Jurassic World Rebirth Review: Edge of Extinction

The Jurassic Park franchise has struggled critically since the original Jurassic Park trilogy. Hell, for many, the franchise had a hard time after the first original film. I enjoyed the original trilogy and I also quite liked the first Jurassic World film with Chris Pratt. I loved dinosaurs since I was a kid and was hoping the franchise could get back into shape with Jurassic World Rebirth. 

What had me so excited for this new entry was that it would involve new characters with a new director. Gareth Edwards was behind the camera this time. His work on the 2014 Godzilla film gave me confidence that he could make the dinosaurs scary again. And while he shows glimmers of it, the film is held back in various areas.

This Jurassic World Rebirth review will be spoiler-free. 

Jurassic World Rebirth is in theaters now.

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Story – Dino Cure

The plot starts interesting enough. Zora (Scarlett Johansson) and Duncan (Mahershala Ali) are recruited by Martin (Rupert Friend) to extract DNA from three different dinosaurs in a region long abandoned. Martin’s employer believes that this DNA can unlock breakthrough cures. While I’d like to say this is the premise of the movie, it isn’t the only one. Along the way, Zora and Duncan come across a stranded family on the ocean. This family feels like a part of a different movie with their own background and goal. They even split up later on.

While the two different stories mushed into one felt a bit odd, what really dragged the film down was how uneventful everything seemed to be. Yes, events did occur that moved the plot along, but there was nothing here I couldn’t predict, nothing I hadn’t seen before in previous films, and no characters to really care for. I’m sad that this film isn’t rated R as well. I think having the dinosaurs kill people by essentially swallowing them and then leaving is so boring. I didn’t see a character fight and somewhat survive with wounds. No. I didn’t even see characters bleed in this movie. 

The blood of these creatures can be used to create cures

I felt no tension, as hard as the film tried to force it. I have no idea why, but all the dinosaurs in this movie are able to go around sneakily. T-Rex? He is there one second, and then he disappears the next second. There is another dinosaur stomping around and characters in the film don’t notice it. Several times, this happened. It was so lazy, I couldn’t help but get bored.

Characters and Performances – Bland Creatures

The characters in this film didn’t help the story either. There was some sort of attempt made with Zora and Duncan, but they didn’t ultimately amount to anything. Apart from one or two scenes that show you these two knowing each other and their history, you don’t get anything else. I felt as though the writers could have gone further here to have us care about their actions and give us insight as to why they want to do this. It basically boils down to just money.

Duncan was the most likable character in the group.

That is not to blame the actors either. I think they did the best they could with the material that they had. Scarlett comes across as a bit sarcastic and bubbly, which works in some situations but becomes repetitive by the end. The family had an interesting dynamic and they tried to make you like a really annoying character, but I just don’t see how the character got to that point. I also didn’t understand some choices the characters to do things that they did. The daughter, for example, goes ahead of the family in order to retrieve something. I’m not sure why she was chosen to do that instead of another character.

Pacing and Editing

Another aspect of the film that suffered was the pacing. Jurassic World Rebirth is 2 hours and 14 minutes long, and you feel it. The initial premise of the film is interesting, but it just takes too long to actually get going. Characters being introduced and recruited take too much of the beginning portion of the film. And because there are two casts, we get introduced a second time to another set of characters. 

The pacing of the film does pick up a bit after they arrive on the island. It isn’t perfect due to a lack of suspense and characters we don’t really care about. Luckily the editing keeps things interesting. Encounters with the dinosaurs often feel grand due to the way they’re edited and portrayed. Gareth Edwards does a great job of scaling these creatures and having them feel larger than life.

It honestly took too long to arrive at this point

One technique he uses a few times is showing two different perspectives of the same scene. One scene shows a dinosaur doing something in one area, and another shows a group of characters in another. The dinosaur is not visible to the characters, but we, as the audience, know that the dinosaur is further away. Or at least we think. Gareth edits the scenes as though they’re not taking place at the same time. The dinosaur has already moved and potentially has put someone or something in its mouth without us seeing it happen. We just see the aftermath. It’s an effective tactic even if it’s repeated several times.

Cinematography and Sound – Classic 

There is an intentional problem with the sound that bothered me. I mentioned it briefly before, but dinosaurs are silent in this movie. There is a giant t-rex that characters can’t see or hear apparently. It’s meant to be that way to add suspense but only took me out of the scene when it happened.

Jurassic World Rebirth has, similar to previous installments, access to the original score by John Williams. It’s not a complete replication of it, though. Parts of it play alongside Rebirth‘s own score. It works for the most part as one might expect, adding a sense of adventure and wonder to the island the characters traverse.

Luckily the mother isn’t around

Speaking of the island, Gareth not only made the dinosaurs feel big, but he made the island and environment feel that way too. They don’t feel as though they’re made for humans and seeing characters get lost in this lush and vibrant world brought back great memories of the original film. I wish more time was spent exploring this island and seeing the dinosaurs. I feel like there weren’t enough dinosaurs, and that’s sad to say for this franchise.

Are you planning to see this movie? Have you already seen it? Do you agree with this review for Jurassic World Rebirth? Let us know!