Just three years after the Jurassic World trilogy went out on a low point with Dominion, the franchise has been revived with Rebirth, introducing a brand new set of characters and a promise from the filmmaker to take things back to their scarier beginnings. Set five years after the events of 2022’s Jurassic World: Dominion, covert operations expert Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) is contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic materials from the worlds three biggest dinosaurs. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades. Jurassic World: Rebirth boasts tremendous set pieces and a simple yet effective storyline, with dinosaurs that are scarier than they’ve been within this franchise for quite some time. However, everything outside of this, from the dialogue to the characters, is a little underwhelming.
The plot at hand is simple yet effective. We are thrust into a world where the planets ecology is now inhospitable to dinosaurs, and those that remain in existence are in isolated equatorial environments. This means our team must travel into unpermitted territory in order to collect the genetic materials needed for medical advances. The back-to-basics approach is a welcome one, and it’s refreshing to have a simplistic ‘characters go on a dangerous adventure’ story back inside this franchise. Nothing is overly convoluted and our crew are fairly likable, especially after they link up with a family of four that are desperate for survival. Johansson’s Zora is headstrong and brave, Jonathan Bailey’s (Wicked) Dr. Henry Loomis is smart and conscious of the dinosaurs wellbeing, Rupert Friend’s Martin Krebs (Pride & Prejudice) is the rich mastermind looking to make a buck and Mahershala Ali’s Duncan Kincaid is broken yet determined. Despite being very stereotypical and familiar, they’re easy to get behind and have good chemistry as a team. The sense of adventure leads us to mesmerizing locations with some notable cinematography, and the need for the dinosaurs genetics and who this research will be accessible to allows for some interesting social commentary.
Any large set piece involving our dinosaurs is utterly fantastic, and completely deserving of the big-screen experience. Director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) has stayed true to his word, as the fear factor has definitely been increased from prior installments. The team need genetics from three dinosaurs – one on land, one in the sea and one in the air – so it certainly makes use of plenty of scary methods and locations including water, heights and tall grass. Their size and mean presence can be felt, their roars are frighteningly loud and the cinematography frequently treats us to memorably scary shots, from our D-Rex emerging from thick red flare-tinted smoke to our Mosasaur leaping out of the sea. There is action aplenty during Jurassic World: Rebirth, the dinosaurs threat can be felt and it feels like a real fight for survival. The large action set-pieces are placed every 15-to-20 minutes, and each one is as impressive as the last, due to the change in locations and the amount of dinosaur species on display. Viewers who criticized Dominion for its lack of dinosaurs should be impressed by Rebirth.
Outside of the entertaining action, Jurassic World: Rebirth feels a little mediocre. It’s undeniable that an extremely talented cast have been pulled together, but as mentioned above, they’re very formulaic and follow a pattern we’ve seen before – the heroine, the ‘nerd’, the rich bad guy and the scoundrel. We only get minimal development for a couple of the characters, with most being reduced to their trope. The sequences that get us from one set piece to the next aren’t always the most engaging, particularly during the first act. It takes Rebirth a while to find its footing, and by the time we’re on our mission, a healthy amount of run-time has passed. The dialogue is often weak, very little of the humour lands and it lacks the heart that even the Jurassic World trilogy managed to entail. For a movie that’s titled ‘Rebirth’ and is aiming to revitalize the franchise, there isn’t a whole lot of anything new here. It plays things safe, the characters lack flair and everything plays out exactly as you’d expect it to, even down to who dies and when.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is a decent addition to the franchise, and an even better summer blockbuster. A stacked cast, plenty of action and some strong Dino sequences ensure viewers won’t leave feeling shortchanged. The script could’ve used some fine-tuning, especially within the dialogue and the humour, and our characters could’ve had more flair and personality, but as two hours of escapism, it’s pretty entertaining.
