As a huge fan of the JURASSIC PARK franchise, I am sad to report that JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH is one of the most underwhelming installments yet. And that says a lot coming from me, whose idea of home decor consists of a JURASSIC PARK movie poster displayed prominently on my living room wall. So it should be no surprise that REBIRTH was one of my most anticipated films of the year. But unfortunately, all of that excitement came to a screeching halt soon into the film. I found myself bored for the first hour, and disappointed throughout due to the underdeveloped characters, mediocre CGI, and a disjointed plot that made it feel like two different movies. I may be biased, but I was most upset by the lack of velociraptors, which are the best parts of any JURASSIC PARK movie, and are at best a cameo in this one.
Following the events of JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION, the earth’s environment has become largely inhospitable for the dinosaurs. The animals are dying in the world’s amusement parks, and are only able to thrive in tropical environments near the equator. Meanwhile, the Parker-Genix pharmaceutical company has realized they may be able to cure heart disease, saving millions of lives (and of course getting them trillions of dollars), through dinosaur DNA. The only problem is, to get the DNA, they need a team to go to a forbidden research island in the Atlantic Ocean, where InGen experimented on dinosaurs before they were “park ready.”
Parker-Genix representative Martin (Rupert Friend) assembles a team to get to the island—including ex-special forces operative Zora (Scarlett Johansson), her teammate Duncan (Mahershala Ali), and paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey). Their mission is to acquire DNA from the three largest dinosaur breeds on the earth, sea, and air. But of course, nothing goes to plan when the team veers off course to rescue a shipwrecked family, who were attacked by some of the dinosaurs inhabiting the island. When those same dinosaurs also attack the team’s ship, they quickly realize just how treacherous this mission is going to be. Were their hefty paychecks worth their lives?
Even those that may like REBIRTH more than me will have to admit that the first hour of the film is a slog and the overall story is a bit… stale. The plot unnecessarily drags out the reason why they are going back to the island and then takes way too long to finally assemble the team. Then, the film takes a weird turn by almost creating two separate movies. In one section, you have the family trying to get rescued, which I felt was the heart of the movie and the characters I semi-cared about surviving. And in the other section you have the team trying to collect all of the DNA for the pharmaceutical research. This bifurcation, which lasts a majority of the film, separates the sentimentality and heart of the movie from the fun, adventure element… and any JURASSIC PARK movie does best when those elements are together.
Additionally, the script treats each character as one-dimensional stereotypes. You have the tough heroine, the dweeby scientist, the money-hungry villain, and then a hapless family thrown in the middle of the action. The characters don’t get much more development past that. So it’s not really surprising that you won’t really care whether they live or die. Oddly, Xavier, the most annoying character in the entire film is the only one that is given any sort of arc, and even that was a stretch.
JURASSIC PARK is at its best when you are rooting for the dinosaurs AND the humans. You’re rooting for Dr. Grant to save Tim from the T-Rex, while also cheering when the T-Rex eats the evil InGen lawyer as he hides in the toilet. The franchise itself has been a celebration of the beauty of the animal/dinosaur kingdom and a criticism of what happens when man tries to take control. And while REBIRTH shows one side of the coin in the dangers of human interference creating mutant dinosaurs, we don’t get to enjoy the beauty of the dinosaurs. There are a few moments when you may cheer for the dinosaurs giving the bad guys their comeuppance, but most of the movie is focused on the scariness of the mutant dinosaur monsters.
Nothing about this story made it feel like a REBIRTH for the JURASSIC PARK franchise… if that is what was intended. It’s unfortunate that even with an amazing director like Gareth Edwards at the helm and a stellar cast, it is missing the spark of the movies that came before. Call me old school, but I would trade mutant dinosaurs any day for some more raptor content and characters I actually care about.
My Review: C-
