JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Gareth Edwards
Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Rupert Friend, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Manuel Garcia-Ruflo, Bechir Sylvain, Ed Skrein, Philipipine Vega, Audrina Miranda, Luna Blaise, David Iacono.
The whole Jurassic Park franchise began way back in 1993 with Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation of Michael Crichton’s bestselling novel. The film was a massive box office hit that spawned two sequels. They in turn gave rise to three films in the spinoff Jurassic World series that took the concept in a new direction. And now we get this new attempt to reboot the franchise with Jurassic World Rebirth.
Written by regular scribe David Koepp, Jurassic World Rebirth is set five years after the events depicted in Jurassic World Dominion. It seems that the public has lost interest in all things dinosaur now. Exhibitions have been closed down as the public’s attention moves on to the next big attraction. Dinosaurs however still thrive and roam in the wild jungles of an equatorial environment which have been marked as no-go zones.
It was on the remote island of Saint-Hubert that the InGen corporation had established a laboratory to create genetically mutated dinosaurs. But an accident in the research facility resulted in the place being shut down after a deformed, giant dinosaur escaped and wreaked havoc. But many of the creatures still roam the tropical island.
Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend, recently seen in Companion, etc) is an executive with a pharmaceutical company, and he sets out to try and retrieve blood samples from several dinosaur species believing that this holds the key to revolutionary treatment for heart disease. He also sees the potential payday from such a medical breakthrough. He enlists the help of Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson, Black Widow in the MCU Avengers films), a mercenary to lead the mission. They are accompanied by paleontologist Dr Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey, from the tv series Bridgerton, etc). Zora recruits her longtime friend Duncan Kincaid (Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, from Moonlight, etc) to lead the mission with his boat. Completing the makeup of the Zora’s team are Le Clerc (Bechir Sylvain), mercenary Nina (Philippine Vega) and head of security Barry Atwater (Ed Skrein, from Deadpool, etc).
But before this scientific expedition can reach Saint-Hubert they are diverted by a distress call. Reuben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Ruflo, from the tv series The Lincoln Lawyer, etc) has been sailing the waters near the island with his family – youngest daughter Isabella (Audrina Miranda), teenaged daughter Teresa (Luna Blaise) and her lay about boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono, from the tv series The Year I Turned Pretty, etc). Their boat has been attacked by a mosasaurus, an underwater dinosaur. Zora and her team rescue the family much to the chagrin of Krebs. The mosasaurus then attacks Kincaid’s boat, stranding everyone on the island. Zora has arranged for a helicopter to circle the island every twenty our hours, so they plan to get their samples and then make their way to the abandoned laboratory to await the helicopter. If they can survive the mutated dinosaurs that inhabit the island.
As with the original 1993 film, the script from regular writer David Koepp includes many of the familiar ingredients – corporate greed, scientific hubris, scientists tampering with the natural order even though they probably shouldn’t, children in peril, exploitation of animals, and prehistoric monsters ready to chomp on the nearest human. The film is a little formulaic, especially with the subplot of a family in peril. But Koepp does incorporate some previously unused elements from Crichton’s original novel.
And there is one scene here with Zora perched on the prow of a boat aiming a high-powered rifle at a mosasaurus that reminded me of a scene from the 1975 classic Jaws, in which Roy Scheider tried to shoot the great white shark from a similar position. However, a lot of the dialogue is risible.
Jurassic World Rebirth takes the franchise in a newish direction, especially after disappointing Jurassic World: Dominion. Koepp gives us new characters in an effort to try and keep the concept fresh. However, the majority of the characters here are cliched and lack depth, but the performances, especially from Johansson, Bailey and Ali, are pretty solid. Johansson has a strong presence here and acquits herself well with the physical demands of the role. Friend is suitably oleaginous as the sleazy and greedy pharmaceutical rep. Most of the cast seem to be enjoying themselves here trying to inject life into their characters.
Having helmed Godzilla in 2014, director Gareth Edwards is no stranger to special effects generated monsters prowling across the cinema screen. He extracts some tense set pieces from the cliched script. The special effects here are pretty spectacular, and the filmmakers have created a range of cool-looking dinosaurs. However, the sight of these behemoths lacks that “wow” factor we felt the first time we saw the lifelike dinosaurs in Jurassic Park thirty years ago. John Mathieson’s cinematography is good and brings the locations in Malta and the jungles of Thailand to life.
Jurassic World Rebirth is the seventh film in the franchise, and it pretty much delivers much of what you would expect in a film of this type where the special effects and CGI dinosaurs are the key drawcard.
★★★
