By the time Jurassic World Rebirth (USA, 2025) hits theaters on July 3, only three years will have passed since what was, in theory, the grand finale of the Jurassic saga: Jurassic World: Dominion (USA, 2022).
The franchise had long been showing signs of creative exhaustion, and its sixth installment made it evident by resorting to cameos of all its previous protagonists to tell its poor imitation of a story. What could be done new in this long saga of humans vs. dinosaurs? With a global box office surpassing a billion dollars, any excuse is good for Universal Pictures.
For better or worse (and more better than worse), the production opted to go back to basics, at least in one sense. While it takes into account the events of the previous six films, the plot and its characters are new. There’s only one concrete reference to the past when Alan Grant (Sam Neill) is mentioned in a single line. It’s an independent sequel, almost a reboot.
Jurassic World Rebirth doesn’t continue the the long, sad history of bad ideas,” to paraphrase one Dr. Ian Malcolm: it’s a noticeable improvement over its two predecessors (which then again, isn’t saying much). This, thanks to the direction of Gareth Edwards, known for his efficient eye in films like Godzilla (USA, 2014) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (USA, 2016).
However, the script by David Koepp (his return to the saga since The Lost World: Jurassic Park) is flawed in some areas, and indulgent in others. The result is a film that, feeling like more of the same, makes the reboot feel more like a threat than a triumphant… well, rebirth.
What’s it about?
Jurassic World Rebirth takes place more than three decades after the original Jurassic Park (USA, 1993), and about five years after Dominion. The dinosaurs walk the Earth, but climate conditions have driven them to near extinction, except for regions close to the Equator.
A pharmaceutical executive, Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), recruits a mercenary (Scarlett Johansson), her partner (Mahershala Ali), and a paleontologist (Jonathan Bailey) for an expedition to a South American island, where they must take DNA samples from three massive dinosaurs to develop a heart medicine. However, their destination also housed a research facility where, through genetic engineering, scientists developed new – and lethal – species of dinosaurs. This includes the terrifying D-Rex, a four-armed mutant beast larger than a T-Rex.
In essence, Jurassic World Rebirth is written as a monster movie, about a group of generic mercenaries venturing into a place similar to Skull Island – but without King Kong, obviously – full of giant creatures they’re unprepared to deal with.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is more of the same
Koepp’s characters, it must be said, are as well developed as the dinosaurs themselves. Part of this is due to the saturation of the script: the mercenaries’ plot competes with another about a family attacked by dinosaurs in the ocean, and the screenwriter chooses to separate the two groups for most of the film’s duration. The attention is divided between the two, without enough time to establish the little chemistry that exists between them.
To Edwards’ credit, it must be said that the action scenes are very well directed: attention is directed toward the right events to generate tension, fear, excitement, and surprises. As far as summer popcorn entertainment goes, Jurassic World Rebirth delivers in spades in this regard.
That said, you can always have too much of a good thing. With a script bloated by so many characters and events, things become excessive and tiresome by the third act. And of course, it would all be more bearable if Koepp were less conservative with his choices. However, the characters and their stories are so clichéd that, once established, you can predict who survives and who doesn’t. The surprises are reserved for the action sequences.
In the end, the Jurassic franchise leaves us with more of the same, perhaps with different characters and in a different time. Gareth Edwards’ direction makes Jurassic World Rebirth thrilling enough until it becomes exhausting. And then you start to wonder how many more arms can be out on a twisted dinosaur to keep getting attention.
Jurassic World Rebirth hits theaters worldwide on July 3, get your tickets now.
