By John Corrado
One of the themes of Jurassic World Rebirth, the seventh film in the franchise that arrives 32 years after Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park, is how dinosaurs are no longer as popular as they once were, in the three decades since they were first brought back to life.
It would be a fitting analogy for this franchise as well, if these movies didn’t continue to make boatloads of money. This latest one, a sort of soft reboot and fresh start for the series with a new cast, arrives three years after Jurassic World Dominion, a thoroughly mediocre film that nonetheless made a billion dollars at the box office.
As such, Rebirth is…fine? New to the franchise director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Rogue One) does get some of the basics right. Edwards stages several decent and suspenseful set-pieces (including one involving a river raft, inspired by Michael Crichton’s original novel), and the film is well shot by cinematographer John Mathieson, who even shoots on 35mm. But this also makes the film’s clunkier elements more frustrating.
The story picks up several years after the events of the Jurassic World trilogy. Dinosaurs are no longer a novelty that people want to see, with the majority of the remaining ones being relegated to a hidden island. This includes a number of genetic experiments that were created to make the creatures more interesting again, such as the monstrous (if slightly disappointing) D-Rex, teased in the opening sequence.
Scarlett Johansson stars in the film as Zora Bennett. She is a shadowy special operations expert who is recruited by big pharma rep Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) to go on a secret mission to this island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and collect blood samples from the creatures to create a new heart medication. Also recruited for the mission are Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey), a dinosaur expert who works at the museum, and Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), who captains the boat taking them to the island.
In addition to this main group, the film also introduces us to on another set of characters; a family led by father Rueben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo). Rueben is sailing with his young daughter Isabella (Audrina Miranda) and older daughter Teresa (Luna Blaise), who brings along her annoying boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono). They end up capsized, and on the island trying to survive with our main group.
It’s here that the screenplay by David Koepp (who also wrote the original Jurassic Park and its sequel The Lost World) starts to splinter. Because of this split focus, the central storyline suffers, and Rebirth can feel like two different movies. The main story and subplot don’t really mesh, with the film’s flow being broken up by going back and forth between them. Some of the writing is also questionable. The boyfriend character in particular is annoying (intentionally so at first), and the comic relief with him doesn’t really work.
The movie can feel a bit sluggish when focusing on these side characters, who don’t even really need to be in the movie. It’s easy to imagine the film being more compelling if it just focused on developing the main characters more, especially with actors of the calibre of Johansson, Bailey and Ali in these roles. But Edwards does build tension during the dinosaur sequences, and shows skill in crafting the big spectacle aspects of the film. Mathieson’s cinematography and use of lighting also has a more classic look to it that visually elevates Rebirth.
If the story isn’t up to par, in a lot of ways this is the most Spielbergian of the modern Jurassic movies, with Edwards working in a number of references to the original (as well as other Spielberg classics like Jaws and Indiana Jones). Edwards is able to do this fan service reasonably well, including a nice moment with Bailey’s character looking up in wonder amidst a field of dinosaurs. The musical score by Alexandre Desplat even pays tribute to John Williams’ iconic original themes.
No, Jurassic World Rebirth ultimately can’t recapture that same magic. But, at a certain point, we just need to accept that these films will never be as good as Spielberg’s original. If you can do that, this is a fun enough popcorn flick for a summer afternoon, that delivers some decent dino action.
The Joy of Movies 