Jurassic World: Rebirth

The Jurassic film franchise is one I have complicated feelings over. Jurassic Park is my favorite film of all time, as it appeals to both my inner film nerd and my inner paleo nerd. But while the film could have just thrilled audiences with the spectacle of dinosaurs, it went the extra mile to give us characters that were likeable, smart, and real people. With its witty writing and dazzling dinosaurs, the film is a classic for a reason. None of the Jurassic Park sequels could possibly live up to the greatness of the original, but The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III are both entertaining films in their own right. The Jurassic World movies, however, feel artificial and soulless. The characters are these films’ most glaring issues, as their personalities are flat and their decision-making is baffling. Every time I sat down for a new Jurassic World movie, I felt like Patricia Arquette in Boyhood during her “Is this it?” speech. Is this the best these filmmakers can come up with? I had entirely given up on this once glorious franchise when lo and behold, Gareth Edwards was brought in to direct its newest installment Jurassic World: Rebirth. What I love about his direction is his ability to immerse you into the worlds he creates. The camera angles are carefully chosen to give the viewer a sense of scale. 

For what it’s worth, Jurassic World: Rebirth looks incredible. The lighting is perfect; it feels colorful without being artificial, allowing you to believe the might of these dinosaurs. As with any Gareth Edwards film, the effects are terrific. He is a former VFX artist, so his films are always guaranteed to have top-notch VFX work. I truly do not have any issues with how the film is directed. I also quite liked Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey’s performances. Ali, who plays Duncan Kincaid, is always a delight to watch on screen, while Bailey disappears into the role of Henry Loomis. I am honestly surprised this is the same actor who sang “Dancing Through Life” in Wicked. His range is remarkable.

That wraps up my list of positive things to say about this movie. While I have no problems with the direction, David Koepp’s screenplay is unfathomably bad. Half of this film’s conflicts arise due to an unbelievable amount of incompetence despite the half dozen disasters this park has faced by this point. This is especially confounding when one of the few interesting concepts the Jurassic World movies introduced—namely, the danger of dinosaurs being loose all over the world—is written off. Like my hopes for this franchise after the second Jurassic World movie, most of the dinosaurs have died. How, you may ask? The climate! The worldbuilding genuinely falls apart the moment you ask a single question.

The awful writing is not the only thing dragging this film down, however. Scarlett Johansson, who plays covert operations expert Zara Bennett, is sorely miscast in this film. Granted, the screenplay gives her absolutely nothing to work with, but she always looks like she’s trying to be in a Marvel movie when this film has a completely different tone. The biggest example of this is during the Mosasaurus scene. Her line delivery as she’s locked in with the syringe gun just feels inauthentic. Her casting comes across as the studio wanting one of the biggest names in Hollywood rather than wanting an actor that served the story and the characters. 

And speaking of characterization, there really isn’t any. Much of the dialogue consists of the most sloppy exposition you can imagine. According to this film, we don’t need to see these characters doing what they do best at the beginning of the film to set up how they’ll act once they get on the island. What purpose could there be in showing their personal lives to see what they have at stake? Clearly the best way for the audience to understand these characters is to have endless scenes of characters talking and explaining their skillsets and backstories. Despite Ali and Bailey’s best attempts, I genuinely had no investment in any of these people. The only emotion I felt towards any of them was anger, as their decisions range from contrived to nonsensical. The wholesome scenes in this film are terrifying because of the clear danger these characters are oblivious to, and the intense scenes in this film are boring because of how manufactured every conflict feels.

I could go on and on about how bad Jurassic World: Rebirth is, but I’ll sum it up here. Its writing is unfathomably terrible, yet the state of this franchise is so dismal that it is not even its worst entry. The constant wasted potential, the illogical retconning of previous films, the never-ending litany of stupid decisions made by the dumbest characters imaginable leads to an infuriating cinematic experience. Yet despite it all, I believe there is potential in the Jurassic franchise. If these filmmakers did not constantly do away with previous plot threads in previous movies and worked with these flaws to create something interesting, there could be something worth salvaging. But at the moment, I am done with this franchise. When we inevitably get another lazy monstrosity, I hope I am lucky enough to skip it.

2/10