'Jurassic World' is born again
Forget the mediocre plot: come for the dinosaurs and stay for the carnage
"Jurassic World: Rebirth" is the newest attempt at a reboot for the franchise.
The movie follows Zora Bennet, played by Scarlett Johansson ("Black Widow"), as she leads a team of trained officials to the original island where the first "Jurassic Park" movie took place.
There, she teams up with scientist Dr. Henry Loomus, played by Jonathan Bailey ("Wicked"), where they attempt to recover *checks notes* dinosaur DNA to *checks notes again* save people from life-threatening diseases.
Mutant dinosaurs roam the island, and danger is around every corner. Will they escape with their lives?
Yes, actually. ...
Where do I begin?
I didn't have high hopes with this movie. I was alright with the franchise not continuing due to the disappointing ending of "Dominion."
And I gotta say that this movie is one of the worst in terms of story and characters, but it actually may be the best-looking in the franchise.
Gareth Edwards ("Rogue One: A Star Wars Story") is the perfect person to direct a "Jurassic Park" movie. He knows scale, and how to deal with daunting creatures and large objects.
The dinosaurs have never looked this great, as I think the CGI has peaked on how realistic and frightening they can be. The D-Rex, while only in the movie for a disappointing 10 minutes, looks terrifying and really is the mix between an xenomorph, T-Rex and a rancor from "Star Wars." The other dinosaurs were all entertaining and had cool action attached to them.
I feel bad that so many great actors are a part of this mediocre film. I had to triple-check the premise itself because of how weird it sounds.
Mahershala Ali ("The Green Book") made his film comeback in this movie after a hiatus, and his character isn't utilized very well. He also has a really dumb ending that I won't spoil here, but will for sure have your eyes rolling.
Johansson's character is super bland and has a very mediocre character arc. Bailey's character was probably my favorite, as I liked his enthusiasm and care for the dinosaurs around him. He was likable and charming.
Overall, this movie is stunning to look at, but the boring and ridiculous story is enough to make your eyes heavy. I really hope that Universal puts the "Jurassic Park" franchise on ice for a little while, as this was not the movie to make the comeback with.
I'd say it's still worth a rent or supporting a drive-thru theater as this would be a fun date night movie. I'd give "Jurassic Park: Rebirth" a 6/10.
