Not that it ever really went away, but the Jurassic Park franchise is coming back with more bite. Just three years after it looked like the sci-fi series had gone extinct with Jurassic World Dominion, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards is taking the reins with Jurassic World Rebirth. With all three of the previous Jurassic World movies making over a billion each at the box office, it was only a matter of time until we got another, and this is arguably the most star-studded yet. Sadly, much like the mutant dinosaurs of Isla Saint-Hubert, this experiment may have gone too far.
Life finds a way
While the first three Jurassic World movies were led by a dynamic duo of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, Jurassic World Rebirth creates a very different dynamic with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali. It’s clear to see the parallels with Jurassic Park’s Laura Dern (Johansson), Sam Neill (Bailey), and Jeff Goldblum (Ali), with Bailey being the standout as a more mellowed version of Dr. Alan Grant. The cast is rounded off by Rupert Friend as Martin Krebs, the typically shady bad guy out for himself, and there’s an odd subplot about a marooned family who inadvertently end up as part of this walking buffet.
If Jurassic World Rebirth was just about Martin Krebs trying to gain dino DNA to further his pharmaceutical company, it couldn't soared like a Quetzalcoatlus. It’s been a long-time complaint of some fans that the Jurassic movies throw kids into the mix for no particular reason, and that continues here. At no point did I buy that Audrina Miranda’s Isabella or Luna Blaise’s Teresa were going to kick the bucket. And the former has an annoying subplot where she’s accompanied by a CGI Aquilops. It’s here that Jurassic World Rebirth really falls down. Whereas there were just six minutes of CGI in 1993’s Jurassic Park (and just 12 minutes of dinosaurs), Rebirth bombards you with VFX. You’ll find yourselves missing a giant animatronic T Rex.
Speaking to T-Rexes, the iconic dino at least gets its time to shine in one of the movie’s best scenes. Harking back to the pulse-pounding paddock scene from the OG movie, we get a tense chase sequence that was actually cut from Steven Spielberg’s movie all those years ago. This is just one of Rebirth’s ambitious set pieces, with each one delivering some of the franchise’s best moments. In particular, the boat scene involving the entire ensemble, Spinosaurs, and the fan-favorite Mosasaurus is a highlight. Sadly, a final confrontation with the mutated D-Rex and Ali’s Duncan Kincaid was overplayed in the trailers and loses some of its emotional impact.
Hold onto your butts
In general, the idea of mutant dinosaurs feels half-baked. There was much hype about the D-Rex being inspired by the Rancor from Star Wars and the Xenomorph from Alien, and while it is indeed one of the franchise’s scariest creations, its limited screen time despite being teased in the dramatic opening (and spoiled in the trailers) means it never quite lives up to the impact of something like the original Rexy. Other mutant creations are similarly cast to the side, although there’s a revamp of Jurassic Park’s iconic Velociraptors-in-the-kitchen scene with a flock of flying Mutadons. In general, Rebirth does a great job of revisiting familiar ideas from other movies and giving them a fresh lick of paint. For all its faults, at least the D-Rex gives us one of the movie’s most satisfying kills, which feels like a nod to Donald Gennaro’s toilet death in Jurassic Park.
Edwards somewhat conveniently dodges one of Dominion’s biggest complaints/oversights: that the World trilogy never made good on its tease of humans living alongside dinosaurs. A quick retcon has dinosaurs largely going extinct apart from a small band around the equator, and while that seems pretty finite, I'd still like to see them revisit the idea further down the line. There’s no denying that Jurassic World Rebirth looks amazing, but with a budget of $180 million and all the previous outings looking suitably glossy, I wouldn’t expect anything else. It’s also a well-acted romp, although it remains to be seen whether any of the new characters can become as iconic as Goldblum’s Dr. Ian Malcolm. With Jurassic World Rebirth also stomping its way to a $141 five-day opening, it’s one of the year’s top performers, even if it opens slightly behind 2022’s panned Dominion.
At least Rebirth feels like it delivers on its namesake, giving us a proper ‘rebirth’ of the franchise. Assuming it continues its ‘dino-mite’ box office run, we can expect another Jurassic movie in the next couple of years. The question is, where do we go from here? Rebirth is billed as a standalone movie with none of the actors signing up for sequens (at least not publicly), but much like the greed of InGen, there are sure to be more stories in this world. An easy sequel could pick up after Zora and Henry release dino DNA into the wild, with open-sourcing sounding like a recipe for disaster. Then again, Dominion already dabbled with weaponized dinosaurs. There are problems, like how many more secret islands are there, or how many more cursed theme parks can we open? It feels like it’s only a matter of time until the show goes full Fast & Furious with dinosaurs in space.
If the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists
At a beefy 133 minutes, Rebirth is the second-longest Jurassic movie, and sometimes feels like it. A few of the sequences go on for too long; the movie could have shaved away a few minutes simply by axing David Iacono’s irritating Xavier.
Thankfully, Rebirth is far from the worst entry in the series; the franchise will have a hard time dipping below Dominion. Still, whereas The Lost World: Jurassic Park and even Jurassic Park III have developed cult followings after a somewhat frosty debut, it’s unclear whether Rebirth will be remembered years from now. This may be an adventure that’s been 65 million (and 32) years in the making, but coming so soon after the last movie, the franchise could’ve probably stayed in amber for a few years longer. While there’s plenty to love for die-hard dino-heads, Jurassic World Rebirth isn’t quite the rapturous Raptor romp in was in the franchise’s early days.
Grade: 3/5
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