Jurassic World Rebirth Movie Review: Mutates back to original form, but not in a spectacular fashion

The film refrains from committing the mistakes of its predecessors, but it also doesn't introduce anything earth-shattering or uncharted

Flirting with the idea of humans coexisting with dinosaurs in the modern civilisation, unaware of its dangers, was amusing, but the two trilogies spanning over three decades felt like a stretch. The Jurassic World trilogy did not live up to the first three films, which also grappled with innovative storytelling as the franchise expanded. Gareth Edwards' Jurassic World: Rebirth plays it safe by bringing back the joys of a dinosaur film, but falls short of making a case for a fifth film.

The film begins with InGen's corporate representative Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) hiring Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), Dr Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) and Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) for a classified operation: extracting genetic material from terrestrial, aquatic and avian dinosaurs in Ile Saint-Hubert, a former InGen research facility. The trio team up with the crew members Leclerc (Bechir Sylvain), Bobby Atwater (Ed Skrein) and Nina (Philippine Velge) on this precarious mission. The dinosaurs are going to be the obstacles; there's no doubt about that. How does the team, made up of individuals with personal interests, put up a front, whether they would, in the face of complete annihilation by the prehistoric creatures, form the core of Jurassic World: Rebirth.

True to its title, the film is indeed a rebirth of the franchise, not just with regards to the actors, the plot and world-building. The best decision made in the film is the bringing back of Jurassic Park writer David Koepp on board. The film exploits the man vs animal conflict concept introduced in Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993) to the fullest. The lukewarm response to Jurassic World (2015), Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) could be attributed to the departure from that core: vulnerable humans against the ruthless dinosaurs. The Jurassic World trilogy was not a spectacular re-entry for the time-lost monsters due to the reason that they were made powerless, tameable, and weaponised. The trilogy's major failing was the storyline that pitted good humans against evil humans in a battle to exert control over the primordial beasts, leaving them with no agency of their own, and relegating them to the background. Koepp helps the franchise shake-off its inertia by reinventing the idea of fragile humans being toyed with by the dinosaurs if they spot a breach in their territory.

Director: Gareth Edwards

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend

Set years after the events happened at Isla Nublar, Ile Saint-Hubert is both narratively and geographically distant from the former location. What forms a connection is the corporate firm InGen, which has been running operations at both sites and shifted operations totally to the Ile Saint-Hubert facility after the destruction of the one on Nublar. The introduction of a facility on a different island, run for the same purposes, serves as an apt setup for unleashing new dinosaurs that have undergone such mutations with the potential to wreak more havoc in more unthinkable ways. 

Characterisation was touch-and-go, as the internal conflict between the team members had the trappings of a subplot worth paying attention to. The group’s headspace was effectively established without consuming much time or many scenes. But the makers decide to introduce another picnicking family marooned to tag along with the crew following their rescue. The crew's response to the family illustrates who could be who and do what in dire situations. But this play was entirely possible within the team. The family of Reuben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Teresa Delgado (Luna Blaise), Isabella Delgado (Audrina Miranda), and David Iacono (Xavier Dobbs) merely occupy the screen and some screentime, adding less value to the narration. The scary scenes involving little Isabella do cause tension and drama, but Zora's team isn't in any way more equipped than the family. In a battle against a creature that is superior in strength and size to any human, the child-baiting to create a thrill seemed unnecessary.

This choice renders all the characters weak, preventing us from establishing an emotional connection with any of them. Neither the four primary characters nor the four other characters are explored sufficiently. If Jurassic World plans to expand, subsequent to Rebirth, the bad news is that all the characters blend into the background. Scarlett's Zora is the only role to have an arc. But it looks forced. She is this money-minded adventurer in one scene and, scenes later, wants to stop their samples from getting patented to prevent profiteering by one corporation. What brings this profound change in her? We are left waiting for answers, to no avail.

The film gainfully shifts to various terrains. Irrespective of the story, the Jurassic films would please visually. And even when the storytelling slumps, the visuals would compensate. However, stunning visuals in Rebirth aren't there for the sake of it, but the plot necessitates the protagonists to collect DNA samples from dinosaurs in the sea (Mosasaurus), land (Titanosaurus), and air (Quetzalcoatlus), making them delectable. Opportunities to place hurdles and provide ways for the characters to evade each of those are replete in this setup. The Mosasaurus sequence was breathtaking and is a nod to Spielberg's shark movie Jaws, which turns 50 this year. The same could be true about the climax, where some characters vainly try to escape the monsters. 

Jurassic World: Rebirth is a film that returns to the strengths of the original Jurassic Park film. It is refreshing not to see mercenaries and armed men subjugate this ancient creature. But that alone doesn't make a strong case for the continuity of this franchise. The film refrains from committing the mistakes of its predecessors, but it also doesn't introduce anything earth-shattering or uncharted. Both in this film and the films made earlier, the dinosaurs kill indiscriminately. They don't differentiate between good and bad humans; they just don't like humans trespassing into their territory. That's the message: let dinosaurs live peacefully in their habitat, Ile Saint-Hubert or Isla Nubar, free of humans.