Harry Situation Reviews: Jurassic World Rebirth

Jurassic World Rebirth is the seventh entry in the Jurassic Park franchise. The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, and Ed Skrein. It was directed by Gareth Edwards, best known for directing modern science fiction classics such as Godzilla (2014), Rogue One, and The Creator, and was written by David Koepp, who returns to the franchise having been the screenwriter for the first two Jurassic Park movies.

Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the dinosaurs are suddenly having difficulties surviving due to the Earth's current environment and are slowing dying once more, only able to sustain themselves in tropical areas around the Equator. A company representative (played by Rupert Friend) hires a team of mercenaries (played by Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali) and a paleontologist (played by Jonathan Bailey) to help extract blood from the largest prehistoric animals in order to develop a new drug that could cure heart disease. This expedition leads them to an island in the Caribbean where they not only encounter dangerous dinosaurs but also new experimental mutant dinosaurs too dangerous for any theme park.

Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge fan of the Jurassic Park franchise. And while I haven't been the biggest fan of the last couple Jurassic Park movies, I'm always interested to see what the franchise can do next, especially if it means introducing new dinosaurs to the big screen. So, was this new entry a roaring good time or a steaming pile of coprolite (fossilized dino dung)?

The first positive as always, for me, are the dinosaurs themselves. As someone who has been a lifelong fan of these incredible animals it always brings a smile to my face whenever the Jurassic Park franchise shows them on the big screen, regardless of the numerous paleo-inaccuracies. And they're brought to life thanks to the film's incredible visual effects. Having Gareth Edwards in the director seat is a great choice because the man excels at showing how enormous something is from the perspective from the audience, as evidence from his previous work. The dinosaurs look and feel gigantic. These are the best looking dinosaurs I've seen since the first two films. I like the designs for most of the prehistoric animals. The one I'm not fond of is the new design for the Quetzalcoatlus looking like an oversized toucan.

As for the film's introduction to the two new mutant dinosaurs, the Mutadon and the Distortus Rex, I'm not a fan of their overall design. The Distortus Rex looks like the ugly stepsister to the Rancor from Return of the Jedi. As for the Mutadon, it's another dumb hybrid dinosaur that the franchise seems to be obsessed with in the past ten years. Thankfully, they're uses sparingly and do not overshadow the main dinosaurs in the film.

The acting is pretty good too. There is not one cast member I can say that delivers a bad performance. Everyone does a really good job. I think the one that stands out the most is Jonathan Bailey, as he seems to be having a really good time in this movie. There's a great scene where his character walks up to an herbivorous dinosaur and he pets it and he gets all emotional from the moment. I don't blame him. In that situation, if dinosaurs were alive today, I would get emotional too. Overall, solid performances throughout.

Unfortunately, this is where the positives end because this film's story is a mess. What I said in the main synapsis is only part of the main story. The other part of the story revolves around a family (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo playing as the father) are shipwrecked after an attack from the Mosasaurus, get rescued by the mercenary team, only to fall overboard onto the island after an attack from a Spinosaurus pack. And so the film switches back and forth between the mercenaries and the family until they all reunite towards the final act. It's like David Koepp had two different ideas for the movie but couldn't decide which he wanted to go with.

While the acting maybe good, I can't say the same for the characters. There wasn't a character that I particularly liked in this movie. One character I found to be very annoying, and I was hoping they would get eaten by a dinosaur, but sadly did not. Also, obvious evil company man is obviously the bad guy. Not that the other villains in the franchise have been subtle, but the writing makes it painfully on the nose that this guy isn't a good guy.

On top of all that there was some very cringy dialogue mixed with some awkward humor, which unfortunately seems to be on par with these new Jurassic World films. It's like they're trying once more to mimic the humor from the MCU films, but once again failing at it. The only times I actually laughed was just how awkward or stupid it was.

But the worst thing about this movie is that there were a lot of moments where I found myself a little bored with the movie. This film slaps you with some intense action scenes that I just did not care for. There was nothing that left me at the edge of my seat, probably because I didn't care if the characters lived or died. Now that's not to say I thought the movie was completely dull. There were a few scenes I really liked. My favorite scene in the whole movie was the part where the mercenaries encounter a herd of Titanosaurus, where it recaptures that sense of awe and wonder from the first film, and John Williams' theme is playing the background. I admit watching that got me smiling the whole time. And I liked the scene where the family is trying to escape from a Tyrannosaurus down a riverbed, which was lifted from the first Jurassic Park novel. However, I felt dulled out because the marketing team seemed to have revealed everything in the trailers and promos that it leaves no real surprises.

Overall, I went into this movie with low expectations and still came out of the theater feeling disappointed. If I had to rank this movie I would say this is arguable the second worst film in the franchise, just above Fallen Kingdom but a little below Dominion. I personally cannot recommend it, but I cannot stop anyone from seeing it. If you want a fun popcorn flick to turn your brain off to, this is movie is for you. For me, I'll wait to see if the franchise evolves or goes extinct. Or eventually crossover with the Fast and Furious franchise.

Positives:

-The dinosaurs

-Great visual effects

-Good performances

Negatives:

-More mutant/hybrid dinosaurs

-Two conflicting stories

-Bad dialogue & writing

-Dull action

Final Grade: D+

So those were my thoughts on Jurassic World Rebirth. Have you seen it? What were your thoughts? What is your favorite moment from the Jurassic Park franchise? Please be kind, leave a like and comment, and check out more reviews here on Prose!

Best Quote:

Dr. Henry Loomis: "Science is for everyone, not for some."

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