To me The Lost World started with a visual they wanted--T. rex ripping through San Diego--and then worked backwards from there. The animal rights stuff was weak and sloppy; I certainly didn't care for any of the "good" guys. It's not that surprising, I guess, since The Lost World the novel was even worse (the idea of the camouflaged carnosaurs would have been interesting to see Spielberg handle.) I guess that's it, right there--it didn't really feel as much like a Spielberg film. The sense of adventure the first film had was lost.
The third film had some plenty stupid stuff in it (like that the velociraptors would let them go, the use of the spinosaurus in general as a new "big bad" when it was unnecessary) but it felt a lot more like the first film in terms of some really great action sequences (discovering the raptors, the Peter Pan-inspired trip down the river, and the aviary) and less painful characters.
The second one has some gif worthy stuff that isn't that bad, the third one is just a write off apart from a from a few scenes.
It had Laura Dern that should boost it higher than JP2 for you alone
Slightly off topic but I'm thinking of adding a few Halo titles to my ever growing collection of video game artbooks. Does anyone have any recommendations regarding the large number of Halo books out there? I'm currently debating between:
Halo Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Halo Universe
Halo: The Essential Visual Guide
Halo: The Art of Building Worlds
Awakening: The Art of Halo 4
Thanks
I'd say it depends on whether you're mostly interested in the art or the fiction. As a fiction-head myself I'd go with the first three. The fourth is nice but mostly just pretty pictures. Keep in mind that the Halo Essential Visual Guide is slightly superseded by the Halo 4 Visual Guide, and the Halo Encyclopedia needs a 3rd edition sometime soon to deal with all the updated info (it's up to date as of Reach with the 2nd edition.)