30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
What's reborn in ‘Jurassic World Rebirth'? Spoiler: It's not the plot
Strictly speaking, there's no 'rebirth' in 'Jurassic World Rebirth,' which should clue viewers in for the experience they're about to have.
The seventh film in the 'Why are you messing with carnivorous dinosaurs?' series finds apparent mercenary Zora (Scarlett Johansson, also in theaters in ' The Phoenician Scheme ') hired by slick corporate guy Martin (Rupert Friend of ' Companion ') to take idealistic paleontologist Henry (Jonathan Bailey of ' Wicked ') into the restricted zone where dinosaurs thrive. They seek blood samples from three particular live ones for revolutionary medical research.
Zora recruits four helpers, including trusted confederates Duncan (Oakland native and two-time Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali) and Bobby (Ed Skrein of ' Rebel Moon ' and ' Deadpool '). They rescue a family shipwrecked by one of the beasties, but having civilians, including kids, along doesn't dissuade the team from their dangerous mission. They traipse, virtually unarmed, into man-eating monster territory. Who will become dino dinner? Who won't? And there's your movie.
As nothing is reborn in the story, the title really refers to the franchise, which nobody thought was ending after the last trilogy sort of concluded with ' Jurassic World Dominion ' (2022), which raked in a billion bucks despite being coldly received by critics. So even the title announces there's really nothing more to tell about the story, but here comes another movie.
Make no mistake, it delivers what the fans want and expect, no more, no less. There's only one new element in 'Rebirth' — that mutant dinosaurs resulted from experiments conducted for no good reason. Once we know that's a thing, we know what the big bad will be for the final chase. But the mutant dino isn't explored at all, even with an expert present.
We see every turn that's coming; we recognize which folks are 'red shirts' (the 'Star Trek' fan term for characters marked for death). We know, when we meet the little girl who's afraid of dinosaurs, she'll befriend a cute one. One signs a contract to suspend disbelief when watching an adventure movie about dinosaurs and humans, but 'Rebirth' seems determined to test viewers' patience with one incredible stroke of luck after another.
There are Easter eggs for franchise fans — a bus is marked for 'Crichton Middle School,' a nod to 'Jurassic Park' novelist Michael Crichton; a familiar 'When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth' banner is being taken down. Unfortunately, the film also reminds us over and over (and over) again of the previous signature shots of people facing the camera while dinos enter the frame behind them.
Those visiting these Iles de Death by Dino really should be inoculated against plot deafness, which enables these very large animals moving in water or foliage to become undetectable by human ear or nose. The number of times this particular cinematic tic spasms in 'Rebirth' tests the limits of sanity.
Zora is purportedly a highly sought-after mercenary with many years of experience in tough spots. She inspires to-the-death loyalty from Duncan and Bobby. But there is absolutely nothing about Johansson's realization of Zora that says 'warrior,' 'veteran,' 'leader,' or anything along those lines.
The best performance comes from Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (Netflix's ' The Lincoln Lawyer '), who conveys urgency and love as Reuben, the shipwrecked father protecting his family. David Iacono also turns in memorable work as Xavier, the layabout boyfriend of Reuben's daughter. Bailey gets the best dialogue, but the bar isn't high in this functional script.
The dino action is just fine, though as this reviewer's screening companion said, 'There wasn't enough dinosaur-on-dinosaur violence.' Except for a small handful of shots, the visual effects are excellent, per director Gareth Edwards' reputation cultivated with ' Godzilla ' (2014) and ' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ' (2016).
All that said, this movie is likely review-proof. The franchise is doing just fine without critical approval. This one is less of a slog, but there is precious little interesting or new in 'Jurassic World Rebirth.' It'll likely earn a billion dollars anyway.
