There comes a time in the lifeline of a successful blockbuster franchise when it’s time to pull the plug and call it quits. That time was almost a decade ago for the beloved Jurassic Park series and the spin-off Jurassic World films.
The awe-inspiring majesty of dinosaurs on the big screen was once the franchise’s greatest draw, but that spectacle has lost much of its luster, dulled by trivial storylines and increasingly over-the-top predator mutations.
The latest Jurassic World: Rebirth is billed as a standalone sequel to Jurassic World Dominion, but it’s nearly impossible not to view it through the lens of the franchise’s entire three-decade legacy.
Set five years after Dominion, dinosaurs can no longer survive in Earth’s altered ecology. The few that remain—many of them mutated by failed lab experiments—exist in isolation on a remote equatorial island, abandoned and forbidden by governments. It turns out that the DNA of three species on that island holds the key to curing heart disease. Enter big pharma, a.k.a. Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), who quickly assembles a team—including mercenary-type Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) and paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey)—to venture onto the island and risk their lives to extract the source of this life-saving drug.
David Koepp’s script falls flat—plain and simple—which is surprising, given that he wrote the original Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) based off of Michael Crichton’s novel. Between Koepp’s Hallmark-style dialogue, Gareth Edwards’ (Godzilla) direction, and Alexandre Desplat’s score that leans heavily into melodrama, Rebirth leaves much to be desired.
They tried to revive the franchise with a fresh cast and a familiar formula—dinosaurs, disaster, and a dash of family drama. But despite some solid action and suspense, too much of the film just doesn’t land.
If you can make Mahershala Ali look like a mediocre actor, you’re doing something wrong. His character is oddly flat, weighed down by clunky dialogue and a muddled arc. Johansson doesn’t fare much better, playing a mercenary-type who’s supposed to be a hardened badass but somehow never quite sells it.
Thankfully, Bailey steps in and steals the show as the film’s standout character. He brings a much-needed spark to an otherwise uneven cast. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo holds his own as a father just trying to survive with his two daughters, and David Iacono adds some light humor as the older daughter’s boyfriend.
The film attempts to ground itself with emotional stakes, and it also takes a swing at social commentary—touching on climate change and the broken, profit-driven state of healthcare. While the ideas are timely, their execution is underdeveloped—more like bullet points than actual themes.
It’s a tiny, wide-eyed herbivore named Dolores who ends up being the most memorable part of the entire movie. She’s adorable, and frankly, more engaging than most of the humans.
There are glimpses of the thrilling, awe-filled magic that made the original Jurassic Park so iconic, but Rebirth ends up feeling like a dino-sized missed opportunity.
In theaters July 2nd.
Run Time: 2hr, 14 min
https://www.jurassicworld.com/
