Jurassic World Rebirth

A few years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, a team of skilled operatives head to an island that once acted as the research facility for the original Jurassic Park. Their mission: to gather the DNA from dinosaurs that can provide life-saving benefits to mankind. Unfortunately for them, an unexpected discovery makes their expedition far riskier than they ever could’ve expected. 

Now, you should know that you don’t need to watch any of the other Jurassic World films in order to understand what is going on in Rebirth.  Aside from the fact that dinosaurs happen to co-exist with people in the mainland, Rebirth basically acts as a standalone film in Jurassic series. This is a brand new story featuring brand new characters. It’s just a shame that this story - and those characters - are infuriatingly  boring. 

Yes, despite the attempt to distance itself from the previous few films, Rebirth is plagued by the same issues that are present in Fallen Kingdom and Dominion. So, if Universal was trying to restart this franchise, they completely blew it. 

Jurassic World Rebirth is not a good film. Sure, it does feature some fun and exciting action sequences, but those sequences aren’t enough to make up for how thin the rest of the script actually is. Which is a surprising thing to say, considering how the script was written by original Jurassic Park scribe David Koepp. But this story definitely lacks the nuance and depth that is present in the original. 

Koepp recently wrote the critically acclaimed film Black Bag - and I personally enjoyed his work on Presence - so he’s clearly still a talented screenwriter. It’s just a shame that Jurassic World Rebirth turned out to be the worst thing that Koepp has written all year. 

That being said, I don’t think Koepp is to blame for Rebirth’s bad quality. I think that belongs squarely to Universal. Because the studio inexplicably rushed this film into production. Instead of giving Koepp the time he needed to write a good script (or even a decent script), they forced him to spit out a simple script in just a couple of weeks. 

Imagine if Koepp had months, or even years, to work on this script. That time could have been spent perfecting every little minute detail. And since Dominion acted as a proper conclusion of sorts, I don’t think people would’ve minded the wait. If anything, that time could have made people hungry for the next installment. Of course, I’m sure Universal doesn’t care since Rebirth is making a bunch of money right now, but I bet they would’ve made much more money if they had the patience to release a better film in a few more years down the road.

But none of the talented people who worked on this film could make up for the studio’s impatience. That’s why a creative writer like David Koepp, or incredible actors like Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Ed Skrein, and more, or an exceptional director like Gareth Edwards, could not save this movie. Universal’s rushed production and subsequent interference is exactly why the script is weak, the performances are bad, and the direction isn’t all too impressive. 

I’m a fan of director Gareth Edwards, but this is easily his worst film to date. Which is unfortunate, because I feel like he’s always being pushed around by the big studios. But I respect his ability to play ball within these franchises. So, even though I wasn’t a fan of this movie, I hope he’ll get the chance to work on another high-profile project. One where he can have more creative freedom. 

However, Edwards recently said that audiences aren’t interested in seeing dinosaurs anymore, and I COULDN’T disagree with him more. Dinosaurs are not what audiences are disinterested in; boring characters that are trapped in bland and recycled plots are what audiences aren’t interested in seeing anymore. Yet, that’s exactly what Jurassic World Rebirth has to offer. 

The mutated and hybrid dinosaurs are not enough to make up for the clichéd storytelling, the cringey dialogue, the convenient plot contrivances, the one-dimensional characters, the bland performances, and the many other problems that the movie is plagued with. So, when they inevitably make another sequel, Universal should have more faith in their own audience. Give them real dinosaurs, and give them a genuinely good story. 

Until then, Jurassic World Rebirth would, unfortunately, not get a recommendation from me.