TL;DR – Well, it was not without its many, many problems, but this was a grand improvement over its predecessors, if maybe just for the choice of glasses apparently.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Jurassic World Rebirth Review –

Well, it is time to jump back into the Jurassic World franchise, and I say this with a touch of trepidation. Not only do I love Jurassic Park, but it is one of my top films of all time. However, it has felt like each of the recent sequels has stepped further and further away from what made the series so great to begin with: Dinosaurs, with Jurassic World Dominion being a particularly apt example of this. However, we have Gareth Edwards at the helm and David Koepp back with the screenplay, and well, I can’t help but get excited again, even if it may be all for naught.   

So, to set the scene, in the time since Dominion, climate and disease have forced dinosaurs to retreat to tropical sanctuaries. But a pharmaceutical company, ParkerGenix, fronted by Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), have come to Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), and Dr Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) with an offer. They need DNA samples from the three largest remaining prehistoric species, hidden away on Ile Saint-Hubert, an old InGen research facility, 226 miles east of French Guinea. A place where InGen tested many of their experiments before releasing them into Jurassic World. Now they must face off with everything the island will throw at them, that is, if they even make it to land.

Now, while this is an excellent improvement over several of its predictors, it still has several issues. First, there are some issues with the digital effects. While most of the time, they are fantastic, drawing you into this world and the dangers and delights you can find. However, there are these shots throughout the film where you could feel people ran out of time and just had to go with what they had at the time. One such scene included Scarlett Johansson very clearly being shot on a green screen and not on location. There are not many, but each one rips you out of the film. I also struggled to connect with any of the characters in the movie, primarily because in your first introduction, you already know who is going to die, and dear reader, I had a 90% success rate with my predictions.

From this, while the story structure works a lot better, you do need to hand-wave away a lot of the contrivances that set the story up. Indeed, in their attempt to do a soft reboot, or rebirth, they have to do such a hard U-turn from where things were to a safe ‘keep them on the island’ setting that even The Last Jedi is going, “dude, maybe that’s a touch too much”. Which brings us to the ending, [SPOILERS], and I am sorry, dear reader, it is just a complete fizzle. The big-bad is a true let down, that even the film is unsure about its dimensions as it changes from shot to shot. Thankfully, it only impacts the end, or we would have had some real problems for the film. You also just walk away from the film wanting the story to be a step more ambitious. There are these moments when you feel the film is about to take a risk, but they never do.  

However, while there are a lot of side steps, at its core, it is such a significant step forward. Because for the first time in an age, the dinosaurs felt actually menacing and/or majestic when they needed to. There is a sequence in a river that had me on the edge of my seat. You honestly felt that things were going to go bad at any second. The location work was solid, with Malta and Thailand working well in this context. All the designs of the non-mutant dinosaurs were solid, though I am sidestepping the Spinosaurus discourse for my own health. While there was no mystery to any of the characters, I do think the cast is bringing a lot to the proceedings, even if some of the messaging is a bit ham-fisted. If nothing else, there was a moment where they revelled in dinosaurs being magnificent while that score played. And I am sorry, I am a sucker for dinosaurs, and they will get me every time when they show they care.

In the end, do we recommend Jurassic World Rebirth? I think so. While those issues are there, this was a good step in the right direction. If for nothing else, come for the oddest Snickers production placement in film history. Have you watched Jurassic World Rebirth? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Jurassic World Rebirth, we would recommend to you Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Jurassic World Rebirth
Directed by – Gareth Edwards
Screenplay by – David Koepp
Based on – Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Music by – Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography by – John Mathieson
Edited by – Jabez Olssen
Production/Distribution Companies – Amblin Entertainment, The Kennedy/Marshall Company & Universal Pictures
Starring – Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, Ed Skrein, Philippine Velge & Bechir Sylvain
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: PG; Germany: 12; New Zealand: na; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13