Ticketworthy! - Jurassic World: Rebirth

Do you remember the first time you saw Jurassic Park? The feeling of seeing that Brachiosaurus plucking the leaves from a tree as John Williams’ sweeping, iconic score swelled? That first movie is packed with epic, memorable moments that stick with you years after you first see them. It’s always been a bit confusing that the films that came after mostly never had anything close to offer. The franchise’s newest entry, Jurassic World: Rebirth, also doesn’t quite live up to the legacy of the original, but to its credit, it’s the first sequel that at least tries.

 Rebirth tells the story of mercenary Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) and Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) as they venture to yet another island that InGen was apparently making dinosaurs on, hoping to bring back blood samples from the three largest animals on the island to make medicine with. The catch is, this was the island where InGen was doing genetic experiments and cross-breeding species, creating an island teeming with mutant monsters unlike anything the world has seen before.

As far as excuses to strand a group of humans on an island of killer dinosaurs goes, it’s hardly the worst. It’s a bit of a predictable plot, and the motivations of the characters don’t always make sense, but it’s not shooting for realism. The realistic answer to “Will you go hunt the largest, most dangerous mutant creatures ever created?” is “Not for all the money in the world, thanks.” That wouldn’t make for a very fun movie, so it’s probably best to just suspend disbelief.

The characters themselves are uninteresting and expendable. Johansson is a charismatic and charming lead given very little to work with. Not helping matters is the ludicrously predictable plot. Not only was I able to correctly guess who was going to die as soon as they were introduced, I knew the exact order in which it would happen. There were no surprises to be had.

Yet, it was still decently exciting. The film throws ideas and dinosaurs at you at a breakneck pace, hoping something sticks. It’s total chaos, but it leads to some wonderful action scenes. I especially liked a water chase scene involving a massive Mosasaurus. There are plenty of very funny moments as well, and David Iacono’s Xavier is easily one of my favorite comic relief characters to date. Most importantly, though, the film treats its dinosaurs like the majestic spectacles that they are, and it will remind you more than once of how it felt to watch the first movie.

Director Gareth Edwards clearly set out to play on our nostalgia, mostly in a good way. The visuals, the cinematography, all of it was reminiscent of Jurassic Park. There are perhaps a few too many cute callbacks, but it’s clear that Edwards is a fan who got a chance to play in a world he loves, so it’s hard to blame him.

I would have liked to see a bit more care given to the new, mutant, dinosaurs. At no point were they ever frightening. Part of that is the script being a bit weak, and part is that the horror elements of this entry just aren’t shot terribly well. Still, the horror is greatly toned down this time around anyway, so it’s not a huge problem.

While I can’t say that it’s exactly a return to form, Jurassic World: Rebirth gets points with me for at least making the attempt. I think it’s a shame that the stellar cast is wasted and I’d have liked to see perhaps a bit less reliance on nostalgia, but as a fan of this franchise I had a pretty good time. After the last few films, it seemed like the series had simply run its course and it was time to let it die. It’s nice to see that the Jurassic movies aren’t quite extinct yet.