Jurassic World: Rebirth is not a terrible movie. It’s just an unremarkable one. And in a franchise built on awe, wonder, and teeth the size of baseball bats, that’s a bigger problem than it sounds.
This latest dino-flick, directed by Gareth Edwards and featuring a powerhouse cast including Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali, aims to reboot the series with fresh blood, a darker tone, and, of course, more genetically resurrected monsters. It delivers scale. It delivers nostalgia. But by the end, it doesn’t deliver anything new.
The plot? A familiar stew of corporate greed, rogue science, and a ticking clock. A new pharmaceutical giant has bioengineered a mutated dinosaur strand, and a team of reluctant heroes is roped into recovering stolen DNA across three continents. There’s a jungle sequence, a snowy mountain escape, a flooded ruin. The pacing is brisk, the budget is visible, and the set pieces are technically solid.
But strip away the visual sheen, and it’s clear we’re watching a greatest-hits compilation. The story hits every beat you’d expect: ominous lab, wide-eyed child, double-crossing CEO, and one big moral monologue about man versus nature. There’s no tension because we’ve seen this all before.
Scarlett Johansson brings some steel and emotional heft as Zora Bennett, a paleovirologist with a haunted past. Mahershala Ali is magnetic, but woefully underused. Jonathan Bailey, playing a tech-savvy tracker, adds some spark but feels like he wandered in from a better-written movie. Together, they form the expected oddball team, reluctant allies forced into impossible situations.
But despite the star wattage, the dialogue rarely rises above exposition. Characters exist to move the plot forward, not to deepen the story. There’s no real sense of transformation or risk. They enter the jungle with secrets and leave with fewer, but no one’s changed meaningfully. The dinosaurs have more personality.
Visually, the film shines. Gareth Edwards brings scale, weight, and clarity to the dino sequences. There’s a standout underwater scene involving a Mosasaurus and a mangled submarine that’s genuinely tense. A night-time standoff in the rain channels the original Jurassic Park’s suspense, almost scene for scene. You can feel the reverence for Spielberg’s original vision, and that’s both a strength and a weakness.
Because while the movie reveres its roots, it never branches out. Every big moment feels like it was storyboarded in a corporate meeting. “We need a jungle chase.” “We need a T-Rex silhouette.” “We need the John Williams score swelling as someone touches a dinosaur gently.” It’s nostalgia with the edges sanded off.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is watchable. It’s loud, fast, and intermittently thrilling. But it’s also formulaic, safe, and ultimately forgettable. It doesn’t move the franchise forward; it just presses “repeat” on a bigger screen with higher resolution.
If you grew up loving Jurassic Park, this might scratch an itch. But if you’re looking for a new story, a new angle, or even just a new kind of dinosaur movie, you’re better off waiting.
Final Score: 6/10
It’s not extinct yet, but the Jurassic franchise is definitely running out of DNA!
