‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ – Film Review: A So-So Sequel That Should’ve Been a Return to Form

Is it weird to say that I didn’t have any anticipation for Jurassic World Rebirth? That shouldn’t have been the case, considering how much I absolutely love the original Jurassic Park, one of my all-time favorite films. Since then, none of the sequels that followed had a difficult time coming close to Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi masterpiece (I still stand by saying Jurassic World is more above average). The news last year that Universal and Amblin were bringing back the franchise in a short period wasn’t much of a reprieve since both 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and, especially, 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion are definitely the worst installments that didn’t need to earn a billion dollars at the box office. From the trailers that didn’t impress me despite the talent behind and in front of the camera, there wasn’t a rush for me to see it on opening day. But still going in with an open mind, does life find a way for the seventh installment or give audiences a reason to get excited about dinosaurs once again? To some, this will be the crowd-pleaser everyone wants for a summer blockbuster. For me, Jurassic World: Rebirth ends up being a so-so sequel that could have been a return to form.

What’s the Story: Three decades after InGen genetically recreated dinosaurs, the Earth’s climate is becoming too inhospitable to sustain those who still roam the world, forcing them to migrate around the equator, which is marked with a no-travel zone. Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), an executive at the pharmaceutical company ParkerGenix, hires covert operative expert Zora Bennett and paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) to travel to the island of Ile Saint-Hubert, the original location of Jurassic Park. Their mission is to secure genetic material from the remaining species whose DNA can provide life-saving benefits to humankind: the Mosasaurus (marine), the Titanosaurus (terrestrial), and the Quetzalcoatlus (aerial). As the top-secret expedition becomes increasingly risky, they soon make a sinister and shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.

Gareth Edwards was a surprising choice to see what he’ll bring to the series. Though he doesn’t consistently deliver his stories on an emotional level, he is the kind of filmmaker who gives audiences the best of both worlds when dealing with a big-budget scale and sci-fi, as seen in his previous efforts, including Godzilla, Rogue One, and most recently, The Creator. And to his credit, despite the film’s flawed nature, he’s one of the better directors who try to understand what these movies have been aiming for, with their roots in meshing action and creature horror for a mission that will never be simple, more so than Jurassic Park III, which I now see is a bit similar. You can tell he also loved Spielberg’s original and wanted this story to feel like a homage to what fans can expect, taking place in the environment where the dinosaurs originate, with some great locations on display thanks to John Mathieson’s cinematography. That aspect alone makes Rebirth one of the best-looking sequels to come along, along with the CGI that makes the dinosaurs appear realistic.

It took a while to finally get into the action, after about 40 minutes, which had me questioning when we would return to the dinosaurs. But once it does, it goes out of its way to be entertaining, even if it isn’t scary with its kills. Nail-baiting? Not really, but it definitely stands out from the set pieces of the others, including a sequence where the family escapes the T-Rex on a raft on the river, which is based on a scene from Michael Crichton’s novel.

With David Koepp, who wrote the first and The Lost World, in charge of the screenplay, his involvement was uncertain, as he has been hit or miss for me with the projects he has worked on. However, his Jurassic World Rebirth script, while it may feel like a rehash of plot points we already know from the previous movies, has the potential to surprise us. It features mediocre dialogue, but the pacing in the first act, although it takes too much time, eventually leads us to the island. Because at this point, how many times are we going to see characters risking their lives not to be eaten by dangerous dinosaurs based on dumb decisions, especially hoping any kid will survive? This even follows the formula of having a bigger, mutated dinosaur antagonist that’s not as scary as we would have wanted. The Distortus rex isn’t in the same ballpark as the Indominus rex from Jurassic World, particularly when it’s introduced in the opening and has a rather anticlimactic climax, with a resemblance to the xenomorph from Alien in terms of its face, as well as the Rancor from Return of the Jedi. And all because a Snickers wrapper was the cause of it escaping the lab.

What’s more disappointing than the script is how the cast isn’t significantly utilized here. It was pretty exciting to have the likes of Johannson, Bailey, and Ali (as Duncan Kincaid) as part of a Jurassic Park movie. But even when you can tell they had a blast filming, they aren’t exactly written out to be the most interesting batch of new characters to care for in two hours. Although we don’t need to care about them when the dinosaurs are the main attraction, it would have been nice to strike a balance between them. Bailey’s Henry fares better in getting more out of his nerdy role than Johansson, allowing her to showcase another action-hero role for her resume. And who would’ve guessed Friend’s evil pharma guy would turn on everyone? I, and probably everyone else, didn’tdidn’t care about the side plot with Reuben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), his family, Isabella (Audrina Miranda), Teresa (Luna Blaise), and Teresa’s boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono), becoming shipwrecked after sailing across the Atlantic and finding their way off the island when they cross paths with the team. His daughter’s boyfriend, Xavier (David Iacono), was a character I knew I would get annoyed with from the first scene, and every attempt at humor falls flat. They set him up to be a major slacker at first, only for Reuben to realize she’s not so bad shortly after.

Walking out, did I feel disappointed about what I got with Jurassic World: Rebirth? Since I had an idea of where it would go, it was what I expected. It was just missing some elements to make it truly worth it. Although it’s not exactly saying much, I got more out of watching this than I did from the last two combined. I’m not sure what a step in the right direction means because it was going to be a smash at the box office regardless of the final product. Still, given the mixed reactions it’s been getting, including me, it needs more time to figure out how to get people excited about dinosaurs in a new life that can stand with the original. There will be another one where I’m gonna come back because of the name. But as it stands, it’s just fine to wait until it hits streaming.

Between the more memorable action and Gareth Edwards attempting to take the franchise back to basics, Jurassic World: Rebirth gets points for being better than the last two installments, but it’s a sequel where its premise mostly falls short of providing the right amount of thrills.