That’s because Crichton was a hack - a third-rate science fiction writer who succeeded by marketing himself as something other than a science fiction writer.
To clarify, is Alan Grant the best thing in JP?
I’ll give you a hint: The two best characters in the movie are in this picture.
But no, really, I like all the characters in Jurassic Park. I even like Lex when she isn’t hacking into computer mainframes and rerouting encryptions.
Ah. Ahh, of course.
To be fair, I don’t think Lex was meant to be doing anything that Mr. Arnold couldn’t have done. If he hadn’t been eaten by the raptor he could have restarted the system after he got back from the shed.
You should read that again to see how silly it sounds.
“She wasn’t doing anything that the CHIEF ENGINEER couldn’t do.”
OK, fair point. But I know a lot of people criticized her for doing something that even Arnold couldn’t do. 
I could accept that a little kid is that good with computers.
And I can also accept Hollywood hacking (complete with 3D panning visual through the files to let the audience know that they’re dealing with some high tech shit).
But not the both of them together. That I cannot abide.
She went in and turned on systems. Hell, I am not an l33t haxor, but I understand enough UNIX to do that. It is not like she hack NORAD or something.
Neither were the dinos in that movie.
I think the two best characters in JP were Ian Malcolm and Muldoon. But I do wonder what sort of pod person took over Malcolm in JP2, since he was a completely different (and much more boring) person. I think the kid ate his brain. He was much better as a supporting character (the smartass expert) than as the “hero” (having to keep his girlfriend and daughter safe and worry about them.)
Imagine their roles switched for each movie. Neither would work, and I think both would FAIL hard, if either of them played the other’s part.
Although, I believe Postlethwaite can pull off anything. But I’ll bet if we could clone them from their DNA in the amber I’m sure they were incased in upon burial, and had them reprise the other’s role for comparison, we’d cringe at both performances.
IOW, both we forged upon birth by divine forces beyond our comprehension to play those particular roles over their entire careers; anything else was just gravy.
I’m still down with the Muldoon… I just liked his style, y’know?
My favorite characters in JP in order:
T-REX (ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRRR!)
Malcolm (Dear God, our lives are in the hands of engineers.) or (Now, there will be dinosaurs on this dino tour, right? Hello? taptaptap Hello? breathes on camera) or (I hate always being right.) or (Must go faster.)
Muldoon (Even Nedry had sense enough not to turn off the 'raptor fences!)
Arnold (Hold on to your butts.)
Nedry (Huh, whaddoo want? food? I don’t have any food. I got no food on me! …Here boy. Stick. Fetch stick! throws stick Fetch stick stupid! Eh, it’s no wonder you’re extinct.)
Grant (grabs fence GAHHHHH!!!)
Tim (…3!)
Lex quivering Jello™
Hammond (You mean to tell me the only one on my side is the blood-thirsty lawyer?!)
Gennaro (Hey!)
Wu (they’re um… uh… velociraptor.)
Sattler (Oh, thank God, Mr. Arnold, we thought… Ahhhh!!!)
And that’s just gold. GOLD!
Missed the Edit:
I loved Goldblum as Malcolm… but his character in JP was far better than in The Lost World, he became an annoying Dino-Nanny. But he did have some great lines in it.
“Yeh, oooh, ahhh… that’s how it always starts. But then the running and the screaming.”
“That’s the worst idea in the history of bad ideas.”
Also, the look on his face when he hears the roar of the T-Rex again for the first time since he’d been back. It sent shivers down my own spine.
I think it’s “taking dinosaurs off this island is the worst idea in a long sad history of bad ideas.”
Ahh, you may be right, I was just going off of memory… so I’m sure I botched most of those lines. 
That’s OK. I spend way too much time watching these movies!
You’re right. It’s not that Lex was a master hacker; it’s that she was the only one who knew about computers at all, as Grant was a technophobe and her little brother was a little kid. Perhaps Ellie or Malcolm might have done it, but she was occupied with keeping the door closed, and he was injured.
You and me both!
I’ve lost count long ago, but I’m guessing I’ve seen JP upwards of 25 times. Upon first viewing, I about shit mah pants. I was 20, and I’ll credit that movie for finally pushing my career into the CG realm. But man, was that a ride the first time I saw it. The group I was with couldn’t stop talking about it for at least 2 or 3 hours after. Since I was 5 in '77, I’d say this was my “Star Wars”.
Lost World, not so much… maybe 6 or 7 times.
Oh, yeah. I’ve seen JP about as many times as you have–I still remember back when it first came out, I went to the theater every Saturday morning for several weeks to watch it again, I loved it so much. The first time I saw it I was absolutely blown away by the CGI. I mean, that stuff still mostly holds up now, 17 years later, without looking cheesy or dated. Back then it was amazing. So far above anything else I’d ever seen that there weren’t even words to describe it. We saw it with some friends (a bunch of late-20s, early-30s engineer types at the time, all male except me), and one of them literally had to get up and leave the theater during the T-Rex scene. It was that intense. To this day that sequence is still not only one of my favorites in the movie, but my favorites in any movie.
Malcolm wasn’t even in the room at the time–he was with Hammond in another part of the park, IIRC, unless I’m misremembering my timelines. So yeah, all they had was the technophobe, the annoying boy, and Ellie who was too busy trying to keep the doors shut.
Lex was still a little annoying, though.
Aw, so much hate for the kids! I really liked hem. Then again, I was about nine when the movie came out so I saw the kids less as brats and more as peers.
You’re right that Malcolm and Hammond were in that bunker. Ellie and Muldoon left to get the power turned on and Grant and the kids were never there.
ETA: I was in high school when JP III came out and I found Eric annoying in his ability to survive the island, so maybe it’s an age thing?
OK, I now officially love Lex. I fucking HATED the kid in JP III. Really? He went and collected T-Rex piss? And he’s used it enough to know that it attracts the big one with the fin? And he’s been there by himself for weeks? Yet we’re supposed to be scared by the adults’ attempt to survive for like a fucking day?
FFFFFFFUUUUUUU