It’s both impressive and mildly confounding that the Jurassic franchise has managed to remain a box office juggernaut for over thirty years. No matter how much the sequels get knocked for diminishing returns, each new installment still finds an audience eager to watch humans run from dinosaurs. Jurassic World Rebirth is the latest and seventh entry in the series, and in many ways, it doubles as a response to the most common criticisms of the previous trilogy. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It doesn’t move the franchise forward in any particularly new direction. But what it does do is take a step back, tighten its focus, and deliver the kind of tense, tactile dino-thrills that fans have been missing. That may not be enough for everyone, but this particular prehistoric jungle adventure delivers the goods more often than not.
A direct sequel to 2022’s Dominion yet also a spiritual legacy sequel to the original 1993 Jurassic Park, Rebirth ditches most of the lore and characters from the World trilogy and instead takes a back-to-basics approach. Gone are the sprawling global consequences of dinosaurs unleashed upon civilization (a concept the previous trilogy never really knew what to do with anyway). In its place is a more contained, classically structured adventure that leans into the survival horror roots of the franchise and dares to be more tangible and grounded in its filmmaking - thanks in large part to director Gareth Edwards.
Edwards, who’s no stranger to large-scale franchise filmmaking (Godzilla, Rogue One), brings a sorely needed sense of scale and naturalism to this world. His collaboration with original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, along with Steven Spielberg himself, yields a film that looks and feels more like the original trilogy than anything in the World era. The decision to shoot predominately on location and on 35mm film with John Mathieson (Gladiator, Logan) behind the camera pays off immediately - the film is simply stunning to look at from beginning to end. There’s grit, texture, and a lived-in quality to both its jungle-set and ocean-set sequences that make the dinosaurs and their environment feel real again.
And speaking of dinosaurs, yes, the Spinosaurus is back (among other fun dino species and designs), and that alone earns Rebirth some goodwill - at least in my heart. It’s been my favorite dino ever since Jurassic Park III, which remains my personal favorite of the sequels. That film’s straightforward structure and lean runtime have a clear influence here. Rebirth shares its spirit in more ways than one - it understands that you don’t need a convoluted web of subplots to make a dinosaur thriller work. Just give us a mission, a likeable enough team, and several impossible setpieces. The rest will follow.
The plot this time around is built around a simple but effective hook: the team must retrieve DNA samples from three of the largest dinosaur species - one on land, one in the sea, and one in the air. It’s classic “mission gone awry” stuff, and as always, everything that can go wrong does, including the team being caught up in the rescue of the shipwrecked Delgado family led by patriarch Reuben (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo). Mahershala Ali plays Duncan, the veteran friend with a boat willing to help out with the mosasaur sequence (one of the film’s high points), while Jonathan Bailey plays wide-eyed paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis, who truly loves and respects these animals. Scarlett Johansson plays Zora, a resourceful spec ops agent with a chipper attitude and a dark past and perhaps the most fully realized character in the film. Together with a handful of expendable side characters (whose fates are pretty telegraphed from the start), the ensemble sells just enough humanity to keep the stakes engaging.
And while Rebirth is ultimately more interested in delivering spectacle than introspection, it still finds some space for ideas. The notion of certain species holding cures or data lost forever once they’re gone is a compelling undercurrent. The introduction of the Distortus Rex, a mangled, genetically spliced creature that is less weapon and more tragedy, is a welcome evolution of the franchise’s “hybrid dinosaur” concept. It’s the opposite of the Indominus - less cool, more pitiful. A Frankenstein’s monster of ancient biology and corporate hubris. If only it had a more substantial relation to the story.
But let’s be honest: nobody’s showing up to Jurassic World Rebirth expecting subtle character arcs or profound philosophical commentary. They’re here for the dinosaurs. And on that front, the movie delivers. The opening sequences- involving a traffic jam, a dying dino, and a Godzilla-esque sense of dread - sets the tone beautifully. The first big action setpiece involving the mosasaurus is gripping, stylish, and driven by a booming, triumphant score from Alexandre Desplat - one of the few times the composer is able to get out of the shadow of original music mastermind John Williams. Another highlight includes a river raft sequence featuring a sleeping T. rex, executed with excellent tension and timing. These are the kinds of inspired, kinetic scenes that remind you why this series has endured.
Unfortunately, the film isn’t without some of the same problems that have plagued the franchise. The humor, for one, is painfully flat. Outside of a well-timed pee joke (sadly the biggest laugh in the theater), most of the comedic beats fall completely flat. The script also fumbles its momentum in the middle stretch, where a few sequences - like a recycled kitchen standoff from the original - feel far too familiar and awkwardly placed. The pacing dips slightly, even though the film is shorter than many of its predecessors.
But what Rebirth gets right more often than not is tone. There’s a sense of awe, adventure and danger here that had mostly been missing from the last few entries. When a peaceful long-necked dino wanders through a field and brings the characters to a halt, you feel the wonder. When a young child finds themselves in danger on a capsized boat, you feel the tension. These moments work. The final act, though predictable in structure (as always, we end with a scarred group flying home, forever changed), goes for broke in all the ways it should. It hits all the expected beats, but with just enough style and conviction to make them land.
Will it be enough for everyone? Probably not. There’s an undeniable vapidness to Rebirth in terms of deeper character development and thematic depth. It plays things a little too safe and familiar to be called bold, and the mileage for longtime fans will vary depending on how much they’re willing to forgive predictability in exchange for spectacle. But for me, the balance works. The spectacle is the draw here, and when it’s done this well - when the action sings, when the scale overwhelms, when the dinosaurs actually feel like real creatures again - it’s hard not to be swept up in it.
In a world of reboots, remakes, and retreads, Rebirth doesn’t pretend to be the smartest or most innovative blockbuster of the summer. But it’s confident, competent, and often breathtaking in its execution. That may not be the most glowing endorsement, but for a franchise this deep in its run, “mission accomplished” feels like just enough.
'Jurassic World Rebirth' is now in theaters.
