Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

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Screenwise Verdict

Here's the truth: The Lost World is not a good movie. It's a sequel that exists because the first one made a billion dollars, not because anyone had a story worth telling.

The original Jurassic Park had awe, wonder, and Jeff Goldblum being charming. This one has Jeff Goldblum being annoyed, a teenage gymnast kicking a raptor, and a T-Rex eating a dog in suburbia. The reviews reflect this—57% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 6.6 on IMDb. Even audiences who wanted to love it could only muster a 52%.

For modern kids, this is a tough sell. It's nearly 30 years old, looks and feels dated, and the pacing is exhausting in a bad way. If your kid loved the first Jurassic Park and is begging for more, fine—but temper expectations. If they haven't seen the original, skip this one entirely and just watch that.

The violence is also notably more intense than the first film, with less emotional payoff. People die in uglier ways, and there's no sense of discovery or magic to balance it out. It's just loud, mean, and kind of dumb.

Age Fit

Common Sense Media says 12+, and that tracks. Kids under 10 will likely find it too intense, and teens might find it boring compared to modern action films. This is really for that narrow 10-13 window where dino-carnage still feels thrilling but you're not yet jaded by Marvel.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

42

This sequel leans hard into chaos and violence with minimal emotional grounding. Characters make reckless decisions, there's little cooperation or kindness modeled, and the tone is relentlessly tense. The pacing is frenetic—dinosaurs attack, people scream, repeat. Unlike the first film's wonder, this one is mostly terror without the heart.

Imaginative

58

The dinosaur effects still hold up reasonably well, and the concept of a 'Site B' breeding ground has some intrigue. But the film doesn't invite curiosity or exploration—it's a chase movie. Kids won't leave wanting to learn about paleontology or ecosystems; they'll just remember the T-Rex eating people in San Diego. Spielberg's visual craft is here, but the script is paint-by-numbers.

Safe

38

Common Sense Media pegs this at 12+, and that feels right—maybe even generous. There's sustained peril, people getting eaten (some graphically), a famous sequence where a guy is ripped apart by compys, and a child nearly falling through glass while a T-Rex looms. It's PG-13 but pushes that boundary hard. No sexual content or language concerns, but the violence is frequent and intense enough to genuinely scare younger viewers.

Enriching

35

This is a cash-grab sequel with little to offer beyond spectacle. There's a thin environmental message about not exploiting nature, but it's buried under screaming and CGI. No meaningful character growth, no ethical dilemmas worth discussing, no skill-building. It's loud, dumb fun at best—and not even that fun. The first film had awe and ideas; this one has a T-Rex in suburbia.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

The dinosaur effects still look pretty good, especially the practical animatronics
If your kid just wants to see T-Rexes wreck stuff, this delivers that specific dopamine hit
The San Diego rampage sequence is memorably absurd
It's a decent test-run for whether your kid can handle sustained action-movie intensity

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What to Watch For

Way more violence than the first film—people get eaten on-screen, trampled, and torn apart by small dinosaurs
The gymnastic-raptor-kick scene is unintentionally hilarious but also peak '90s cringe
Younger kids will likely be scared; older kids might just be bored
The environmental 'message' is paper-thin and contradicted by the plot itself

Conversation Starters

"Why do you think the characters kept making such bad decisions? What would you have done differently?"
"Do you think it's okay to bring dinosaurs back if we can't control them?"
"Which dinosaur scene was the scariest for you? Why?"
"How does this compare to the first Jurassic Park? What made that one better or worse?"

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The Lost World: Jurassic Park