Review: Jurassic Park Rebirth – IP, uh, finds a way
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise
6/10
Over three decades have passed since the reappearance of dinosaurs, and things have changed. The world has fallen out of love with the terrible lizards, and these genetically resurrected creatures have found themselves retreating to the equatorial zones to find a more suitable climate. However, there’s still genetic potential to be unlocked in these behemoths, as an expedition is mounted to a forbidden island by a pharmaceutical company (led by Scarlett Johansson’s mercenary Zora). With blood samples from three of the largest creatures to walk the earth, they may unlock the cure for heart disease, or they may be torn apart by the scientific monstrosities that lurk on the island in the attempt.
The issue is we’ve seen it all before. The cast gets lured to a location due to the wonder of dinosaurs, something goes wrong (probably dinosaur-related), and the cast now has to escape said location filled with deadly and vicious dinosaurs. It’s not even David Koepp’s (Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park) first time writing that script! This time it’s given a slight twist by a group of genetic aberrations, designed by InGen scientists that must have been doing Jager bombs during Malcolm’s “so preoccupied with whether you could…” speech. Yet even this plot point we’ve seen before with both the rejected fourth Jurassic Park script and Jurassic World’s Indominus Rex. Despite feeling like an addition from another script, at least the castaway family that gets dragged into the proceedings is somewhat novel, even if they fulfil the familiar role of endangered kids.
In short, in this seventh outing for the series, they’ve frustratingly returned to the same well and produced the same story with a few minor tweaks. The overall world-building has neatened up the seismic shifts brought about by the previous Jurassic World films, now limiting the dinosaur population to equatorial regions. Which in itself isn’t a bad idea, as the series seemed unwilling to shake things up by these world-altering events. Instead, this shifts things back to their status quo.
Which is not a terrible way to describe Jurassic World Rebirth; it’s an average film for the franchise. Its script might be pedestrian, split between two disparate stories (mercenaries and castaways) that rob each other of momentum each time they cut away, but it also has Gareth Edwards’ (Monsters) deft hand and stunning visual style. The Godzilla-like climax of the D-Rex attack, bathed in red light and fog, is terrifying and everything that the franchise thrives on.
An average script, good direction, and an amiable cast lead to a passable outing for the franchise. Jurassic World Rebirth isn’t going to reignite interest, but it does what it needs to carry the torch.
DAVID O’CONNELL