look higher. Yeah….now you see the T-Rex against the sky. That’s how high the thumbs are up for Jurassic Park, the novel edition. Also for the first movie and Jurassic World. The third movie gets one thumb up for a fun romp through the second island, with the second movie gets two thumbs down because I want those two hours of my life back.