“Why, oh, why are we getting another Jurassic World movie?” That was my question when the trailer hit a few months ago. This series has proven that it’s run out of gas, and yet the powers that be decide audiences are still hungry.
To some extent, this latest installment, Jurassic World: Rebirth, is a significant improvement over some of its predecessors. While it has some moments that are clearly set on autopilot, it’s not completely without some dino-sized charms.
Rebirth takes place between the events of the original Jurassic World and the last two films. Scarlett Johannson stars as Zora Bennett, a mercenary persuaded to travel to a distant island to gather biological samples of dinosaurs in order to find a cure for heart disease. Don’t ask me to explain how preposterous that sounds.
She’s joined by a few colleagues, including a pharmaceutical rep (Martin Krebs), a paleontologist (Jonathan Bailey), and Mahershala Ali, a fearless adventurer who leads the expedition to the island. Of course, their adventure involves a lot of running away from dinosaurs and barely escaping death at every corner. Most of them, anyway.
The team also encounters a sailing family that joins them in their quest on the island and they prove to be very resourceful at staying out of harm’s way. Some of their sequences are much more interesting and entertaining than the journey of Johannson and company.
The creatures are once again convincing and compelling. A dinosaur that can travel in water makes for some very appealing sequences, and another where the team sees a pair of dinosaurs engaging in what looks to be a little Jurassic romance is admittedly endearing.
The rest of the movie follows a formula that has been tried and tested, as the human characters find themselves in predicaments in which they must rely on either their wits or plain luck to survive. Plus, there’s always a character or two who is clearly defined from the get-go that will be dino bait or the self-sacrificing hero. Rebirth makes no apologies for checking off the boxes.
This movie is not creatively bankrupt, but it did leave me feeling radically indifferent in many scenes. There are moments that we know a dinosaur is going to attack a human, and we only get to see the aftermath in order to ensure the PG-13 rating.
This will likely appeal to those who are still craving the series. I wonder when Universal will finally realize that this franchise has reached extinction.
It’s better than Fallen Kingdom or Dominion, but the thrill is gone.
