Despite a few issues with the unnecessary side plots and inconsistent scale of certain dinosaurs, you can’t deny Jurassic World: Rebirth is a good time at the cinema. The star power combined with the inherent majesty of the dinosaurs is worth the price of admission alone. While it’s not revolutionary by any means, it at least feels like a return to form for a franchise that lost its footing. 

When Jurassic World: Rebirth was announced, I couldn’t believe it. Despite the good box office performance of Jurassic World: Dominion, that Jurassic World trilogy ended on a sour note with how terribly the movie was rated (rightfully so). For another Jurassic World film to be coming along so soon after was nerve-wracking, but when the brilliant cast of Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, and Rupert Friend was announced, it felt like a “whoa, maybe they have something” moment. Especially because David Koepp, the writer of the original Jurassic Park film, was writing this installment. When the trailer for Jurassic World: Rebirth dropped five months ago, it felt like watching a miracle because it actually looked good. I’ve been waiting with bated breath and hoping that this would be a return to form after the sloppiness of Dominion.

The film begins with a flashback to 17 years prior when the InGen scientists were running genetic experiments on dinosaurs on the island of Ile Saint-Hubert. The tiniest of mistakes caused the lab to fall into peril, which left the island abandoned. We are then dropped right into the first meeting between Martin Krebs (Friend), an executive at a pharmaceutical company, and Zora Bennett (Johansson) about hiring her to lead a mission to the island to get live dinosaur blood samples. The company needs live samples to create a life-changing medicine that will make the company disgustingly profitable. After Krebs promises a big payday for Zora, they immediately go to Dr. Henry Loomis (Bailey), who has been consulting with Krebs. They ask him to travel with them to identify the dinosaurs and advise them on dinosaur behavior. After some hesitation, he chooses to join them so he can actually see the colossal beasts he has been studying all his life in their true habitat. The final puzzle piece they needed was Duncan Kincaid (Ali), who had the ship able to reach the island and a cohort of skilled friends. While Henry is the moral compass of the group, Zora and Duncan are more flexible, although right now they are both at an intersection of their lives where they are reflecting on their choices. Zora just lost a friend on her most recent mission, and Duncan and his wife split up after losing their child. These situations hang over them as the story moves along. 

Zora, Henry, Duncan, and Krebs were all set up well in the trailer, but what wasn’t highlighted was the family. Reuben is the father of two girls, Teresa and Isabella, and he is traveling with the two of them and Teresa’s boyfriend Xavier in a sailboat across the Atlantic. Their voyage is disturbed by the Mosasaurus, coincidentally one of the dinosaurs Zora and her squad are hunting. When the team hears an SOS from the family, Duncan, as captain, makes the decision to go rescue them, much to Krebs’s frustration. They travel to them and get them safely on the boat, but shortly after, the Mosasaurus comes around again. Despite some major issues, the team gets the sample they need, but at the cost of the ship being destroyed on the island. Now the team is separated from the family, and all must survive the jungle to find their way back to the abandoned village to safety. 

It feels like a mandate that a Jurassic Park or World film has to have children in it. Unfortunately, in Jurassic World: Rebirth, I found the family inclusion irrelevant to the plot we were sold in the trailer. I was ready to see two hours of Johansson, Bailey, and Ali, but it kept splitting off to people who didn’t connect to the story in the slightest. They are only there to attempt to provide depth for Duncan’s character and to have more dino action in the film without overloading the main team. If Koepp was so determined to include a family aspect in this installment, there was a more elegant way of including it rather than shoehorning it in. While they did provide some comic relief, I found them frustrating overall. First, they were sailing in off-limit territory with little concern or care that dinosaurs would be nearby. This is completely different from Zora and her squad since they are all highly skilled, aware of the danger, and on a much bigger ship. And once they were rescued, they weren’t very grateful. The family sassed back at the team when they were asking about the Mosasaurus and got mad that they were tracking it, even though they weren’t actively hunting it at that moment. Then, when the Mosasaurus showed up, the dad told the eldest daughter to radio a mayday signal, and Krebs stopped her since it was a secret mission, which Zora, Duncan, and Henry all agreed to. They would’ve stopped her, too. Then Teresa pushed him, causing her to fall back and off the ship, which later she claimed he tried to kill her. At most, he gave her a rude look. The actors were still good in their roles. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, and Audrina Miranda were great but the standout was the boyfriend, David Iacono. He played a goofy, lazy boyfriend, and he kept the giggles going in the theater. But their overall inclusion left a sour taste in my mouth. It was great when the focus was on our main trio, but every time it switched to the family, who apparently are the luckiest people on Earth, I would deflate. While the script was quite efficient with a good premise, I could imagine a world with an even tighter script and more depth for our leads if the side plot was cut. 

One aspect that stuck out to me was the characterization of Zora Bennett, especially in comparison to Bryce Dallas Howard’s character in the World trilogy, particularly in Jurassic World. Zora seemed like a real woman with her hair pulled back, no makeup (although I’m sure the makeup team was going for the no-makeup makeup look), and a reasonable outfit. At one point she and Duncan have a conversation about what they’ve been going through and she sits so comfortably and casually. And obviously, she’s smart and capable. Reflecting upon female action stars of the past, Zora Bennett’s persona feels so pointedly created to veer away from stereotypes. I imagine Scarlett Johansson had some say in how Zora was characterized. Her role as Black Widow was transformed from highly sexualized into a real person over the 11 years she played her. While Zora’s job is not particularly ethical, who she is and how she carries herself felt inspirational to watch from a female perspective.

The most obvious aspect of the film moviegoers are excited to see are the dinosaurs! Overall, they looked great, especially the Titanosaurus scene when Henry got to touch it. You could see down to the hairs on its skin. The biggest most mutated dinosaur looked terrifying, like the xenomorph from Alien. Unfortunately, there are moments in the film where the scale of the humans to the dinosaurs is inconsistent, with the Quetzalcoatlus and the Distortus Rex in particular. Their size is pertinent to the story, and they are supposed to be absolutely massive. There are moments when they just look big, but not as large as previous scenes.

The chemistry between Johansson, Ali, Bailey, and even Friend, was so good. Johansson is such a movie star and is effortlessly cool. It’s great to see Ali with a big part in a blockbuster like the Jurassic franchise. He’s so talented, and I hope we see more of him on the big screen. It seems Universal is in the Jonathan Bailey business between this and the Wicked films, and I want nothing more than for them to keep him employed! Rupert Friend has the least exciting role as the physical manifestation of capitalism, but he walks the line between good and bad for such a long time very well. 

When it was announced Jurassic World: Rebirth was going to be directed by Gareth Edwards, I was quite excited. He directed Rogue One: A Star War Story and The Creator, both films I enjoy. Rebirth was definitely a step up from Jurassic World: Dominion. Having shot a lot of the movie on location certainly made a difference, but beyond that, there are camera movements I noticed that made the film more dynamic and cinematic. Also, the choice of when to deploy the iconic Jurassic Park theme by Edwards and composer Alexandre Desplat was excellent. The best time was easily the Titanosaurus moment in the valley. I do wish the film was scarier, but that’s a mild nitpick because I was still nervous. The way the film ended was relatively open-ended, so a sequel would be possible if Universal wanted to explore that. It would be great to see Edwards helm another installment. He’s clearly very adept, and having a consistent visual style and a further examination into these characters would be ideal. 

Despite a few issues with the unnecessary side plots and inconsistent scale of certain dinosaurs, you can’t deny Jurassic World: Rebirth is a good time at the cinema. The star power combined with the inherent majesty of the dinosaurs is worth the price of admission alone. While it’s not revolutionary by any means, it at least feels like a return to form for a franchise that lost its footing. As a stand-alone film or as a first entry in a new trilogy, Jurassic World: Rebirth is a good creation. They cooked up a badass blockbuster in the Universal lab. 

Grade: B+

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should Be Considered: Best Visual Effects

Where to Watch: In Theaters