I feel I should point out that my overall positive review is based on entertainment value and not at all on scientific accuracy and the like.
This sequel mirrors a few of the winning elements from the successful first movie: they retain Ian Malcolm, who is one of the highlights of the first film; they bring in a child, because it is much more dramatic to endanger children; they have at least one bad guy who we root for to become Dino-dinner; and there are plenty of action sequences with heart-stopping chases and hair-raising escapes. Several of the great one-liners are again given to Ian. My favorite line for all the Jurassic movies occurs early on. After they watch the cute Triceratops herd pass closely by them, Ian says, “Well yeah, ooh and ahh; that’s how it always starts, but then later there is running and then screaming.”
And four years after the first movie, they have learned one thing from other action films: increasing the body count. Why kill of a handful of people when you can easily send a large team in to capture the dinosaurs and start picking them off one at a time? They even have a T-Rex wandering the streets of San Diego like King Kong at the end. So it sticks to the formula with a few variances and is entertaining.