Five years post-Jurassic World: Dominion (2022), an expedition braves isolated equatorial regions to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric creatures for a groundbreaking medical breakthrough.
Chuck says:
Do we need another “Jurassic Park” movie? I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who’d reply in the affirmative to that question, that is other than the executives at Universal Pictures. While the studio has had their share of misses at the box office over the last year, one would think the success of “Despicable Me 4,” “Twisters,” “The Wild Robot” and “Wicked” would have left them in relatively good shape. But what do I know? They count their beans in a unique way in Tinsel Town, so if the suits at Universal feel dinosaurs must roam the Earth again, so be it.
I don’t think I’m alone in bringing low expectations to the seventh entry in the series. I mean, I like seeing people getting eaten by dinos as much as the next guy, but how many variations on that theme can there be? Yet, going in with a low bar can have its advantages and wouldn’t you know it, I ended up liking “Jurassic World: Rebirth” much more than I thought I would.
To be sure it covers familiar ground, so much so I swear I saw Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum’s footprints at one point. Yet despite that, director Gareth Edwards, the “Godzilla” director returning to familiar ground after his disastrous “The Creator,” manages to bring enough imagination and flair to do two things I no longer thought possible. The dinosaurs on parade are frightening, while they also inspire a sense of awe, both feelings missing from the last two entries.
As Ben Franklin once said, “Familiarity breeds contempt,” and that applies to the dinosaurs that have become commonplace in the world of “Rebirth.” What was once unique, has become old hat. Hey, if you’ve seen one brontosaurus you’ve seen them all. And while their popularity as a tourist attraction has faded, they do still serve a purpose. Seems their DNA can be used to help cure cancer, yet only the genetic material from the largest species proves effective.
Enter Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), a rep from an evil pharmaceutical company (Is there any other kind?) who has a proposition for mercenaries Zora Bennett and Duncan Kincaid (Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali, respectively). Millions will be theirs if they escort expert paleontologist Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) to a remote island near the equator where the largest of the sea, land and flying dinosaurs exist. All they have to do is keep him alive while he gets samples from one of each variety and return him to the States, alive. A walk in the park if there ever was one.
Well, of course, it’s not and after a mishap at sea, they end up on an island with a dark past. It’s the location of a lab where hybrid dinosaurs were being bred to lure back audiences. Things went sideways and the bigger and badder versions of the T-Rex and other maneaters were left to fend for themselves. You can almost hear the dinner bell ring when Bennett and her crew step ashore.
The hunters soon find themselves the hunted, as their expedition quickly goes south. As soon as the action shifts to the island location, Edwards shows his hand. The dinosaurs are hiding in plain sight, the patterns of their skin serving as camouflage. A serene moment becomes a nightmare when what you thought was a rock is suddenly chomping on a character whose name you weren’t meant to remember. It’s an effective approach that, while used repeatedly, never loses its impact.
Yet, what does stall the film is its fractured plot. Before being stranded, Kincaid orders his ship to pick up a family from a crippled boat after hearing their SOS. The pleasure cruise Rueben (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), his daughters Teresa and Isabella (Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda) and the elder girl’s boyfriend, Xavier (David Iacono) is ruined when their vessel is sideswiped by a whale-like dino. While all seems well when they’re rescued, the two groups are separated when they reach land.
The script by David Koepp then alternates between the travails of the mercenary group and that of the beleaguered family which ultimately puts a strain on the story. As a result, the movie runs in fits and starts, threatening to stall during its prolonged third act.
Yet, Edwards manages to deliver the sort of thrills the franchise has become known for. A sequence in which Teresa must sneak an inflatable raft past a sleeping T-Rex is a hoot, while a scene in which Bennett and Loomis invade a pterodactyl nest steadily progresses to nail-biting status. Other jolts occur throughout and while this is all so familiar, there’s no question Edwards makes these moments effective.
For some, that will be enough. Others will complain that “Rebirth” offers up nothing new and is a simple cash grab. They’re not wrong but when a movie makes me literally leap out of my seat (so embarrassing) one moment and leaves me awestruck the next, it must be doing something right.
3 Stars
