[Credit: Universal Pictures]
Jurassic World roars back to cinemas this past week with the seventh film in the franchise, Jurassic World Rebirth. After the misfire that was Jurassic World Dominion, I was at first hesitant about a proposed seventh film. Then I saw the timeline for the film once it had been formally announced. Between said reveal and release was only a year and a half, a very short window for a tentpole Hollywood film. But Gareth Edwards (The Creator, Godzilla 2014) was hired as a director, and it gave me some hope. Does the film redeem the franchise with this back-to-basics approach? Let’s find out.
Jurassic World Rebirth is something of a soft reboot for the franchise, largely ignoring the events of the last two films. Those films introduced the concept of dinosaurs living with humans, but in Rebirth, it’s revealed that the dinosaurs don’t fare well in most climates, especially snowy ones, and have thus moved to islands and territories closer to the equator. Also, the human population are kind of just “done” with dinosaurs, which, as if. We still flock to zoos to see lions; no one is ever going to be tired of dinosaurs ever.
[Credit: Universal Pictures]
Rebirth stars Scarlett Johansson as Zora Bennett, a mercenary who is hired by Rupert Friend’s Martin, a rep for a very wealthy pharmaceutical company, to venture to one of these remote islands. Travel anywhere near a dinosaur habitat is expressly forbidden, so Zora and her team will have to sneak through. With the help of Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), a sea captain, and Dr. Henry Loomis, a paleontologist whose tenure at a museum just ended due to the public’s waiting interest in dinosaurs, they venture to an island to see DNA samples from three of the most colossal species (because of their larger heart), one on land, sea, and the sky.
[Credit: Universal Pictures]
It may not be as apparent in the marketing, but that’s only half of the film’s plot. There’s an entire second plot featuring a family that’s integrated into this story, too. This narrative thread features Reuben (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a divorced dad going on a sailing trip with his two daughters and Xavier, his eldest daughter’s lazy, deadbeat boyfriend. When their sailing boat is attacked by a mososaur, they find themselves brought into a world of peril they definitely were not planning for.
[Credit: Universal Pictures]
As mentioned, this was an incredibly rushed production, and I think it’s commendable that the movie isn’t a total dumpster fire, bearing that in mind. But it’s also a bit infuriating that this film was rushed, because this movie could have been excellent had they given Gareth Edwards and David Koepp more time to develop the script and refine some of the VFX. Rebirth is by no means a bad movie. I actually had a good time, as did the audience, who applauded the movie when the credits rolled, but I really think it could’ve been even better with more time. Did this really need to come out sandwiched between Superman and F1? Would a December release have been that bad? There’s more than a few instances of sloppy writing in the movie that you can easily think of a workaround to make it better.
[Credit: Universal Pictures]
Despite being top billed, I really didn’t care for Scarlet Johansson as Zora. She felt the flattest and uninteresting of the characters, often resorting to Marvel-esque quips and snark. She has one scene where she opens up about her PTSD thanks to her last job, but that feeling is never brought up again, nor does it have any impact on the plot. On the flipside, I really liked Reuben. He’s a dad with good intentions, is patient in the face of Xavier’s laziness, and is all around likeable. Even Xavier, who starts the film as a deadbeat, lazy stoner, picks up initiative as the film goes, allowing for an arc of betterment to happen. The rest of the cast are also fairly one-note, but Ali and Bailey, for instance, are entertaining enough to watch that you do end up liking their respective characters thanks to the charm they bring to the screen. But that doesn’t excuse the script from failing to bring these characters to life. The film is written by David Koepp, who wrote both the original Jurassic Park and Mission: Impossible films, but also gave us the 2017 Mummy film with Tom Cruise and Inferno from 2016, so an inconsistent track record to say the least, and the film definitely falls somewhere in the middle of that scale. But these characters are a far cry from the original. Heck, even Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady in the first Jurassic World is more likeable than the core trio, I’d say.
[Credit: Universal Pictures]
But how are the dinosaurs in this Jurassic movie, I hear you asking? They’re pretty good! As mentioned, there’s some inconsistencies with the VFX, but the scenes definitely had a sense of tension and urgency not seen in quite a while. I would’ve liked to see the horror element dialled up even more; this isn’t a scary movie, but rather an intense film. The island that they’re on is where InGen was creating hybrid dinosaurs, and we get to see a couple in the film. Despite opening Rebirth up, the D-rex only returns in the final act. I’m not super sold on its baluga whale design, but I didn’t hate it either. I would’ve liked to have seen such a mutation suffering that said, to make us feel bad for it. I do wish the mutadons were just traditional raptors, or better yet, a scientifically accurate Deinonychus or Utahraptor. I do think the trailer showed way too much of the raft scene with the T-Rex, though, which was a shame, but it was still a highlight to watch. Because there are two plots happening at once, I think I would’ve restructured things a bit more in the script department. I did not care at all about DNA samples, but having Zora and her team serve as search and rescue for the family could’ve tied things together nicer, I think. It’s things like this where I think to myself, more time on the script, and we could’ve been there.
[Credit: Universal Pictures]
Where the film does shine is the cinematography. This is a gorgeous movie, shot on 35mm, with rich colours and vibrant scenes. There’s a warmth to the scenes, and there’s very few of those overlit CGI backgrounds we’ve seen in so many other films. Shot largely on location in Thailand, you feel like you’re in a jungle for a lot of the movie, to the point where I’d say the setting is another character. The film, more than once, reminded me of Peter Jackson’s King Kong when they’re on Skull Island. That sense of “what was that?”, as a creature slips around in the background, bearing no consequence on the plot, definitely harkens back to that film. It also reminded me of Jaws in the first act, as the ship hunts down the DNA of the mososaur while being attacked by a group of Spinosaurus, another great sequence. More on location filming, please! And while Gareth Edwards doesn’t get to flex as much as he did on Godzilla or The Creator, there are some memorable shots and sequences nonetheless.
[Credit: Universal Pictures]
I do wish there were more tension and stakes in the film, though. You can easily tell who is going to live and who is going to die based on how relevant they are to the story. Every side character in the movie is essentially a red shirt, there to be picked off one by one by some creature. The movie almost had a moment of genuine self-sacrifice when Duncan distracts the D-rex near the end of the film using a flare, but somehow, he survives that moment. How? We don’t know, but he ends up swimming back to the raft. It felt cheap-and I liked his character, but it would’ve worked a lot better had his given his life to save everyone else’s. As such, the movie can feel very safe and predictable.
[Credit: Universal Pictures]
Jurassic World Rebirth feels very standalone, in that it doesn’t really set up a future for this narrative thread or its characters. Which I honestly like a lot. If this is the end, so be it, or if it continues, at least the door is open for new characters and stories. Personally, I’d love to see a story set in the African continent now that dinosaurs are relegated to the countries around the equator. Something akin to The Ghost and the Darkness, with dinosaurs perhaps? Rebirth, in itself, isn’t going to reinvent the franchise or anything, but it’s certainly watchable and even enjoyable. It could’ve been great, but it’s making do with good, and that’s more frustrating. But not walking out of the theatre hating the movie, like I did with Dominion, is already a huge step up, and if I were to rank it (stay tuned for that), it’s probably somewhere in the middle. Take that as you will for a franchise with a pretty poor batting average. So if you want a shut off your brain and have fun with dinosaurs with some surface-level characters but great cinematography and fun moments, this is a good enough time at the movies. Just don’t expect a classic.
About The Author
