The Jurassic franchise is synonymous with summer blockbusters, and this season sees the dinosaurs finding a way in a pseudo-fresh start with Jurassic World: Rebirth. Directed by Gareth Edwards (Rogue One) and written by original Jurassic Park scribe David Koepp, the film is largely an improvement on the previous Jurassic World trilogy, but unfortunately faceplants the landing in it’s flubbed climax.
Five years after Jurassic World: Dominion, the dinosaurs haven’t fared well in free roam mode around the world. The prehistoric creatures have struggled with modern day lower oxygen levels, vegetation and climate. The genetically revived beasts have only survived by relocating to isolated tropical zones around the equator. But there’s always money to made from the dinos – Pharmaceutical company ParkerGenix hires a group consisting of a paleontologist and a team of covert operatives to obtain bio material from one of each of the largest of these creatures from land, sea, and air on an abandoned InGen island with a dark genetic engineering secret.
One of the elements Jurassic World: Rebirth restores to the franchise that’s largely been missing since the Spielberg-directed films are the character moments. The ensemble cast has immediate chemistry and is given time to develop and endear themselves to the audience. While not nearly the top billed cast, shipwrecked father Rueben (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) and his two daughters Teresa and Isabella (Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda), and the eldest’s boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono) are the true heart of the story. Much of their journey evokes the bonding and survival action sequences with Dr Grant and the kids in the original Jurassic Park. Some may fault what feels like the cash grab pandering of a cute dino-baby that Isabella adopts on the island, but in the large scope of the movie, I found it cute and harmless.
Not to say that the team in the main plot doesn’t have its own charm. Scarlett Johansson’s badass operative Zora is smart, capable and played with a tender heart by the actress. The implied history with Mahershala Ali’s team leader Duncan is given life with vulnerable chemistry between the two actors in expository conversations during quiet moments. Zora also has a playful rapport with paleontologist Dr Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) who brings an infectious energy and sense of wonder also reminiscent of the first film in the series. Rupert Friend’s pharma rep Martin Krebs is the stock corporate villain trope the series loves to employ, but his performance is just the right amount of smarmy but reserved.
What everyone really wants to know about is the dinosaur action, and Jurassic World: Rebirth has fantastic sequence after fantastic sequence. The first major set-piece is on water and plays like a mix of Jaws and the Jeep T-Rex sequence in Jurassic Park. It’s clever and brilliantly executed, as is almost every spectacle action section in the film. The dinosaurs are actually scary again, and the story wisely gives Raptors and T-Rex’s a break from being the main dino threat – although they do play roles. Most notably, fans who have long awaited the T-Rex raft sequence from Crichton’s original book will finally get to see that nail-biting escape realized in a live-action film, albeit with different characters.
The bad news is that after three quarters of the best Jurassic film in a long while, the ending of Jurassic World: Rebirth goes off the rails. The final boss dinosaur is a goofy, mutated Tyrannosaur dubbed the D-Rex that looks like a Rancor from Star Wars or some other hard sci-fi space creature franchise. It feels out of place and nothing unique or impactful is done with it – even more frustrating is the “death” of a main character in the D-Rex sequence that is magically reversed with no explanation – most likely for the more crowd friendly happy ending. It all leaves a sour note on what was otherwise a surprisingly refreshing revamp of the Jurassic franchise.
Score: 3.5 out of 5