FILM REVIEW: Jurassic World Rebirth (2025)
- Adam
- Jul 2
- 3 min read
Jurassic World Rebirth - New Release Review
Director: Gareth Edwards
Starring: Scarlett Johannson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia Rulfo
Written by: David Koepp
Produced by: Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley
Cinematography by: John Mathieson
Original Score by: Alexandre Desplat
Synopsis:
An expedition braves isolated equatorial regions to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric creatures for a groundbreaking medical breakthrough.
Thoughts:
Like everyone else who lives on the planet Earth, I absolutely love the original 'Jurassic Park' film. Directed amazingly by the master Steven Spielberg, starring 3 of the most interesting actors at the time (Dern, Neill and Goldblum) and showcasing the most beautifully crafted CGI/practical Dinosaurs anyone had ever seen before. A perfect film. Then they made a sequel; and a 3rd film and 3 more legacy sequels, and by the end of the last 'Jurassic World' film, it felt like all of the creative juice had been wrung out of the series. So, when director Gareth Edwards was announced for 'Rebirth', it felt like the series was getting back on track. A director who has brought his own style of gritty, sci-fi to other franchises like 'Star Wars' and 'Godzilla' paired with a group of interesting character actors seems like the perfect combination, right? Well, so I thought...then the film started...
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The idea for 'Rebirth' initially sounds interesting. An abandoned island full of genetically modified dinosaurs that we’ve never seen before vs a group of money hungry mercs trying to get dino blood to make new medicines. It doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel but it’s a basic enough plot to set the stage for some fun set pieces.
The biggest problems start at the script, unfortunately. Each and every character feels so bland, and much like the first movie, they spend a good 45 minutes setting them up so by the time the action starts, you feel connected to the characters. Each character here takes the time to sit down with another character and explain their whole back story. I felt like shouting “Show! Don’t tell!” at the screen every time a character started to bring up their tragic past. I know every actor in this can give good performances; I love Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey and Scarlett Johansson in plenty of other things but here, their performances are laughable. At one point, Johannson’s character is crying over someone who died, and I literally had to hold back my laughter. It’s a real shame, because this is absolutely the best cast since the original and they may as well be played by nobodies.
Half way through the review, why not treat yourself to a nice crisp Dr.Pepper? What’s the worst that can happen?
Another major problem with the film is that the dinosaurs aren’t really dinosaurs. They’re this basic mix of “what if I took a T-Rex and made it swim?” or “What if Pterodactylus sounded like a Raptor?”. It’s all too safe and predictable, when you have a plot based reason to have things become unpredictable. In the plot, the mercs need to capture the blood of a sea dino, a land dino and an air dino, and you never feel like the characters are in any danger at any point. Plot wise, it’s close to 'Jurassic Park III' in a way (that’s never a compliment) and it even takes a set piece from the original book that didn’t make it into the OG movie; but even that action sequence becomes boring by the end.
In the movie, there’s a sequence where a character will be doing something in the foreground and in the background, a dinosaur will silently emerge from nowhere and try to attack the characters. This happens 7 times in the film. I couldn’t believe when it happened a second time, never mind a 7th.
M&M’s, the chocolatey treat! You can’t spell 'Jurassic World Rebirth' without M&M’s.
Did I hate the movie? No, I was just bored. Just like I was bored watching the 3 previous 'Jurassic World' films. With its bad script, terrible editing (I didn’t get into it, but my word, it’s probably the worst editing I've seen in a studio movie since THAT Freddie Mercury film) and actors that are fighting an uphill battle in every scene, it’s a shame to say 'Jurassic World Rebirth' probably should have stayed extinct.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️½
-Adam Neeson
'Jurassic World: Rebirth' is in Irish/UK cinemas from July 2nd
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