REVIEW #448 Jurassic World: Rebirth

Jurassic World Rebirth

Synopsis

Zora Bennett leads a team into the deadliest place on earth, in pursuit of genetic DNA that could be the key to the biggest medical breakthrough in decades.

My Review

The latest instalment in the Jurassic franchise is a little bitter sweet for me. On one hand we have an amazing lead cast, consisting of Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey, huge names that bring an infectious dynamic to the film and you can’t help but love each of their characters! On the other hand, it sadly marks the moment where the franchise has never felt more stagnant and redundant of fresh ideas. Dominion left this universe in a pretty interesting place, with Dinosaurs being reintegrated into society, coinciding with humans in a now unpredictable world. But Rebirth unfortunately, despite being a continuation, seems to undo all of that lore within the first half an hour, reverting these creatures back to the rare island inhabiters. That choice from the writers backed Director Gareth Edward’s into a corner and forced a rather repetitive narrative, heavily reliant on the mutation aspect of the story to provide something new. But I’ll be honest, I just wanted the good old fashioned, deadly velociraptors back the entire time!

Despite the repetitive feel of the storyline, I still had fun with the film, with captivating sequences and scenes filmed on location which looked great too. That being said, the CGI was a little hit and miss though, the originals looked amazing because they blended CGI with animatronics, but as we scale up the dinosaurs, that becomes impossible and modern movies suffer because of it. The premise itself is actually a pretty realistic one, big pharmaceutical companies hiring mercenaries to retrieve samples that could revolutionise the medical industry. But there are a few forced plot points that just weren’t necessary! The Delgado family didn’t need to be there, these waters were international no go zones, Zora had to hire specialist to get her team in the area unseen. Yet they thought it was a good idea that a civilian man would take his daughters, sail across the globe and enter those very waters… The entire sub plot was forced, all to try and flex a kid into the story to up the stakes and replicate the formula of its predecessors. Don’t get me started on the inclusion of Dolores the dinosaur, serving no purpose to the story beyond merchandise sales.

To conclude, the best parts of Rebirth were when they dived into traditional horror tropes and if I’m being honest, an R rated horror within the Jurassic Park universe is what we need most. Forget all of this forced humour that has plagued big blockbusters since the success of Marvel and go all out for a huge tonal shift that can provide a freshness to a stagnant franchise! Sure, these films will always create a fun viewing, but we can only handle so many recycled stories before the box office starts to reflect audience satisfaction. So if the narrative is inherently repetitive, then ensure the genre isn’t! With a cast like this and opening weekend breaking $300m, it won’t be the last time we see these characters and hopefully they have a better script the second time round.

My Rating: 6 out of 10

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Film Review Club