Every creative morsel hiding in the nook of a storyline about marauding dinosaurs terrorizing humans appeared to have been chewed up by the time the “Jurassic World” trilogy plodded its way to the finish line with 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion.” With that release, the overall franchise had pumped out six “Jurassic Park” movies, numerous best-selling video games, and an animated series, and had all but surrendered to abject silliness on movie screens. (A dino whispering Chris Pratt? C’mon now).
So it’s no surprise that when news broke that Universal, hot-shot filmmaker Gareth Edwards and executive producer Steven Spielberg were collaborating on something of a reboot, the reactions ranged from guarded optimism at best to skepticism to outright derision.
Scuttle all those doubts.
“Jurassic World Rebirth” stomps the series back to its hold-on-to-your-seats-for-dear-life origins. It freaks us out, makes us marvel in wide-eyed wonder at the sight of these mighty digital beasts, and gives us characters we can root for (even a cute little dino named Dolores).
That’s the right approach to revitalize a “soft” reboot that serves as a heartfelt homage to Spielberg (the numerous “Jaws” references are an absolute delight – pay attention to the Quint inspired boat scene with the jaws skeleton).
Now for a little bit of bad news: “Rebirth” takes too long to crank up its action engine. But once the exposition drops its anchor, you’re in for a nonstop theme park ride.
The plot is a 100-proof McGuffin, serviceable nonsense wherein cold-blooded mercenary Zora Bennett (a bad-ass Scarlett Johansson) signs on with a lucrative pharmaceutical company to extract potent, genetic-rich blood from three species of dinos (Quetzalcoatlus, Mosaurus – my favorite – and Titanosaurus). The big lugs are all camped out on Ile Saint-Hubert (Thailand’s Krabi islands subbing well for it), an ominous tropical spot the world has tagged as a forbidden zone, and for good reason: it once was the dangerous testing grounds where InGen futzed about with dinos DNA – a no-no as we all know. This trio of dinos’ blood has the power to crack the code for curing cardiac disease, which would be a financial boon to anyone who gets their grubby hands on it.
Bringing altruistic balance to Zora’s and Big Pharma honcho Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) greed-inspired motivations is paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey of “Wicked”). He’s a hot science geek who sports eyewear that never comes off even when he tangles and dangles with dinos. Curious that. He’s no stereotype either; and is athletic and able to stand on his own next to the formidable derring do of Zora, her trusted colleague Duncan Kincaid (Oakland Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, making something out of a nothing role) and others on her crew –an all-you-can-eat buffet for cranky dinos.
All of ‘em are engaging enough, but the real breakout stars – besides those dinos – are members of the Delgado family. You can’t help but root for them. The poor sods accidentally insert themselves into this mission after their sailboat capsizes from the overactive water acrobatics of a Mosasaurus (an aquatic dino, and they do give a star-making performance.)
It’s whenever the film keels over to the Delgado family when “Jurassic World Rebirth” comes alive with tension and laughter, thanks partly to Koepp who has given dad Reuben (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo of “Lincoln Lawyer”), his college-bound daughter Teresa (Luna Blaise), Teresa’s lackadaisical boyfriend Xavier (scene stealer David Iacono) and 11-year-old Isabella (Audrina Miranda) – depth and enormously likable personalities, and then throws them into the eye of jeopardy throughout.
The easy-to-digest plot allows Edwards to concentrate on roller-coaster-ride like encounters with these spectacular beasts while paying homage to Spielberg’s canon, including the aforementioned “Jaws,” the original “Jurassic Park” and even his Indy movies. Those visual cues and references give the film an old-school, blockbuster charm to the proceedings as the talented Edwards – who gave us the underrated “The Creator,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Movie” – breathes life into a franchise that seemed all but poised for extinction.
Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.
‘JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH’
3 stars out of 4
Rating: PG-13 (intense sequences of violence/action, bloody images, some suggestive references, language, drug reference)
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise
Director: Gareth Edwards
Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes
When & where: Opens July 2 in theaters
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