Movie Review: Jurassic World Rebirth Delivers on Dinos, but Not on Story
The latest film in the long-running franchise is now in theaters.
By Angela Davis
MOVIE REVIEWER
It’s been over 30 years since Jurassic Park roared into cinemas. The film’s thrilling dinosaur scenes mixed with interesting themes of playing God have made it a sci-fi classic.
However, the Jurassic franchise hasn’t quite been able to reach the heights of the original. While some entries have more fans than others, none have matched what made the first film a classic. Sadly, this trend continues with the latest entry in the series.
Jurassic World Rebirth is the latest film in the long-running franchise, introducing moviegoers to a variety of new characters played by powerhouse actors like Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali. It follows a group of scientists and hunters journeying to a forbidden island to get DNA samples of the biggest dinosaurs and create a cure to heart disease, not knowing that something darker is waiting for them.
The best part about Jurassic World Rebirth is undeniably the action and the dinosaurs. This film secures Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Rogue One) as director, and this choice works to the film’s benefit. Edwards is known for being a genius with expressing scale on film, and he delivers with Rebirth.
Thanks to Edwards’ direction, the dinosaurs have never felt bigger. There’s a gorgeous sequence featuring a field of Titanosaurs that arguably rivals the iconic Brontosaurus scene in the original for its breathtaking beauty. These creatures are enormous, and it makes for a whimsical moment that stands out as one of the film’s better scenes. This is just a taste of what Rebirth has to offer visually, and it’s worth checking out for these scenes alone.
The same sadly can’t be said for the film’s story. While Rebirth certainly looks the part of a Jurassic Park film, its script leaves so much to be desired. The film’s cold open promises an epic glance into the mutations that came from trying to copy the work of the original founder of Jurassic Park, John Hammond. However, this premise is completely abandoned following its opening minutes, only reintroducing them in the final act without any real insight on what happened on the island.
What’s even worse is that there was such an easy way to rework the story to give it some more depth. There’s a family in the film who are introduced to raise the stakes, as they’re brought against their will. However, they don’t add much to move the story forward. If their scenes were removed entirely, Rebirth could have easily made up the time diving deeper into the mysteries of the island to make for a better climax.
If moviegoers simply want a fun trip to the movies with tons of dinosaur action, they’ll be satisfied with Jurassic World Rebirth. However, this film could have been far more thematically interesting than it ended up being. It feels forgettable overall—which is something that a film about genetically modified dinosaurs shouldn’t strive to be.
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