Summary
Highlights
Dr. Henry Wu observes a troubling change in John Hammond, who dismisses concerns about the park's safety. Wu investigates the possibility of breeding dinosaurs after Grant's inquiry about amphibian DNA. His computer search confirms that all breeding dinosaurs incorporate frog DNA, proving Grant's hypothesis and invalidating the park's genetic control methods. Simultaneously, Muldoon searches for an AWOL Nedry, and Ellie and Harding encounter a herd of apatosaurs, noting their unusual lack of fear towards humans and distinct visual system attuned only to movement.
Tim regains consciousness after the Tyrannosaur attack, finding himself trapped in a Land Cruiser precariously perched in a tree. He narrowly escapes before the vehicle plummets. He finds his night-vision goggles and locates Lex, who is traumatized and hiding in a drainage pipe. Ed Regis, also a survivor of the Tyrannosaur attack, initially hides in a panicked state, but is spurred to action after a disturbing encounter with leeches and hearing Lex's cries. He attempts to return to the road but is disoriented and eventually decides to head back to camp.
Grant, Lex, and Tim are reunited and assess their injuries. Grant suspects a young Tyrannosaur's presence. They witness Ed Regis, attempting to regain his composure, being brutally attacked and killed by a juvenile Tyrannosaur. Muldoon and Gennaro, while investigating the scenes of the attack, discover Regis's severed leg and later find an injured and delirious Ian Malcolm, who cryptically mentions 'Lex' and a significant leg injury. Malcolm explains that he broke his leg in the fall after being thrown by the T-Rex, but the bite itself was not severe due to the T-Rex's hunting techniques.
Hammond remains in denial about the park's escalating problems. Arnold and Wu work to restore the computer systems. Wu's suggestion leads Arnold to use the key check program, revealing Nedry's 'white_rabbit.object' backdoor, which was designed to disable security and perimeter systems. Arnold successfully uses a 'fini.object' command to reset the core systems, restoring power to the fences and motion sensors. However, the system status indicates that power is running on auxiliary, not main. Meanwhile, Harding is tending to Malcolm, who despite his severe injuries, engages in philosophical discussions about science and control.
Grant, with Lex and Tim, navigates the park, relying on motion sensor numbers to guide them. They find temporary shelter in a sauropod maintenance building. The next morning, Grant notices the power is back on and they meet a baby Triceratops. They utilize a service road to reach the lagoon, aiming to use a raft found there. They encounter the sleeping Tyrannosaur, surprisingly close, and manage to inflate a raft, but Lex's cough awakens the predator. The T-Rex pursues them into the water, demonstrating its swimming ability, before being distracted by a juvenile T-Rex and its kill. The river current carries them towards an unfinished lodge, where they face aggressive pterodactyls, discovering their fragility but also their unpredictable predatory nature. Lex is attacked, but they escape and continue downriver.
Muldoon and Gennaro find the aftermath of the T-Rex's rampage among the hadrosaurs. They then discover Nedry's mutilated body, confirming he was attacked by dilophosaurs whose venom paralyzed him before compsognathids scavenged his remains. Grant, Tim, and Lex continue down the river, encountering microceratops and the Tyrannosaur again, which is unable to reach them due to the dense riverbank foliage. They then approach a pair of dilophosaurs engaged in a mating ritual, making passage tricky.
The raft reaches a waterfall, which they plunge over. Grant, Tim, and Lex survive the fall, but the T-Rex appears below them. Lex loses her life vest, but Grant rescues her. They find refuge behind the waterfall, in a machinery-filled recess. Grant discovers a hidden tunnel and an electric car. He finds and tranquilizes a young male Velociraptor. This discovery (a naturally bred male) confirms the dinosaurs are reproducing. Meanwhile, the T-Rex repeatedly tries to reach them through the waterfall with its tongue. Tim is dragged towards its jaws but Lex manages to save him by pressing a button to activate a power surge which causes a flash causing the T-Rex to withdraw. Arnold reports having tranquilized the T-Rex to Muldoon, and then discovers the park has been running on low auxiliary power, meaning the electrified fences (including the Raptor paddock) have been off for hours. A scream is heard.
Muldoon, realizing the gravity of the situation, instructs Arnold to head to the maintenance shed to restore main power, and sends Hammond to the lodge. He enlists Gennaro to help him deal with the escaped Raptors. They discover Arnold is attacked by Raptors. Muldoon attempts to engage the Raptors but struggles due to faulty equipment. Malcolm, in a moment of lucidity, lectures Hammond and Ellie on the inherent flaws of scientific hubris and the dangers of attempting to control nature. He emphasizes that science often pursues what it 'can' do rather than what it 'should' do, leading to unforeseen consequences. He highlights the arrogance of man in believing they can 'destroy' the planet, asserting instead that humanity is 'in jeopardy' and not the Earth. Hammond, still deluded, heads to his bungalow.
Grant, in the visitor center, contacts Ellie. The Raptors, having escaped, are threatening the lodge. Wu guides Grant to the maintenance building to restart the main generator. Ellie, realizing the Raptors are distracting them, bravely creates a diversion by leaving the safety of the lodge, allowing herself to be pursued by Raptors who display cunning pack hunting behavior. She scales a tree and then leaps to the rooftop, narrowly escaping multiple raptors, despite a locked roof access door. Muldoon and Harding help her, getting her back into the lodge. Muldoon discovers Wu is a victim of a Raptor attack.
Tim and Lex navigate the ravaged visitor center. Tim, using the security card of a deceased guard, accesses the control room and expertly re-enables main power, restarting the systems. With the power restored, the electrified fences of the lodge activate, incapacitating the attacking Raptors. Tim then contacts the supply ship, which is nearing the mainland, and, using a combination of legal threats and computer navigation, forces it to turn back. Grant, in the Hatchery, confronts multiple Raptors. He uses syringes filled with biogenic toxins to poison three of them, showcasing their predatory nature and surprising lack of caution. Grant, Gennaro, Tim, and Lex then make their way to the control room.
After restoring order, a status report reveals many dinosaurs are still unaccounted for. Muldoon and Grant prepare to find the Raptor nests. Gennaro advocates for the island's destruction, leading to a heated exchange with Grant who insists on understanding the full scope of the breeding situation first. Tim locates a hidden weapons cache with nerve gas grenades. Lex tames a young, chameleon-like male Velociraptor, confirming the amphibian DNA's sex-changing ability. They discover the Raptor nests in the volcanic fields, containing many newly hatched eggs. Grant and Ellie enter to count them. They observe the Raptors' spatial organization, suggesting a complex social structure and communication. Hammond, injured and alone, is attacked and killed by compsognathids, underscoring the park's uncontrolled danger. Grant, Ellie, and Gennaro emerge from the nest to find all the Raptors, including the adults, gathered on the beach, observing a passing ship. Grant realizes they are not trying to escape, but to migrate.
Costa Rican helicopters arrive, taking Grant, Ellie, Gennaro, Muldoon, Tim, and Lex off the island. They learn that Harding and other workmen have also been evacuated, but Hammond was killed by compsognathids, and Malcolm is presumed dead. The island is bombed and destroyed. Days later, under government restrictions, Grant is questioned repeatedly in San Jose. A researcher named Marty Gutierrez informs Grant about mysterious wildlife activities in Costa Rica's rural areas, including animals that migrate in straight lines and selectively consume lysine-rich foods. Grant suspects the escaped dinosaurs are the cause, confirming that the threat from Jurassic Park is far from over. He's left with the unsettling knowledge that despite the island's destruction, the dinosaurs might still be out there.