Watch water monitor lizards look for food in Bangkok
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The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
Jurassic World Rebirth review – Scarlett Johansson runs show as near-extinct franchise roars back to life
What a comeback. The Jurassic World film series had looked to be pretty much extinct after some increasingly dire dollops of franchise content: Fallen Kingdom in 2018 and Dominion in 2022. But now, against all odds, these dinosaurs have had a brand refresh: a brighter, breezier, funnier, incomparably better acted and better written film, with unashamed nods to the summer smashes of yesteryear, that makes sense of the dino-spectacle moments that earn their place. Screenwriter David Koepp and director Gareth Edwards have been drafted in to take us back to basics with a new story, all but retconning the drama with a '17 years previously' flashback at the start that entirely (and thankfully) ignores the tiresome convoluted dullness of what has recently happened. Then we're in the present day, when the existence of dinosaurs in the wild is accepted but they've all pretty much died out – except in and around the lush fictional Île Saint Hubert in the Caribbean. A creepy corporation (is there any other kind?) has discovered that dinosaur blood has the makings of a profitable medicine, so odious big pharma smoothie Martin Krebs, played by Rupert Friend, assembles a crack special forces team to take a blood sample from each of three types of dinosaur – land, sea and air. Zora Bennett, played by Scarlett Johansson, is the ex-military type running the show; bespectacled palaeontologist Dr Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) provides the scientific expertise; and Mahershala Ali brings megawatt charm to the role of Duncan Kincaid, the easy-going boat captain. They and the rest of the crew chance across a family at sea. The dad, Reuben Delgado, is played by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, and this group have a kind of separate, parallel adventure, providing the conventional family-bond narrative beats. We get all the traditional moments, including some classic Jurassic slow turns: a cast member will be doing something, hear a dinosaur behind (which we can see) and then, aghast, will execute a slow swivel, after which we cut to a hilarious closeup on their suitably gobsmacked expression. We also get a classic Jurassic security guy (played by Ed Skrein), like a Star Trek redshirt, whose job is arrogantly shooting at dinosaurs and who meets an obvious comeuppance. There is some terrific romcom chemistry between Johansson and Bailey. Johansson's Zora seems to have a tendresse for this shy intellectual – a bit like the crush her character Natasha Romanoff had on Mark Ruffalo's cerebral Dr Bruce Banner in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It's a very different performance from the one Bailey gave in Wicked, but just as in that film, he comes close to pinching this one with his adorable high-mindedness. His Dr Loomis wants to die in a shallow sea and get covered by silt, apparently, because it's better for creating fossils. And he has an interesting line about how intelligence as a factor in survival is overrated; the dumb dinosaurs were around for 165m years and smart humans so far only 300,000. This new Jurassic adventure isn't doing anything so very different from the earlier successful models, perhaps, and I could have done without its outrageous brand synergy product placement for certain brands of chocolate bar. But it feels relaxed and sure-footed in its Spielberg pastiche, its big dino-jeopardy moments and its deployment of thrills and laughs. Maybe the series can't and shouldn't go on for ever: we need new and original ideas. This one would be great to go out on. Jurassic World Rebirth is out on 2 July in the US and UK, and on 3 July in Australia
Metro
21 hours ago
- Metro
How David Attenborough inspired the 'awe and wonder' in Jurassic World Rebirth
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Filmmaker Gareth Edwards is back at the helm once more of a major franchise (although he hates that word, he tells me) sequel with Jurassic World Rebirth, following his foray into Star Wars with 2016's Rogue One. This time he's fulfilling a childhood dream by working on one of the most influential 'creature feature' series of all time, working with Steven Spielberg – 'I call him Steve,' he grins, acknowledging the surrealism of that scenario. Coming onboard to direct the next instalment in such a popular run of films Edwards, 50, did have lots of little ways he wanted to put his stamp on it – but also one clear desire to ground the movie in reality, despite the fact it's set 'on an island in the middle of nowhere with dinosaurs on it'. 'One of the great things about Jurassic was that it wasn't that we'd gone back in time to see dinosaurs, it was that they'd come to our time, and so I wanted some iconography of some location that was now,' he explains. 'I wanted, at one point in the movie, there to be dinosaurs in something that was very familiar to us, like the kitchen scene in the original Jurassic Park. So I needed to somehow crowbar into this scenario some imagery that you would watch it and go, 'I know that, that's where I live' – even though it's not.' Without giving too much away before people have seen the movie, Edwards plays clear homage to that terrifying scene from the 1993 film with the hunting Velociraptors as well as plenty of fun Easter eggs from that era. 'I think that's important for people to relate to and feel like these things have come to us,' he adds. Edwards also reveals the way he was inspired by legendary broadcaster and biologist David Attenborough, 99, and wanted to bring his influence in Jurassic World Rebirth to another pivotal scene. He admits 'the way it was written probably wasn't aspiring to this' – but for the filmmaker it was clear. 'Being from the UK, I grew up with David Attenborough documentaries, and on a Sunday night on the BBC or wherever, one of the great things is sitting and watching a natural history show, [where] there's beautiful majesty and awe-inspiring nature,' he recalls. 'And I was like, to get through a Jurassic and not have this awe and wonder moment somewhere…' That was obviously not an option for Edwards, and the result is glimpsed in the movie's trailer when Scarlett Johansson's mission specialist Zora Bennett and Jonathan Bailey's palaeontologist Dr Henry Loomis are seen glimpsing the 50-foot Titanosauruses for the first time. It nicely acts as a throwback to the original film too, when Sam Neill and Laura Dern's expert characters are thrilled to see their first live dinosaur (coincidentally accompanied by Sir David's late actor brother Sir Richard Attenborough as Dr John Hammond, the owner of the park and the company that cloned the dinosaurs). 'That's what you're trying to do, is just navigate it so that you feel like it's that journey that you would want as an audience member.'. Alongside his previous Star Wars responsibility, Edwards is known for original projects as screenwriter and director like Monsters and 2023's The Creator. He appears comfortable switching between studio-led franchise blockbusters and more indie fare, ceding complete creative control for the prior. 'There are certain franchises where I feel like I don't know what I'd do with that, and also I think we'd all disagree about what that is. And there are other ones where you go, the best version of that, I think, is exactly what the studio would want as well.' Jurassic World Rebirth fortunately fell in this latter category and Edwards was delighted to be surrounded by a team who 'challenged' him. 'You want people who go, really? And double check what you're saying and go, how about this? Or throw in new ideas. But you also want to agree on what's a good film. And if they list ones that are your favourites, then you're probably in a good place.' That is something he fortunately found with screenwriter David Koepp too, who was returning to pen a Jurassic film for the first time since 1997's The Lost World, after it was suggested that meeting with producer Frank Marshall and Spielberg wasn't the conversation he should be most nervous about. 'They said, 'Oh, if you think this was tricky, wait 'til you meet David Koepp – if you can get your ideas past him'.' But it ended up a 'blissful' partnership Edwards says, from 'the second we started talking' on Zoom and found that they loved 'exactly the same movies'. Edwards also admits he was expecting the screenplay to be locked, with no way for him to suggest any of his own ideas and tweaks. 'That's what I thought was going to happen. And instead, it was like, 'Okay, you know this scene where this happens – what if we did it in this location instead? And what if this happened during it?'' he shared of his discussions with Koepp. 'And he was like, 'Great!', and would write it and give it his own flourishes, and you'd go, 'Oh, that's better than what I would have written!'' But there were also sections where Edwards felt Koepp had things 'dead right' and he didn't want to touch it. 'We were really on the same page.' This was also of great benefit considering the condensed timeline of making the movie, with Edwards only announced as director in February 2024, before any casting was done, and filming beginning that June. Star and producer Johansson even revealed to me that sound mixing conversations were still happening just days before the London premiere. Even with such a tight turnaround though, they managed to assemble a cast including Johansson, Bailey, two-time Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali and Rupert Friend, as well as Netflix's The Lincoln Lawyer star, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. 'You worry when you've got not much time that you're going to get the bottom of the barrel, a lot of people that didn't get a job!' laughs Edwards of the situation. Luckily, the films are so definitive – and come with Spielberg attached ('I think when he calls, people pick up the phone') – that it wasn't an issue. 'I think if it had been another project, we might have been a bit stuck.' Hilariously though, Edwards was not aware of Jurassic super-nerd Johansson and how she had already pitched herself to Spielberg. 'I remember being in one of those early conversations at Universal, and there's Steven Spielberg and Donna Langley and everybody, and all these actors [on pieces of paper] and all these names being said. And then Steven goes, 'Well, if I don't give it to Scarlett, she's going to kill me.' And I'm just like, 'What do you mean?' And he goes, 'Scarlett's a massive Jurassic fan and I went for a meal with her,' and he started saying how much she loved it and wanted to be in one. And I was like, 'Hang on, why are we doing this meeting? Scarlett Johansson wants to do this film? Like, what are we talking about? Can you call her?!'' More Trending With Bailey, too, Edwards recalls an enjoyably unsuccessful first meeting when he had been prepped with questions from the producers for the actor but instead spent the entire three-hour chat over a meal in LA just 'joking around' and talking about 'random stuff' before the Wicked star realised he had to go. 'And so he left, and I hadn't said a word to him about Jurassic. And then the producers were like, 'Did he like the screenplay?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, no, it's all good, we're all good, no he didn't have any notes, he loves the character…' the director laughs of his bluffing. 'But it's the kind of movie. There's only a couple of things like this where you just get everyone's full attention. And it was a new chapter in it as well, so everyone felt they could come and put their stamp on it.' Jurassic World Rebirth is in cinemas from July 2. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Jurassic World Rebirth leaves critics crying 'let the franchise go extinct' with rotten debut MORE: Tom Cruise's 'breathtaking' 90s sci-fi hit quietly arrives on Netflix MORE: 'Underrated' horror movie hailed by fans finally arrives on Amazon Prime
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Watch water monitor lizards look for food in Bangkok
These scavengers have found a way to find food in an urban metropolis like Bangkok. Produced by the BBC Natural History Unit
