10 Times Your Favourite Directors Totally Let You Down

8. The Lost World: Jurassic Park - Steven Spielberg

Jurassic Park Sarah Harding The Lost World Julianne MooreUniversal PicturesGoing by the magic that he worked on the Indiana Jones sequels, fans of the world's most famous movie director - and there are millions of them - had high hopes for the follow-up to Jurassic Park, which was by all accounts one of the biggest movie events of all-time and remains a staple classic to this day. But whereas Jurassic Park felt fresh and innovative in all the ways that it still does now, The Lost World - which brought Jeff Goldblum's Dr. Ian Malcolm in as the main career - felt like Steven Spielberg on autopilot; a man going through the motions. So it's safe to say that, essentially, that the spark is entirely missing. Whereas every scene in Jurassic Park clung to an excited energy, Spielberg's sequel doesn't even feel like he's behind the camera. The pacing is off, the action scenes - aside from one mesmerising sequence involving a cliff and a trailer - are lackluster, and the characters are largely bland and unsympathetic. For what could have been one of the greatest sequels ever made, The Lost World is a notable letdown - presumably a result of Spielberg's lack of overall enthusiasm.
Contributor

Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.