It has been thirty-two years since Steven Spielberg captured the imagination of audiences across the world with Jurassic Park. Since then, the Jurassic Park IP has raked in billions thanks to a raft of merchandise, spin-off cartoon shows and a series of films that have continued the lore. Whilst no sequel has quite lived up to the magic that Spielberg conjured with that first movie, it has not stopped others from trying; Gareth Edwards is the latest to make an attempt with his new film, Jurassic World: Rebirth.
Considering his work on 2014’s Godzilla, on paper Gareth Edwards is the perfect person to take the reins of the multi-billion franchise. The seventh film in the Jurassic Park series, Jurassic World: Rebirth, as the title suggests, ventures in a different direction from what was seen in Jurassic World: Dominion. Fortunately this means that locust plot is now a distant memory. Jurassic Park: Rebirth does not entirely forget what has come before however, and begins in a world in which the dinosaurs that had previously escaped have now died out, with the exception of those on a few islands close to the equator. These areas have been quarantined off from the rest of the world and crossing the boundary results in extreme punishment. This plot element mirrors that seen in Jurassic Park III, and in many ways this new film repeats several elements of that movie.
Rather than a search for a missing child, the central story here is a search for the cure for heart disease. Businessman Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) enlists the help of dinosaur expert Doctor Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey), and former special operative Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) and her team. Their mission is to travel into the forbidden zone to collect DNA samples from three specific species of dinosaur. Of course, this being a Jurassic Park film, the expedition doesn’t go to plan, with the arrival of a small family of sailors causing further catastrophe. This is as deep as the plot gets in Jurassic World: Rebirth with everything, including the characters, being kept surface level so as to allow for maximum dinosaur encounters.
Looking back, the original Jurassic Park is fairly light on actual dinosaurs. Part of this is due to them having to build the prehistoric beasts rather than simply relying on some computer graphics. Each subsequent Jurassic Park film has increased the dinosaur factor, but Jurassic World: Rebirth might have the most dinosaur-focussed set-pieces in the seven film run. In a similar fashion to Peter Jackson’s King Kong, once the group of intrepid adventurers enter dino territory, they are under constant threat of attack, and Edwards takes great glee in unleashing dinosaur carnage.
The dinosaur sequences really are the jewel in Jurassic World: Rebirth’s crown. Highlights include a number of boat rides from Hell, one of which is lifted straight from the pages of Michael Crichton’s original novel. This focus on action after action means that viewing Jurassic World: Rebirth is akin to riding a rollercoaster with thrill after thrill. It makes for a fun viewing experience, but ultimately one that, much like a trip to a theme park, is soon forgotten. In addition to sidelining the story in favour of action, Jurassic World: Rebirth also pushes the more high profile cast members into the background. The arrival of the family unit sees the screen time split between two groups and big chunks of the DNA hunting story are missed, which is a shame.
Although not quite as solid as his former work, Gareth Edwards is still a somewhat safe pair of hands for the Jurassic Park franchise. He might not nail all the aspects, but in terms of creating a summer blockbuster size spectacle, he has succeeded. Edwards also infuses elements from nearly all of his back catalogue, enriching the viewing experience for fans of his former work. There are plot points lifted straight out of Godzilla, and lush landscapes to rival The Creator, with a gas station nod and hook-up scene beautifully referencing the director’s debut feature, Monsters. It isn’t just his own work that Edwards homages, he also manages to work in some scenes that play parallel to the original Jurassic Park, namely the iconic raptor scene.
Despite Jurassic World: Rebirth featuring dinosaurs in abundance, those expecting to see lots of the usual suspects should prepare themselves to be disappointed. Whilst the T-Rex is of course around for a couple of scenes, raptors are barely featured; the same applies to the dilophosaurus, and the usual herbivore roster is side-lined all together. Instead, Edwards predominantly populates this story with dinosaur species that haven’t really been seen before. It is a move that makes sense, as the reality is that there were far more than a handful of dinosaur types, but much like the Fast and the Furious series has become synonymous with ‘family’, so too has the Jurassic Park films with raptors and T-Rexs. Whilst this is forgivable, where Jurassic World: Rebirth comes unstuck is with its mutated dinosaur content.
These monstrosities are introduced during the final act, and sadly they just don’t work. With so many different kinds of dinosaur to choose from, it is a massive disappointment that the film continues to venture into mad science territory like its more recent predecessors. The latest creations just look silly and heavily detract from what should be the highest stakes portion of the movie.
Overall, Gareth Edwards does a commendable job at steering the ship of this wobbly franchise. Easily in the top half of the franchise, Jurassic World: Rebirth corrects some mistakes of the past, but still makes its own fumbles. Ultimately it is a film that is packed full of high stakes action and extreme dinosaur carnage, but with little to hold onto once the credits roll.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is in UK cinemas from 2nd July 2025.
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