Creature features still big on Kaua’i

Reviewers and moviegoers can decide if “Jurassic Park III” turns out to be a

boffo boom or bust. For now, it’s just nice that Kaua’i is still dinosaur

country for the makers of the famed fantasy flicks about prehistoric beasts

mingling humans.

Wailua Marina was among the places where Universal

Pictures and Amblin Entertainment did some location filming this week. When the

work finally shows up on the big screen, Kauaians once again will have the fun

of perhaps recognizing their island, just as they did when watching the

original “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World: Jurassic Park.” Those movies,

released in the 1990s, included scenes shot in Limahuli Valley, Olokele Canyon,

Lawa’i, Kealia, Kapa’a, Kilauea and Maha’ulepu.

Those earlier cinematic

creature features combined for a roaring $1.5 billion in box office sales

worldwide. In the tracks of that phenomenal success, the newest film has a

tough act to follow. But at least it’s sticking with the Kaua’i part of a

winning formula.