Jurassic World: Rebirth

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on July 9, 2025.

(M) ★★★

Director: Gareth Edwards.

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, Ed Skrein.

"Quiet... Spielberg is coming."

There is something repetitive and comforting about the Jurassic Park franchise. Every movie is effectively the same - Man creates Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs eat Man - but the sight of CG reincarnations of these incredible creatures never gets old.

What does get old are the plots and characters and contrivances around these CG creatures of a bygone era. And so my review of Jurassic Park #7 basically boils down to this - if you love it when dinosaurs attack, and that's all that matters, then it's three stars. If you're over it, then it's a two.

The plots, characters and contrivances this time around see a team led by gun-for-hire Zora Bennett (Johansson) and palaeontologist Dr Henry Loomis (Bailey) heading to one of the islands formerly used to clone dinosaurs to recover DNA samples from three of the biggest beasts, at the behest of a pharmaceutical company led by Martin Krebs (Friend).

Along the way they stumble upon a family on a yacht trip in need of help, and a couple of dino mutants that definitely didn't exist 66 million years ago.

The biggest problem with these movies isn't the dinos, but the people. The first third of Rebirth grinds, most notably in a scene where Johansson and Ali talk about their pasts and their problems. It feels forced and slows the film. Worst of all, it feels like a scene written into the film to accommodate the two A-list stars attached to the project.

And perhaps this gets to the issue here. Having Johansson and Ali as the surprisingly lovely and charming mercenaries means they have to be front and centre as the protagonists. But the whole thing would be better if told from the perspective of the family. It would have increased the intrigue and mystery, and added a layer beyond the film's plot of "find dinosaur, extract sample, go home". It also would have made the film about half an hour shorter.

Instead the low stakes of the mercenaries' mission overwhelms the more interesting tale of survival,  and strips the film of much of its potential tension. Fortunately the meh moments are punctuated by dinosaurs doing what dinosaurs do best.

There are a couple of great sequences here, most notably a raft ride near a T-Rex that's straight out of Michael Crichton's original novel. It's heart-in-mouth stuff. The opening scene, with its mist-shrouded Big Bad running amok, is also great, harkening back to the horror-tinged openings of the first two films, while a cliffside encounter with a Quetzalcoatlus and a surprisingly funny yet tense cameo from an old dino fave are also very welcome.

The incredible thing is that even though this is among the worst of the Jurassic Park movies, it's still okay. Rebirth is enjoyable despite its familiarity. It's formulaic and frustrating, but you're here to see some dino action, and on that point it never fails to deliver.