Dinos, Mutants, and Mayhem: Jurassic Park Gets Its Bite Back

I have to be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of the Jurassic franchise. Sure, I love the original Jurassic Park, and I think dinosaurs are awesome, but the sequels (including the mostly well-received Jurassic World) simply don’t do it for me. So when I heard that a seventh film was in the works, I didn’t give it much thought. I figured it would just be another big dino-snore, but that all changed when I learned who would be directing the movie. It was the man behind the 2014 Godzilla, the underseen 2010 kaiju gem Monsters, and the more human-sized sci-fi flicks Rogue One and The Creator, and he lent the project instant credibility. I’ll see anything this guy does, so he single-handedly earned Jurassic World Rebirth a spot on my must-watch list.

Jurassic World Rebirth was directed by Gareth Edwards, and it stars Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Mirand, and Ed Skrein. If you remember from the last Jurassic World film, dinosaurs have spread beyond the park into the human world, but now, several years later, they’ve almost all died off again. The modern atmosphere simply won’t sustain these ancient creatures, so aside from a few holdouts, they’re limited to a handful of tropical locales around the equator.

In this new reality, a pharmaceutical company needs to get samples of dinosaur tissue to finish a drug they’re working on, so they recruit a team to travel to a quarantined island where dinosaurs still roam. Along the way, these intrepid mercenaries encounter a shipwrecked civilian family who for some reason have ventured near this forbidden area, and as I’m sure you can guess, things get more than a little hairy. The creatures on that island prove far more dangerous than our protagonists anticipated, so they soon find themselves in a fight for their very survival.

I’d be lying if I told you that Jurassic World Rebirth was a deep, complex, or thematically rich story. It’s not. In fact, there’s a lot to dislike about this movie. Most notably, the shipwrecked civilians are completely unnecessary. The film would’ve been exactly the same without them, so it almost feels like the studio execs required the filmmakers to awkwardly shoehorn these people into the narrative.

Along similar lines, none of the characters have any real depth to them. At best, they just have a single, all-encompassing characteristic that defines who they are, and some of the smaller characters don’t even get that. For instance, there’s the scientist, the evil corporate guy, and the dad, and none of them are fleshed out beyond those one-phrase or one-word descriptions.

The plot is also just as straightforward as it sounds, so Jurassic World Rebirth stands or falls almost entirely on the strength of its dino action. And on that count, the film is an absolute blast. It’s basically the classic Skull Island template transposed into the Jurassic universe, so everywhere the characters turn, they’re sure to find a new prehistoric threat that just might send them to an early grave.

Granted, it’s not the most original idea in the world, but director Gareth Edwards executes it so skillfully that audiences looking for a good time won’t care how derivative it is. These creatures are brought to life with beautifully realistic CGI, and when they go on the attack, the tension ratchets up to eleven. Even when they’re not actively terrorizing the humans who’ve invaded their space, the mere threat of their presence is enough to keep you on your toes, so if you’re a fan of monsters, you’re going to get your money’s worth.

And when I say monsters, I mean monsters. Sure, we see a couple of normal dinosaurs, like a T-Rex and a Mososaurus, but we also get some hybrids that just might haunt your nightmares. See, this island is home to all the failed experiments that never made it into the park, so the filmmakers got to create a couple of unique monstrosities never before seen on the big screen. These terrifying newcomers help keep an otherwise stale franchise unexpectedly fresh, so if we get more Jurassic movies, I hope Universal finds a way to incorporate these awesome mutants into future installments.

Last but not least, I have to say a few words about the performances. I mentioned earlier that Jurassic World Rebirth stands or falls almost entirely on the strength of its dino action, and here’s where that “almost” comes into play. The acting in this film is pretty good, and the three lead stars–Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey–are especially on their game. They manage to make their characters surprisingly likable despite being incredibly thin, so you actually care about them when things start to go south.

To be fair, that still doesn’t make for a very profound or meaningful experience, so I can’t say that Jurassic World Rebirth is one of the best films of the year. It’s just a fun time at the theater, and for some viewers, that’s not going to be enough. But if you enjoy classic creature features, I recommend checking this movie out. The combination of entertaining characters and excellent dino action is sure to please fans of that time-honored cinematic blueprint, so if you ask me, this is the best Jurassic film since the original.