`Carnosaur III: Primal Species' is an above-average quality sequel in this series of the films.
**SPOILERS**
A team of terrorists hijacks a top-secret military convoy, thinking they have captured weapons-grade plutonium. Instead, the convoy was carrying dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs attack and kill the squad of terrorists. A military recovery team learns the convoy is stopped in a warehouse on the local waterfront, and immediately goes out to retrieve it. The dinosaurs attack the squad, leaving only three soldiers. Back at their headquaters, their captain (Scott Valentine) refuses to go back unless they kill the dinos, but the scientist in charge of the operation (Janet Gunn) orders them to merely capture the dinos. Heading back out to the warehouse, the team gets additional help with a Marine Task Force. Together, they still can't control the dinosaurs. They finally find a way to get them under control: luring them out to a ship, sailing them out to see and blowing the ship up.
The Good News: While this film won't win any awards for its FX, the dinos are still pretty realistic. It's still pretty better than the first one, but the second one is the most realistic of the movies. This film isn't as gory as some would believe, but only a few scenes are actually gory. There is the traditional limb ripped off and even some bloodsplatter, but this is the driest of the three films. The locale of the movie is a nice change, making the switch to a warehouse instead of in an open area like the first one. It was also very good in designing suspense. There was a lot of scenes were you were waiting for a dinosaur to pop out of somewhere and take a bite out of someone, and more often than not, that did happen. I have to give a film some recommendation when it delivers on suspense that it sets up.
The Bad News: For some reason, this had some scenes that could've been taken out of the movie, despite the fact that it's barely over 1 hr. and 20 mins. The scenes showing the Soldiers and the Marines getting to know each other could've been trimmed, and several other small scenes could've been cut out. Also, there are a lot of shots of very obvious puppet dinosaurs shown. The T-Rex at the end is a very good example. It looked real in only a few seconds in the whole film. In fact, the dinos are only in a few minutes of the movie. They were missing for most of the movie. I counted only about a half-hour worth of screen time for the dinos. This should've been dragged out far longer for a film about dinosaurs, and it being so short in the first place, would've only made the film that much better. The recasting of Rick Dean, who was Monk in part two as Polcheck in this one, was a nice touch but confusing, as he seems to play the same role in both movies: a wise-cracking soldier who doesn't seem too interested in the rules of the situation.
The Final Verdict: If you don't mind watching about a half-hours' worth of dinosaurs in an 1hr. and 20 min movie, this isn't that bad of a movie. It may leave you confused why it's so long with so many scenes that could've been cut out, but it is still a worthwhile edition to the series.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Adult Language.
**SPOILERS**
A team of terrorists hijacks a top-secret military convoy, thinking they have captured weapons-grade plutonium. Instead, the convoy was carrying dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs attack and kill the squad of terrorists. A military recovery team learns the convoy is stopped in a warehouse on the local waterfront, and immediately goes out to retrieve it. The dinosaurs attack the squad, leaving only three soldiers. Back at their headquaters, their captain (Scott Valentine) refuses to go back unless they kill the dinos, but the scientist in charge of the operation (Janet Gunn) orders them to merely capture the dinos. Heading back out to the warehouse, the team gets additional help with a Marine Task Force. Together, they still can't control the dinosaurs. They finally find a way to get them under control: luring them out to a ship, sailing them out to see and blowing the ship up.
The Good News: While this film won't win any awards for its FX, the dinos are still pretty realistic. It's still pretty better than the first one, but the second one is the most realistic of the movies. This film isn't as gory as some would believe, but only a few scenes are actually gory. There is the traditional limb ripped off and even some bloodsplatter, but this is the driest of the three films. The locale of the movie is a nice change, making the switch to a warehouse instead of in an open area like the first one. It was also very good in designing suspense. There was a lot of scenes were you were waiting for a dinosaur to pop out of somewhere and take a bite out of someone, and more often than not, that did happen. I have to give a film some recommendation when it delivers on suspense that it sets up.
The Bad News: For some reason, this had some scenes that could've been taken out of the movie, despite the fact that it's barely over 1 hr. and 20 mins. The scenes showing the Soldiers and the Marines getting to know each other could've been trimmed, and several other small scenes could've been cut out. Also, there are a lot of shots of very obvious puppet dinosaurs shown. The T-Rex at the end is a very good example. It looked real in only a few seconds in the whole film. In fact, the dinos are only in a few minutes of the movie. They were missing for most of the movie. I counted only about a half-hour worth of screen time for the dinos. This should've been dragged out far longer for a film about dinosaurs, and it being so short in the first place, would've only made the film that much better. The recasting of Rick Dean, who was Monk in part two as Polcheck in this one, was a nice touch but confusing, as he seems to play the same role in both movies: a wise-cracking soldier who doesn't seem too interested in the rules of the situation.
The Final Verdict: If you don't mind watching about a half-hours' worth of dinosaurs in an 1hr. and 20 min movie, this isn't that bad of a movie. It may leave you confused why it's so long with so many scenes that could've been cut out, but it is still a worthwhile edition to the series.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Adult Language.