Jurassic World: Rebirth
Dustin Chase
The seventh installment of the ‘Jurassic’ series sadly hasn’t learned much from the mistakes of the past. Writer David Koepp, who worked on the original two films with Spielberg, returns to inject new ideas and a fresh set of characters. He gears the plot more towards the divisive “Jurassic Park III”, also a rescue mission movie. As with previous screenplays for the “Jurassic World” sequels, nostalgic moments are woven into the action, and dinosaurs make appearances that haven’t been seen in a few installments. “Jurassic World: Rebirth” marks the first time an actress is top billed, with Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson leading the charge. Director Gareth Edwards, known for his monster and action movies like “Godzilla” (2014) and “The Creator” (2023), certainly has the prerequisites for such an undertaking. Unfortunately, Edwards doesn’t elevate this sequel to the level of Spielberg or even Colin Trevorrow (“Jurassic World”).
Having a reputation for procuring things that are off-limits, Zora Bennett (Johansson) has been hired and offered a substantial amount of money to lead a team to the forbidden zones near the equator, where dinosaurs thrive. Dr. Henry Loomis (Bennett) is the scientist along for the journey, while Bennett’s most trusted colleague, Duncan Kincaid (Ali), commands their vessel. Tasked to withdraw DNA from the largest dinosaurs in the water, land, and air to create medicines that will improve human lives. The agent for the pharmaceutical company funding the trip, Martin Krebs (Friend), doesn’t inform the group that their island destination is where InGen cross-bred dinosaurs. Complicating their risky, expensive, and highly illegal operation is the rescue of a family whose sailboat was capsized by one of the very dinosaurs they are looking for.
Each of the “Jurassic World” films have an underlying obsession with mutation and trying to deliver creatures that never existed.
“Rebirth” doesn’t look or feel like a “Jurassic” film until the crew reaches the second dinosaur on their list. The Titanosaurus, a herbivore related to the more well-known Brachiosaurus featured so heavily in the 1993 film, is where nostalgia works at its best. Easily the highlight of the film and a big moment for Bailey, not only on screen, but performing a clarinet solo while Dr. Loomis touches the Sauropod. Composer Alexandre Desplat mirrors the iconic John Williams score and some variations of his own. The scene is also one of the most beautiful cinematography pieces and blending of CGI and the Thailand backdrop. Unfortunately, it’s a mostly dull, predictable and regurgitative slog to get to that moment.
“We are all desperate,” Bennett says at one point in the script. None more so than the filmmakers who continue to deliver the worst ideas. Audiences didn’t fall in love with these films because the dinosaurs looked like monsters or aliens. Each of the “Jurassic World” films have an underlying obsession with mutation and trying to deliver creatures that never existed. The “D-Rex” might be one of the worst ideas in all seven films. When the characters do stop and take a moment to breathe and talk, the script nor the performances reach the level of iconic status or lines worth repeating like the original. “So preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
Final Thought
“Jurassic Park Reiteration” would have been a more apt title for the franchise that operates on redundancy rather than the inventiveness that birthed the original.