Carnosaur 2

• Directed by Louis Morneau
• February 15, 1995
• Based on characters and situations created by John Brosnan

A team infiltrates the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository and learn the place has been overrun by cloned dinosaurs.

The strangest thing about Carnosaur 2 is the number of recognizable faces in this. In comparison to the first film, it’s rather stacked with mid-tier talent. No huge names but all are genre and capable talented actors of the time in significant parts. Low budget filmmaking really shines in these cases. In instances like this because the talent involved is in their element they know how to make even the worst schlock shine. Miguel A. Núñez Jr., multiple award winner/nominee John Savage, Cliff DeYoung, and Don Stroud were always excellent though never big stars. DeYoung in particular was particularly adept at playing an a-hole that although they were personally repellent were fun to watch.

Inexplicably this is a better film than the first one. It’s still low budget as are all things Roger Corman but it’s an improved story and much more cohesive. You get a sense of the characters and the action is more interesting even if the full shots of the dinosaur puppets are as disappointing as they were in the last one. This smartly often implies the dinosaurs rather than showing them. Viewers get people reacting to the creatures chasing them and what not but you don’t really see much of anything until the last 20 minutes or less of the movie. A smart moveby director Louis Morneau. It covers the cheapness of the production as the people in the suits can only paw at objects or use gentle slaps meant to be vicious swipes. Sturdier props were needed in those instances, but being a Corman film, they were not going to happen.

The significant characters are more defined though nothing amazing. Teenage hacker Jesse (Ryan Thomas Johnson) is dealing with the death of his father, the infiltration team’s computer expert Ed Moses (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.) may be the coolest of the cool but is not annoying while reacting normally, Don Stroud as Ben Kahane is nicer than he usually played, John Savage as team leader Jack Reed has his own death baggage and connects to Jesse, and Cliff DeYoung as Tom McQuade who is the human villain does things that make sense given his position.

What is hard to understand is how these people missed the dinosaurs. If I follow the plot right before the movie individuals came to the facility I assume to cleared them all out but missed some. Then they got out and started killing people again. That’s hard to believe. Either that or I missed info about the disease infecting somebody again.

This takes place in the middle of the desert. As stated by human villain Tom McQuade on a few occasions there is no civilization for 80 miles around and it’s supposed to be very hot. I swear the presence of shrubbery and what not makes it little hard to swallow. Perhaps toning down the mention of the terrible conditions of the desert is what was called for.

By avoiding showing the bad dinosaur props and focusing on the humans this manages to be exciting. Like Jurassic Park the cast is battling intelligent predators. It makes for a more adrenaline pumping experience. Of course there is a final dinosaur battle using yet another forklift which feels very derivative making things underwhelming.

Production values are equivalent to any number of better made first run syndicated shows of the time. The sets are believable and the music is okay. I’m pretty sure it’s been recycled in multiple other Corman productions. There is a slight ill fit to it. The movie cheap and derivative. Rather than be the somewhat intelligent companion to Jurassic Park it takes a some more exploitative tone. That is not an insult but instead a compliment since they knew direct competition was impossible.

Best part is that Carnosaur 2 is completely accessible to anyone who hasn’t seen the first movie. There are no returning characters and anything that connects to the first film is a simple reference to previous events much like someone recalling a fact rather than the viewer needing to have seen Carnosaur to understand what is going on.

Government agents have secrets and people have problems and there’s a few assholes present just to die. Nothing too unique here but the saving grace is that it’s well done for what it is. It’s exciting and maybe even a little silly but ultimately entertaining. You don’t feel bored or that you’re wasting your time and there’s nothing confusing or too forced just because they need to get to the next step.

Carnosaur 2 is a vast improvement over the original. It’s exciting and it has good characters. You’ll be entertained and maybe even watch it again.