REVIEW: "Jurassic World: Rebirth"

Genre: Drama; Sci-fi; Adventure; Horror

Director: Garreth Edwards

Writer: David Koepp

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Manuel García-Rulfo, Rupert Friend, Luna Blaise, David Iacono and Audrina Miranda

Jurassic World: Rebirth doesn't invent the wheel nor add a new idea to the billion dollar franchise, but it does feel a "back to basics" and that's... quite positive, actually. It's a true popcorn movie: a simple narrative, some thrilling scenes, a charismatic cast and great visual effects - and that's exactly the description of the ideal Summer blockbuster movie. Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it some landmark movie in the franchise? Time will tell. Is it good? Yes!

The new Jurassic World installment starts by presenting a new idea that will affect future movies (if writers don't find a way to ignore it): dinosaurs can't survive the Earth's atmosphere outside the equatorial zones and they are dying everywhere else. That being said, a groundbreaking scientific and pharmaceutical theory puts a team in a quest for living DNA material from the three biggest specimens that ever walked the Earth, swam the sea or flew the air as they end up in a Island and their paths meet the Delgados who were crossing seas on a family trip. In the island, they hunt dinossaur DNA and dinossaurs hunt them. So... something in the same vein as The Lost World and Jurassic Park III! 

Considering the lack of plot originality and the thin dialogue (from an uninspired David Koepp), Garreth  Edwards finds himself in the hard task of making it work - and he does! What Rebirth lacks in writing, Edwards delivered a really well-executed blockbuster that feature 3 of the most iconic scenes of 2025 in movies so far - the T-Rex raft scene; the Mosasaurus hunt in the open sea; and the titanosaurus' reveal in the grass field - which feels almost feel like a miracle. Also, the D-Rex was also a really scary element and I wish they have had it more screen time in order to terrorize both characters and audiences. Still, the audience can see this movie was directed with some sense of responsability and respect for the original film and its director as you can spot some very direct references to Jaws, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and even E.T. (Audrina Miranda's character bounds with an aquilops she then names Dolores).

Something that also works is the ensemble cast. It's almost criminal the magnetic talented trio of leads (Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali) is given so little to display their acting chops, but they seem to do their best with what they have. Mahershala Ali should have more room to explore Kincade's feeling of melancholy and grief and so should Johansson's Zora Bennett. Jonathan Bailey has the best character and he does deliver the best acting from the three, but this film truly belongs to Johansson as she is shot as a true movie star and commands the screen as a true movie star as she plays Zora as a "straight to business" and strong team leader with a good heart.

Technically, Jurassic World: Rebirth is quite impressive in some departments, specially the visual effects. In fact, I consider Rebirth to feature the best visuals (and the best looking dinos) since the classic Jurassic Park (1993) as the team perfectly combines pratical effects and CGI and they seem to be careful to keep the beautiful cinematograhy work (Rebirth is actually beautifully shot with great color grading, courtesy of the great John Mathieson). The sound department is also impressive as it emerged me fully in the adventure. Alexandre Desplat's score delivers some emotional punch with some new nuances and sounds, but its core seems to rely in John Williams'  iconic score for the first installment.

So, Jurassic World: Rebirth feels more like a restoration of the source code of the original trilogy and it tries to compensate the lack of originality with the nostalgia factor and good execution, with some great scenes and amazing visuals. Those who expected some new ideas will be disappointed for sure. Those who look for a big Summer blockbuster will be fully satisfied.

Rating: 7 / 10

Oscar potential categories:

• Best Original Score
• Best Sound
• Best Visual Effects