In terms of Michael Crichton levels of sci-fi, this is about the Michael Crichton-est Michael Crichton ever got. If the genetic technology used to create InGen's dinosaurs was a step too far for you, the time travel technology in both the book and this adaptation is gonna seem absurd! Because it is, however, this adaptation continues the tradition of gutting important aspects from Crichton's source materials and runs with it in the most Richard Donner way possible. It's incredibly stupid dumb fun if you can get passed Paul Walker playing an archeology-hating son of a respected archeologist with *the* most Paul Walker-ish acting style; I know *why* he was cast in this, because it was the early aughts and his star was *way* on the rise after The Skulls and first two Fast and Furious movies, but goddamn if he wasn't the worst choice to play the lead character in a movie about doctoral archeology students being sent back to the 14th century having to use their knowledge of history and their *way* advanced technological know-how to survive long enough for the time machine to be repaired. Also, *if* I remember right -- and that's a big "if" because it's been thirteen years since I last read the book -- Billy Connolly's character *was* indeed the professor, but not related in any way to Paul Walker's character. The setup, however, is indeed very much faithful to the book, like the rest of Crichton's adaptations. Professor flies off to find out how their corporate sponsors are able to get *so* many accurate locations for digs, gets sent back in time, trapped, and leaves a message for his students to find and hopefully come save him.

Obviously, the hospital staff had no explanation for how this happened, and just like the intro to Jurassic Park's novel, it was someone with a medical background who started to spot the obvious corporate conspiracy they'd never get an answer to.

Somehow, Frances O'Connor was in her late 30s but still pulled off the grad student look. Thought it might be like Laura Dern in Jurassic Park, playing a character whose book counterpart was the same age, but nope, Frances O'Connor was a good decade older than her book counterpart. Speaking of actors looking a *lot* younger than they were, pre-300 Gerard Butler was 34 when this movie was released, and I'd still forget this is him playing Marek if it weren't for that accent.

If there's one thing I've learned from Crichton's books and their adaptations, it's that if you're a scientist with the "chance of a lifetime" to explore a long-extinct aspect of your field, do *not* believe the smooth talking CEO who made it possible; sure, John Hammond's character was heavily sanitized for the film adaptation, but ht was a *lot* like Doniger in the book: extremely greedy and didn't give a fuck about anyone so long as his little science experiment made him obscenely rich. But, hey, at least he gets killed in the end, unlike Hammond's on-screen counterpart.

Also love Marton Csokas hamming it up as the most villainous villain to ever villain on camera; he's a blast to watch in these kind of roles in Timeline, Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut, of course) and the first Denzel Equalizer movie. Also, a pretty decent baddie in xXx, bringing a bit of life to a movie where all the charisma is sapped from it whenever Vin Diesel is on-screen.