Agreed with 'Zilly - while Levine's spirit is nearly non-existant in the film, I think Sarah got the most of what's used. She's the one setting out to the island on her own, somewhat overconfident and full of zeal, and loses her backpack. Burke obviously is the nerdy palaeontologist, but beyond that archetype he's not really given much of a character.
Come to think of it, the film's Sarah is a major departure from her novel basis. Not nearly as cool, tough or capable, and comes off as just as much of a palaeontologist as a naturalist.
Shame then that they kept Malcolm so similar to his book version, which was one of the biggest issues I took with it. The original character was hilarious and charismatic, The Lost World's was like... well, like he was cripplingly mauled by a Tyrannosaurus and was forced into facing a repeat of it, I guess. But I didn't like it.
