‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ Feels Like A Fossil

Jurassic World: Rebirth is not a particularly well-named movie. Its subtitle implies a level of regenesis that few 7th installments in mega-franchises are afforded, and the increasingly tired Jurassic series is no different.

Indeed, the latest Jurassic World is less of a rebirth and more of an elongation of a franchise on life support. Despite some genuinely astute direction from Gareth Edwards (2014’s Godzilla and Star Wars: Rogue One) and a solid cast, the franchise can’t be saved from the jaws of mediocrity that it’s been in for over two decades now.

Does the story even matter? Although the original Jurassic Park is one of the finest films ever made in the way it merges action, adventure and corporate espionage, these movies aren’t really made with such a careful eye anymore. They are largely just excuses to watch people get eaten and escape from dinosaurs with a dash of story thrown in.

Five years after Jurassic World: Dominion, Scarlett Johansson plays elite operative Zora Bennett as she leads a team to extract living blood samples from genetically modified dinosaurs to create a cure for heart disease. Joining her are ship captain Duncan Kincaid (an exceptionally charismatic Mahershala Ali), paleontologist Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) and corporate weasel Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend). Predictably, things don’t go to plan – especially when they encounter a family shipwrecked by a dinosaur.

Like so many entries in a long-running series of movies, Jurassic World: Rebirth has enough recognisable elements from past films to play on nostalgia. These common franchise beats are played to fire the neurons in your brain and remember a time when these movies had some life in them.

You remember the electrifying T-Rex sequence from 1993, right? Here’s another sequence that is admittedly entertaining, but doesn’t really stand on its own without the franchise history. Oh, and here’s yet another homage to lighting the flare from that same scene, because you remember the original movie, right?

Jurassic World: Rebirth just feels lazy

It just feels so lazy and betrays a total lack of vision in the film’s creation. Gareth Edwards. Though written by Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, Rebirth lacks any sort of life or verve that could possibly differentiate it from other entries in the franchise – even as it attempts to detach itself from the heavily serialiased approach of entries like Fallen Kingdom and Dominion.

Gareth Edwards continues to prove he has a monster eye for great CGI and great compositions in Rebirth, but the lack of any kind of practical effects is a huge missed opportunity. The sequences in darkness or nighttime look phenomenal, but the credulity of these beasts is undoubtedly stretched thin when seen in the daylight.

There is some attempt at a compelling human angle in Jurassic World: Rebirth, mainly through the acting talents of Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey. Ali is fantastic as Kincade, making the character an endless well of charisma where his written story may lack.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Bailey is actually quite endearing as the ultra-nerdy but impossibly well dressed Henry Loomis. If you’re seeing Rebirth solely to appreciate a talented, handsome actor wearing the hell out of some glasses and button-up shirts, stay in line!

Everyone else in the film I could take or leave, even the usually great Scarlett Johansson, which reflects how I feel about Jurassic World: Rebirth as a whole. It’s almost admirable how transparent its desire to make money is, clearly greenlit because the last few Jurassic movies have gone crazy at the box office.

Want to see some CGI dinosaurs tear some CGI puppets to shreds in an overlong nostalgia exercise? Sure, go see Jurassic World: Rebirth – just know there are few new thrills to be had, and a scarcity of original ideas to be dug up. Personally, I hope these movies are headed for extinction.

★★