‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Review: Jurassic World Reboot is a Moderately Entertaining Summer Blockbuster
I always feel like making a 13 Reasons Why tape after watching a Jurassic World movie. Carrying the torch from the Bayformers films, each installment that followed Colin Trevorrow's Chris Pratt-led reboot of Jurassic Park left me with the hope that the same meteor that killed the dinosaurs would strike me instead. That sentiment was especially felt when they went full "legacy sequel” with the horrendous entry, Dominion. I needed death to find a way... to this series. But alas, the box office always says otherwise.
I mostly ignored the series’ fourth entry/soft reboot, subtitled Rebirth. That’s until I caught wind that Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, The Creator, Rogue One) was directing and David Koepp (Jurassic Park and The Lost World co-writer) was scribing. I was intrigued. As expected, Rebirth is the best Jurassic World movie to date, even though the bar has been fossilized. It took about four entries, but we finally have a Jurassic World installment where nostalgia isn’t a substitute for story. Instead, it attempts to evoke the feel of an early Amblin-produced adventure blockbuster, rather than rehash. If only the same could be said about its story, which is a hodgepodge of better adventure movies in Jurassic Park clothing.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Universal Pictures
MPA Rating: PG13 (intense sequences of violence/action, bloody images, some suggestive references, language and a drug reference..)
Runtime: 2 Hours and 13 Minutes
Production Companies: Amblin Entertainment, The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: Gareth Edwards
Writer: David Koepp
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ed Skrein
Release Date: July 2, 2025
Five years after Dominion, dinosaurs are dying out. The public has turned on the dinosaurs, too. The remaining ones live in regions that isolate them in terrain that's hospitable for them. Mercenary Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) is hired by a pharmaceutical billionaire, Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), to voyage to Saint-Hubert – an island where cloned, mutated dinosaurs roam – and get several blood samples from three of the biggest dinosaurs to make a heart-disease-treating drug for mankind.
Bennett assembles a team that includes a timid paleontologist, Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey), a longtime covert operations team leader, Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), and Kincaid's sailing crew. On their long excursion to the island, the team comes across a shipwrecked family – patriarch Reuben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), his outspoken eldest daughter Teresa Delgado (Luna Blaise), his innocent young daughter Isabella (Audrina Miranda), and Teresa's lazy, wisecracking boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono) – and rescue them. After a run-in with a Mosasaurus and Spinosaurus, the two groups wind up on the deserted Saint-Hubert, separated and stranded. With minimal time on their hands and many carnivorous dinosaurs in their midst, such as a terrifying six-armed Tyrannosaurus clone called the D-Rex, the groups must survive.
Rebirth doesn't know what kind of adventure expedition to pull from
Rebirth thankfully forgoes rehashing any of its predecessors' lazy plots, which were rehashes of Park. However, this installment doesn't know what kind of adventure expedition to pull from, so it decides to combine them instead.
The mission plot is reminiscent of the Disney flick Atlantis: The Lost Empire, with Jonathan Bailey's Dr. Loomis being a Milo clone and Scarlett Johansson's Zora being that butch mercenary but in the way of Natasha Romanoff with an anti-Big Pharma motif. Loomis is concerned that the blood they're taking will only be available to the 1% and he spends his time trying to convince Zora not to get trapped by the jaws of capitalism. All the while, they’re evading the jaws of every dinosaur. No one ever explains how three vials can save millions of people, who will likely need to be treated often.
When Rebirth isn't following its Atlantis-like (or Skull Island if you’re boring) plot, it forces in a Swiss Family Robinson subplot with the uninteresting Delgado family. As if the creatives couldn't agree on what kind of adventure movie they wanted, screaming "Duck Season" and "Rabbit Season" at Gareth Edwards before filming, Koepp's script mushes both concepts together with no connective tissue. The pacing is strenuous, with both plots competing for best set pieces because lord knows Edwards' paper-thin characters aren’t going to cut it. It’s disappointing to admit that, considering Koepp penned Soderbergh’s Black Bag and Presence, two strong character-driven films from this year alone. I need his work ethic, for real.
In defense of the dull ensemble, no one's actions even come close to the stupidity of the characters from the predecessors. However, no one is remotely interesting. Not even Bennett, a mercenary who is grieving the loss of her teammate from a previous mission. I can only assume ScarJo is aware of the weak material, for she is on autopilot, utilizing her familiar charisma to little avail. The film is already sluggishly paced, and the poor dialogue’s attempt at humor or emotional beats falls flat.
Fine performances, boring characters
There are several moderately entertaining performances. Jonathan Bailey, for instance, delighted me as Dr. Loomis. He imbues a lot of wonder and charm through this nerdy paleontologist. However, even though it doesn't rehash Park's formula, it annoyingly uses every cue from it, including John Williams' theme, which at one point undermines said wonder within Bailey's performance. Furthermore, Mahershala Ali is by far the film's MVP. Are you surprised? His Duncan Kincaid, a divorcee with a deceased kid, is the only person with a fully developed arc. Hell, he's the only reason that makes the Delgados’ inclusion somewhat vital to the story, despite Kincaid being the third-billed character. Nevertheless, Ali's Kincaid nearly had me choked up at one point.
Gareth Edwards goes Spielberg-mode to middling results.
Director Gareth Edwards is renowned for his sharp sense of scope, scale, and worldbuilding. Compared to all the Trevorrow entries, Rebirth's direction is far more sophisticated and exciting. The choreography and direction of each set piece get progressively more thrilling and entertaining. The stupidity remains, though, as many set pieces involving every large and loud T-Rex feature them disappearing like a magician with no sound before coming back for the jump scare.
The film also benefits from John Mathieson's cinematography, which prioritizes high-scaled scope, which finally makes these dinosaurs feel like a legitimate threat. I can’t help but admire the attention to detail that was put into evoking the ‘80s/’90s adventure archetype, which was derived from the Park movies, and utilizing it effectively. Well, at least until the CG dinosaurs come into frame. The VFX and CG elements regarding mutated dino-creatures aren’t rendered to completion, which disrupts the retro-like immersion… except for the excessively marketed D-Rex mutation. That was terrifying. I'm not sure why they didn't go the extra step to incorporate animatronics or puppeteer work, especially for a modern movie shot on film. The only movie to have a great marriage of both to this day is Pokémon Detective Pikachu, which Mathieson shot.
Having said that, Edwards' direction is severely restricted as he exercises his inner Spielberg. I would rather have the real thing or Edwards demonstrating his signature flair. But hey, at least he's showing how a mostly good-looking Jurassic movie can be done. I can't believe it took a decade to do so.
Final Statement
Despite being a moderately entertaining summer blockbuster that evokes the nostalgic feel of a ‘90s movie with fine detail, Gareth Edwards' Jurassic World Rebirth is a confused mashup of executive-driven concepts, resembling Swiss Family Robinson and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
