Jurassic World Rebirth is a reboot from the writer of Jurassic Park, one that leans heavily into what made the original work, and delivers both thrills and scares.
The Jurassic franchise is a tough one, because though there’s been six films released thus far – grossing more than $5 billion worldwide – it also feels like a series of diminishing returns.
That’s because the idea of dinosaurs returning – and the special effects used to make that happen onscreen – were both so ground-breaking that it’s impossible to recreate the sense of wonder the world felt in 1993.
But like a junkie chasing the high of that first hit, audiences flock to each new instalment, in the hope of recapturing a bit of that magic. And while most have failed, Jurassic World Rebirth comes close.
What is Jurassic World Rebirth about?
A good Jurassic movie needs a great story engine, and writer David Koepp has come up with a lively idea for Rebirth that features a dangerous mission, a team of expendables, and a ticking clock, as well as a MacGuffin that could change the world.
The movies also needs a nefarious suit, and here he comes in the shape of Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), a pharmaceutical executive whose company is close to finding a cure for heart disease.
Trouble is, to get the drug over the line, he needs DNA samples from three of the largest dinosaurs on the planet. And due to the modern climate and diseases wiping out great swathes of the prehistoric creatures, what’s left are on islands near the Equator, which are strict no-go areas for humans.
Krebs, therefore, needs a crack team to travel to those dangerous locales, locate the three key dinosaurs, and extract all-important biomaterials without the world knowing. So he starts with an expert in retrieval.
Introducing dinosaur dinner
Klebs selects Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), who is good at procurement, and rarely has moral reservations about her work. And while Zora initially turns Krebs down, his deep pockets soon turn her head.
Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) is next, a paleontologist whom they need to identify the targets in question, then predict their behavior. He also turns Krebs down, until the opportunity to see dinosaurs in their natural habitat changes his mind.
This mismatched trio head for dinosaur country, though not before Zora collects a rag-tag team of mercenaries with whom she’s previously worked, led by the swashbuckling Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali).
Meaning the film quickly establishes several fine candidates to become dinosaur dinner. But if we want Koepp to play those Jurassic hits, Rebirth needs kids in peril, and the film duly delivers via a family enjoying a boat trip, who find themselves drawn into the fast-approaching horror.
Aquatic action and emotional spectacle
Their arrival is heralded by the film’s first great action sequence, which owes a debt to the greatest monster movie of them all, Jaws.
What starts with a glimpse of fin quickly turns into a desperate fight for survival as a dinosaur side-swipes their boat, then toys with them, before capsizing the vessel and stranding dad, daughters, and dopey boyfriend in the middle of the ocean.
The next set-piece sees Zora strapped to the front of a ship, and trying to fire a dart into a Mosasaurus, the sequence then escalating to a jaw-dropping crescendo when Spinosaurs surround and attack.
The aquatic horror doesn’t stop there either, as several of Rebirth’s best scenes play out in water, including a Tyrannosaurus rex attack that was famously cut from the original Jurassic Park, but ends up being worth the 32-year wait.
And did we mention mutant dinosaurs? Because there’s plenty of those, with the film kicking off with words you never want to hear in a dangerous dinosaur lab: “Alert, containment failure!”
That’s followed by a brutal kill delivered by a gigantic cross-breed, and the film eventually circles back to that location so what’s left of our heroes and villains can do battle with genetically engineered hybrids, including the monstrous – and monstrously monikered – Distortus rex.
But if you’ve seen director Gareth Edwards’ previous creature features, you’ll know he underpins action with emotion, and there’s a sequence in Rebirth – where Loomis first puts his hand on a dinosaur in the wild – that harks back to a similarly stunning scene in Jurassic Park, as well as the charged ending of Edwards’ own Monsters. It’s a brief moment, but quite lovely.
Is Jurassic World Rebirth good?
The biggest issue with the new Jurassic World is that the characters aren’t all that memorable. Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali bring movie star charisma to Zora and Duncan, but efforts to add weight to the characters via tragedies from their past fail miserably, resulting in both being a bit forgettable.
Elsewhere, Jonathan Bailey is likable enough as “impressive nerd” Loomis, while Rupert Friend does his best as the villain of the piece, but both characters feel like carbon copies of more interesting figures from the series’ past.
Jurassic 7 is a summer blockbuster, however, so character isn’t the be-all-and-end-all, and Rebirth succeeds when it’s man (and woman) vs beast, in scenes fueled by several spectacularly realized dinosaurs, as well as some suitably nasty deaths.
Jurassic World Rebirth score: 4/5
Jurassic World Rebirth doesn’t reinvent the franchise as the title suggests, but it’s a fun ride that combines action and adventure like the best of its predecessors.
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