‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Brings New Dinos, but Little Surprises
The first of the three blockbuster films of 2025 (“Jurassic World Rebirth,” “Superman,” and “Fantastic Four: First Steps”) has finally hit theaters, and safe to say we’re simply roaring to get into the action.
The title has given us much to be excited about, considering this decades-long dinosaur franchise has continued to deliver massive scares and introduce both fascinating and terrifying reptilian species as seen in the previous Jurassic World films. “Rebirth” means something new is growing, and along with the star-studded cast led by Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali, we have high hopes for this film because it has a chance to become something different, having been reported to be a standalone — meaning separate from its predecessors.
Directed by Gareth Edwards (“Godzilla” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) and written by Hollywood scriptwriter veteran David Koepp (co-writer of the original 1993 film), “Jurassic World Rebirth” is set 17 years after a terrible lab incident involving mutated dinosaurs, and follows a top secret mission to retrieve blood samples from the three of the largest prehistoric specimens, which evidently holds the key to a new heart disease treatment. The Pharmaceutical company head, Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), recruits an ex-military covert operative, Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), to collaborate with Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey), a paleontologist, on this illegal endeavor.
Although the film presents a solid premise and a new, genetically altered dinosaur right out of our nightmares, “Jurassic World Rebirth” plays it a little too safe in terms of storyline and character development. Here’s what we mean.
New Dinos, Same Old Problems
Considering it’s a separate story from the previous films in the franchise, this movie had the opportunity to explore new possibilities in technology and deliver even bigger scares. Sadly, that wasn't the case.
Unlike the previous Jurassic World films, which featured a solid tandem between Chris Pratt’s Owen and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire, this movie gave us a group composed of mercenaries, a scientist, and a businessman. The issue isn't their professions, but the lack of chemistry which, we believe, lies in how the script failed to develop these characters well. There were top-notch visuals and acting. Scarlett was stunning in the action sequences — a nod to her Marvel superhero days, and Jonathan Bailey wearing those glasses while speaking in an American accent set off all the hot nerd alarms.
Performances by Mahershala Ali and Rupert Friend were also commendable, the former giving that mercenary with a heart vibe, while the latter portrayed the role of the villain with skewed intentions really well. But the cast as a group made for a shallow character investment. The script also had one too many dialogue-heavy conversations, which hurt the pacing. Although the rom-com energy between Zora and Dr. Henry was cute, it didn’t make up for the fact that the characters were underwritten, barely showing any characteristics or backstories that would encourage audiences to root for them.
There was also that subplot about a marooned family who ended up with the rest of them on the island, adding to the dinosaurs’ human buffet. Understandably, putting innocent civilians into the mix heightens the stakes, but their presence provided little substance to the plotline and could’ve been altogether left out. In fact, their screen time could’ve been used to flesh out the main group more. It was also a little far-fetched that they were sailing recreationally across waters known to be inhabited by a massive Mosasaurus. That’s not exactly an ideal summer vacation.
On the bright side, their one scene with the T-Rex was one of our favorites. In that scene by the river, it began to look like a classic Jurassic movie with its jump scares and high-stakes circumstances. We couldn’t help but yelp and flinch every time the creature spotted them, and being on the water made the scenario ten times more dangerous — and stressful!
Speaking of dinosaurs, the CGI was well done, but nothing new. We know it’s strange considering they made a new dinosaur species from genetic testing. We had hoped they did something better with the Distortus rex (D-rex). Sure, the crossbreed looked horrifying, but its movements were too slow, and the final showdown of the film didn’t feel as upbeat as it should’ve been, and was carried by the winged reptiles, Quetzalcoatlus, which did more damage. Even though we knew their lives were in danger, the transitioning of scenes and movement of the storyline lacked urgency, mainly due to the characters, who seemed to just be waiting for the next attack. This, in turn, made the film’s peak anticlimactic, so the displays of heroism didn’t pack as much punch as we’d hoped.
Ironically, the mission also went too quickly. It started well in the first part, when they were trying to get the blood sample from the Mosasaurus, but after that, a huge chunk of the film was spent on them traversing through the jungle rather than experiencing danger to retrieve the rest of the samples.
The jungle setting wasn’t something new, either, but it was explained well why the dinosaurs would be inhabiting there. Along with the overcrowded group of main characters, this felt more like “Jumanji” with dinos.
Final Verdict
“Jurassic World Rebirth” delivered fantastic visuals and a promising premise, but lacked in character execution and that fast-paced element audiences expect from a Jurassic thriller. It’s surely not the best in the franchise, but we also wouldn’t rank it as the worst. We did feel like it was a step back from what they were hoping to achieve with this beloved franchise.
Overall, it was still an entertaining movie to watch with enough scares and a good-looking cast, as well as impressive action sequences, with some almost making our hearts jump out of our chests. If you’re a fan of the franchise or the actors, we say give it a chance on the big screen. Otherwise, it may be one of those films you can just wait to become available on streaming platforms.
We’re giving this film 3 BEATS. “Jurassic World Rebirth” is now showing in a cinema near you.
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