“Jurassic World: Rebirth” starts as a sense of an extension from the latest incarnation of recent films, but allows the narrative to be quite simple in execution that enables the range of viewer availability accessible from the general audience to the hardcore fan, as the attachment of a new trio led by the talents of Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey restores a bit of the timeless Spielberg splendor.

As director Gareth Edwards mostly succeeds in channeling the abrupt carnage even though a bit diminished, due to the film’s slow start and muddled divergent narrative.

One can still note there’s a lot of summer blockbuster enjoyment to be desired and retained bursting from the seams, as the realistic on-set location and shooting offer a warm and smoky jungle setting from the lens of cinematographer John Mathieson, reminiscent of the dangers and allure of the past, which as the series advanced slowly let deteriorate and wither due to the inclusion of visual slop, rescinding the glint of what once made the franchise shine.

Though with Edwards behind the camera, his touch and visual prowess are on full display while relying heavily on the value of horror and suspense pushing through simple and contrived plot thematics.

It is redeemed by the inclusion of the Cinemark D-Box interactive seats, which left me speechless and jostled from the impact of the rollercoaster-like experience.

The roar of the beasts tossed me in every direction possible, to the scorn of fear from the inserted mercenaries being dino food.

All while my audience sucked down their sodas and munched on their popcorn to the triumphant melody of human destruction taking center stage from composer Alexandre Desplat.

He instilled a sense of Greek tragedy with moments of isolationistic irony, along with the allure of the spirit of what keeps the film industry and the sense of escape forever at work. 

If honest, I feel my biggest gripe with the film was the three-layered act being fine as it was a straightforward societal commentary about the dangers of corporate greed trying to jump on the next technological evolution left out in the open.

This is juxtaposed to the decline of when the next shiny fixation or highlight fades into obscurity, which the lingering question of morality is raised quite a bit through the motivations of the ‘villain’ Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend).

Martin Krebs is the run-of-the-mill and walking cliché-rich antagonist looking to strike it big and reap all the benefits.

He enlists the service of covert agent Zora Bennett (Johansson) and Duncan Kincaid (Ali), who do a fairly decent job as mercenaries.

However, at times, I was left confused with the backstory exposition of a previous job or trying to get out of the life with this opportunity being presented as the “Last Job.”

This turns out to be a suicide mission trope commonly used and noticed.

Still, as the film progresses, a sense of depth and growth does begin to manifest, leading to enjoyable moments of comedic relief and the tone of levity along with the frequent rushes of adrenaline-filled action, which felt replicated from a plethora of past Spielberg timeless classics such as ‘Jaws’ and various earlier ‘Jurassic Park’ films. 

I do confess I did enjoy the chemistry from the main cast, especially with Bailey feeling the most fleshed out at moments, and his arc of going from a decaying museum curator as the flint of dinosaurs now losing traction, and the purpose of his exhibit being shut down offers a point of certain positions mattering, and how they pull themselves back up and keep going.

I enjoyed the creativity and childlike inclinations of seeing dinosaurs out in the world as a driving force, along with the push and pull of feeling he’s part of the unit, and if you pay attention, a little simple Easter egg, establishing a strand to the original trilogy can be heard.

For a time, it feels like the script, which was penned by David Koepp, who has ties to the original, is losing traction.

And it’s straightforward but then goes into a completely different and odd direction, as the inclusion of a side story family that was longing for survival, is brought forth led by actor Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, who played a distraught father named Reuben Delgado stuck with his two daughters, Teresa Delgado (Luna Blaise) and his youngest, Isabella(Audrina Miranda) and the out-of-place boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono) which comes out of place, but I admit I feel that arc was the beating heart of the film, acting as the driving force of the audience.

Every time the family graced the screen, you could sense the tension, from the tired fear of a father losing his daughter blinded by jealousy, reinforced with impending realization of never returning home, and being stuck shipwrecked in an ocean of human hypocrisy.

As when both stories eventually link up, the divergent question of morals is raised and pushed against the restrictive ceilings of surpassing the limits in place, and asking if humanity went too far with the choice made in the events of the first film by Dr. Hammond, and now the spoils of hubris have left the world forever changed. I feel a line by Bailey earlier in the film perfectly encapsulates the failure as a whole. 

From there, Edwards and Koepp drag out the script by showing a split in narrative, and the film continues to lose its focus. However, it is redeemed by the inclusion of dramatic and tension-driven scenes that left the audience grasping for fear. The series favorite T-Rex emerges from slumber for one of the best scenes in my opinion from the film.

“The Raft,” which I was told is quite and closely accurate to the source material from the book, then leads the way for various callbacks from the series to emerge. These callbacks get a new coat of Edwards’ visual paint and color grading, which gives the film a sense of identity.

And you are left asking what set of characters do I empathize with and essentially gravitate to and root for? Other stand-out moments were the on-sea portions with the sense of being hunted and stalked, the prologue, and a majority of the final act that left me feeling like a cinematic revival of nostalgia being pushed in front of the audience and saying, “You remember the original? Here’s new dinos.”

And I feel that’s the problem with the current landscape of films, lacking the core identity to create something new instead of finding ways to retread and recreate exact dioramas of the timeless masterpieces. As new characters emerge as just different actors with identical tropes tossed into the sandbox, running dry with splendor and enjoyment. 

I hope after reading you can understand the main question from this review and how it was centered around the main thesis: “do we need another Jurassic Park film?”

Honestly, in all confession, I admit that the latest reboot, or expansive sequel, was a ton of fun but also felt that the series is reaching its end.

With that said, many flocked to the theater, and from the expressive value of a standing ovation and a cacophony of synchronized clapping, one could note that my audience left feeling satisfied after the latest adaptive journey of bringing dinosaurs into a world lost of modern-day reality, and the essence of corporate greed lingering in the air.

However, with box office expectations seeing the film is set to have a generous payout due to the Independence Day holiday weekend, one could note that Universal is already planning and prepping that potential sequel, though the ending and the film offer a sense of conclusion that does a great job of telling the story being told.

Begging to ask the question, is “Jurassic World: Rebirth” a form of evolution for the series or a point-instilled nostalgia-baited repetition?

All about ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’

A synopsis for the film reads: A new era is born. This summer, three years after the “Jurassic World” trilogy concluded with each film surpassing $1 billion at the global box office, the enduring Jurassic series evolves in an ingenious new ex direction with Jurassic World Rebirth.

Anchored by iconic action superstar Scarlett Johansson, Emmy and SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey, and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, this action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind.

Also starring acclaimed international stars Rupert Friend and Manuel García-Rulfo, the film is directed by dynamic visualist Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.

Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea, and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

Academy Award nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.