Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park is one of the rare instances where the movie is superior to the book. I'm rating this a 4 due to its boring start (pre-island), it's stupid ending, and the fact that Malcolm and Genaro carried the story for me. This book is very different from the movie. Both have their strengths, which I will share via spoilers.

What the movie did better:

1. The kids. They are annoying in the book. I understand that Lex is 7 or 8 years old, so she deserves a plethora of grace, but she's extremely annoying. The author seemed to hate her; she made all of these mistakes that nearly killed them. She was even pooped on by a pterodactyl. Whereas Tim is 11 yrs old and this brilliant little Dino-nerd that is the only one that can work the computer and bring the power online (instead of Lex in the movie). I much prefer their behavior and relationship in the movie where Tim still loves dinos, but Lex is mature and the elder sister.
2. The movie bypasses the boring backstory for the most part while keeping the most important scenes I think.
3. The characters in the movie are more likable for the most part, minus Genaro!! They did my man Genaro dirty in the movie. Not cool. I really liked Genaro in the book- more on that later. Ellie Sattler specifically was shown to be more interesting and fleshed out than the book. In the novel, she's mostly admired for her legs rather than her scientific knowledge.
4. The ending. The book ending is so boring, dumb, and anti-climatic. To start, the raptors in the main building are not killed by a trex. They are killed by Grant tricking them into eating eggs filled with some sort of chemical that poisons them (forgot which). He killed like, three of them this way. In no way did I find this believable or exciting. One raptor, yes, three - no. Then when the raptors are gone, Hammond is practically MIA and Genaro is the one to call the Costa Rican government for help to blow up the island via air strike. Grant goes berserk, roughing him up physically and blaming HIM solely for the park (not Hammond), forcing him to search for the raptors nest to count the number of creatures to make sure they all die. I thought it was extremely unfair of Grant to assault Genaro and call him a coward. I firmly believe that Grant's priority in seeking the raptor nests was scientific curiosity, not genuine concern for mankind. Muldoon should have backed him up, as he and Genaro spent lots of time together, but even he turns on Genaro at the end and threatens him with electric shock to get him into the raptor nest. When they are finally at the nest, nothing happens. The adult raptors miraculously don't notice 3 humans (unbelievable) in their den. Then everyone is rushed from the island and the Costa Rican government blows it up. Soooo boring.

Things I think the book did better:

1. Malcolm is even cooler! We get far more monologue from Malcolm in the book than the movie, and he's somehow cooler. The fact that he's balding just makes him more badass because he doesn't let his receding hairline take away from the fact that he's intelligent as hell with his chaos theory. God I love Malcolm.
2. More Dr. Wu: Dr. Wu was hardly in the movie, which is a shame. In the book, he and Hammond have lots of moments together where we learn more about him. He's brave, and tries to save Ellie when the raptors were trying to kill her. I was sad to see him die in such a gruesome way, but there is something poetic about the major players in Jurassic Park dying at the claws of their own creation (Hammond, Arnold, and Wu).
3. Genaro the Lawyer is badass. The movie did him dirty and combined him with Ed Regis' character in the book, the Public Relations person that pees his pants and abandons the kids in the car. In the book, Genaro stays with Ellie and the vet with the triceratops, so he never encounters the Rex and gets eaten. Then, Ellie stays behind, but Genaro goes out with Muldoon to find Grant and the kids, and he is out there in the park trying to help get the park up and running. He even agrees to help Muldoon with the raptors although he's afraid. I don't blame him for wanting nothing to do with the raptors nests at the end. Frankly, it's easy for Grant to call him a coward when no one is waiting for him at home. Genaro has a wife and kids to take care of, so he shouldn't be treated like shit at the end when he's already risked his neck multiple times.

Other things didn't like about the book

1. The trex following Grant and the kids. It's literally stalking them. Why!? There are so many dinos for the trex to eat. Why follow the three, small humans so much?
2. Grant never confronting Hammond about his role in opening a dangerous park. I guess he didn't want to risk pissing off the man that funds his dig sites (coward).

Anyways, I rate it a 4/5 for these reasons. I still loved the book, and enjoyed the narrator for the audiobook.