- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
- Messages
- 86,735
- Reaction score
- 26,215
Update: July 2, 2025
Dragonlord’s Review of JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH (No Spoilers)
Bottom Line: An improvement over the last two installments, Jurassic World: Rebirth is a fun thrill ride thanks to some exciting set pieces and a tone that leans more towards survival horror.
The previous two Jurassic World films (Fallen Kingdom and Dominion) were mired with convoluted plots involving human cloning, international espionage, dinosaur rights/relocation and genetically engineered locusts. I didn’t have high hopes going in Jurassic World: Rebirth but was pleasantly surprised that I did enjoy the movie. There’s nothing groundbreaking with Rebirth but I appreciate that it’s plot was simple and straightforward, as well as the tone leaning towards a survival horror vibe.
Set five years after Jurassic World: Dominion, the planet’s ecology has become inhospitable to the dinosaurs. The surviving dinosaurs now reside in tropical islands near the equator as it is the closest environmental conditions that they once thrived. A pharmaceutical company hires a group of mercenaries to go to Ile Saint-Hubert situated near the equator to retrieve bio samples from three of the largest dinosaurs there to develop a miraculous medical drug for humanity.
The extended boat scenes was what probably won me over initially. Not only did the boat set pieces felt refreshing for the franchise, it reminded me of Jaws and other scary shark movies. The thought of floating in the middle of the ocean with something underneath circling you always terrified me, so the movie already got me there. The giant Mosasaurus stalking the family in the sailboat was chilling while the boat chase to tag the sea creature was exhilarating which also reminded me of the Jaws boat chase scene. To make matters worse, a handful of Spinosaurus are teaming up with Mosasaurus in trying to eat the people on the boat which resulted in some nail-biting close calls. Even if the humans reach the beach shores, they’re not safe yet as these Spinosaurus are amphibious. I really enjoyed the water setting as I wouldn’t even mind if the entire movie was just set in the ocean with the Mosasaurus and Spinosaurus hunting down the humans.
The second best part of the movie involved water again (Hmm, I’m sensing a pattern here) involving a T-Rex chasing an inflatable raft down a river. This scene is so masterfully done as the T-Rex menacingly approaches the slow moving raft. The T-Rex then did its best crocodile imitation as only half of its giant terrifying head with its blood-curdling eyes was the only thing visible above the water and finally swimming fully underwater like a croc. So glad they finally actualized the T-Rex raft sequence because this was originally in Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel and was initially planned for the 1993 Jurassic Park but was ultimately scrapped due to the water CGI technology was a challenge at that time.
Unlike other mutated dinosaurs in the past films, the latest one – Distortus Rex or D-Rex for short – looks more like a monster than a dinosaur. The D-Rex looks like a cross between a Xenomorph and a Rancor. Other times it reminds me of the Kraken design from Clash of the Titans (2012). I’m kinda ambivalent about the D-Rex. Wished we saw more of what it could do, maybe go up against another titan dinosaur, but biting a helicopter in mid-air was impressive. The other mutated dinosaur was the Mutadon, which is a mutant hybrid of a Pterosaur and Velociraptor. I didn’t really like the design. Though not a mutant dinosaur, the Titanosaurus is a marvel to look as it is the largest sauropod in the franchise and its (scientifically inaccurate) extensively long, whip-like tail gives it an otherworldly quality to them. The Titanosaurus scene was a nice respite from all the dino attacks and brings back that sense of awe and wonder from the first Jurassic Park.
Jurassic World: Rebirth brings in a new batch of characters which I was glad because I was getting tired of seeing Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and especially Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing characters. In Rebirth, Scarlett Johansson plays Zora Bennett, a covert operation expert. Wasn’t anything outstanding but her character was pleasant enough. Same with Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, likable enough but totally unmemorable. The shipwrecked family was a nice addition because it gives audience a different view from the perspective of a normal person trying to survive this hellish ordeal. The father with the mustache felt like a placeholder for Pedro Pascal while the daughter’s boyfriend, Latino Benson Boone, was annoying at first but he grows on you… like a fungus.
Gareth Edwards (The Creator, Godzilla) takes over directing duties. His glum style of filmmaking offsets the normally livelier tone of the franchise to come up with a more balanced mood. With the development that dinosaurs all over the world are dying except for the ones near the equator, it’s like the franchise is course-correcting or reversing the events from the past Jurassic World movies where dinosaurs are roaming around the world. It could also be a meta reference on how moviegoers' interest in the JW franchise is waning. Final observations: That Snickers wrapper wrecking the entire security system of the lab was so stupid. Zora shooting a Mutadon dead was a nice surprise since there seems to be an unwritten rule in the franchise that no dinosaurs should get shot by conventional firearms.
It might be that my expectations was set so low that I ended up enjoying Jurassic World: Rebirth. It had some exciting action sequences, the CGI effects were excellent and I appreciated the survival horror aspect of the film. But this is not for everybody with most probably rating it at a 5 if they see it.
Rating: 7/10
IS IT WORTH WATCHING IN THEATERS: No. I think I’m in the minority in this one. Even though I enjoyed the film, I can also see how other people might not like it because they will likely feel it’s just a retread of past Jurassic films or how they will be annoyed with the human characters or how some of the desensitized viewers might feel nothing at the scary-ish parts of the movie. But it’s a pretty good movie to bring your little kids though.
(Leave a Like if you appreciate my reviews and want to see more movie reviews in the future. Thanks.
)
Dragonlord’s Review of JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH (No Spoilers)
Bottom Line: An improvement over the last two installments, Jurassic World: Rebirth is a fun thrill ride thanks to some exciting set pieces and a tone that leans more towards survival horror.
The previous two Jurassic World films (Fallen Kingdom and Dominion) were mired with convoluted plots involving human cloning, international espionage, dinosaur rights/relocation and genetically engineered locusts. I didn’t have high hopes going in Jurassic World: Rebirth but was pleasantly surprised that I did enjoy the movie. There’s nothing groundbreaking with Rebirth but I appreciate that it’s plot was simple and straightforward, as well as the tone leaning towards a survival horror vibe.
Set five years after Jurassic World: Dominion, the planet’s ecology has become inhospitable to the dinosaurs. The surviving dinosaurs now reside in tropical islands near the equator as it is the closest environmental conditions that they once thrived. A pharmaceutical company hires a group of mercenaries to go to Ile Saint-Hubert situated near the equator to retrieve bio samples from three of the largest dinosaurs there to develop a miraculous medical drug for humanity.
The extended boat scenes was what probably won me over initially. Not only did the boat set pieces felt refreshing for the franchise, it reminded me of Jaws and other scary shark movies. The thought of floating in the middle of the ocean with something underneath circling you always terrified me, so the movie already got me there. The giant Mosasaurus stalking the family in the sailboat was chilling while the boat chase to tag the sea creature was exhilarating which also reminded me of the Jaws boat chase scene. To make matters worse, a handful of Spinosaurus are teaming up with Mosasaurus in trying to eat the people on the boat which resulted in some nail-biting close calls. Even if the humans reach the beach shores, they’re not safe yet as these Spinosaurus are amphibious. I really enjoyed the water setting as I wouldn’t even mind if the entire movie was just set in the ocean with the Mosasaurus and Spinosaurus hunting down the humans.
The second best part of the movie involved water again (Hmm, I’m sensing a pattern here) involving a T-Rex chasing an inflatable raft down a river. This scene is so masterfully done as the T-Rex menacingly approaches the slow moving raft. The T-Rex then did its best crocodile imitation as only half of its giant terrifying head with its blood-curdling eyes was the only thing visible above the water and finally swimming fully underwater like a croc. So glad they finally actualized the T-Rex raft sequence because this was originally in Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel and was initially planned for the 1993 Jurassic Park but was ultimately scrapped due to the water CGI technology was a challenge at that time.
Unlike other mutated dinosaurs in the past films, the latest one – Distortus Rex or D-Rex for short – looks more like a monster than a dinosaur. The D-Rex looks like a cross between a Xenomorph and a Rancor. Other times it reminds me of the Kraken design from Clash of the Titans (2012). I’m kinda ambivalent about the D-Rex. Wished we saw more of what it could do, maybe go up against another titan dinosaur, but biting a helicopter in mid-air was impressive. The other mutated dinosaur was the Mutadon, which is a mutant hybrid of a Pterosaur and Velociraptor. I didn’t really like the design. Though not a mutant dinosaur, the Titanosaurus is a marvel to look as it is the largest sauropod in the franchise and its (scientifically inaccurate) extensively long, whip-like tail gives it an otherworldly quality to them. The Titanosaurus scene was a nice respite from all the dino attacks and brings back that sense of awe and wonder from the first Jurassic Park.
Jurassic World: Rebirth brings in a new batch of characters which I was glad because I was getting tired of seeing Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and especially Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing characters. In Rebirth, Scarlett Johansson plays Zora Bennett, a covert operation expert. Wasn’t anything outstanding but her character was pleasant enough. Same with Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, likable enough but totally unmemorable. The shipwrecked family was a nice addition because it gives audience a different view from the perspective of a normal person trying to survive this hellish ordeal. The father with the mustache felt like a placeholder for Pedro Pascal while the daughter’s boyfriend, Latino Benson Boone, was annoying at first but he grows on you… like a fungus.
Gareth Edwards (The Creator, Godzilla) takes over directing duties. His glum style of filmmaking offsets the normally livelier tone of the franchise to come up with a more balanced mood. With the development that dinosaurs all over the world are dying except for the ones near the equator, it’s like the franchise is course-correcting or reversing the events from the past Jurassic World movies where dinosaurs are roaming around the world. It could also be a meta reference on how moviegoers' interest in the JW franchise is waning. Final observations: That Snickers wrapper wrecking the entire security system of the lab was so stupid. Zora shooting a Mutadon dead was a nice surprise since there seems to be an unwritten rule in the franchise that no dinosaurs should get shot by conventional firearms.
It might be that my expectations was set so low that I ended up enjoying Jurassic World: Rebirth. It had some exciting action sequences, the CGI effects were excellent and I appreciated the survival horror aspect of the film. But this is not for everybody with most probably rating it at a 5 if they see it.
Rating: 7/10
IS IT WORTH WATCHING IN THEATERS: No. I think I’m in the minority in this one. Even though I enjoyed the film, I can also see how other people might not like it because they will likely feel it’s just a retread of past Jurassic films or how they will be annoyed with the human characters or how some of the desensitized viewers might feel nothing at the scary-ish parts of the movie. But it’s a pretty good movie to bring your little kids though.
(Leave a Like if you appreciate my reviews and want to see more movie reviews in the future. Thanks.
)
