New monsters, familiar plot define ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’

Seven movies in, there isn’t much new that the “Jurassic Park/World” franchise can do that will surprise audiences.

The dinosaurs grow bigger and nastier while the human characters remain at the bottom of the food chain.

At least in “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” none of the humans try to tame the vicious beasts by sticking an open hand in their faces (at a convenient biting distance).

Directed by Gareth Edwards (2014’s “Godzilla,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) and featuring a script by OG “Jurassic Park” screenwriter David Koepp, “Rebirth” largely operates a standalone sequel rather than a continuation of the previous “World” trilogy that concluded with 2022’s “Jurassic World: Dominion.” Set a few years after the last movie, the dinosaurs of the world have largely died off, with the surviving species congregating along isolated tropical islands near the equator.

A pharmaceutical lackey (Rupert Friend) recruits paleontologist Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) to assist in wrangling DNA samples from three of the largest surviving dinosaurs (their big, strong cardiac systems apparently factor into a drug capable of curing human heart disease). The expedition hires a team of elite field operatives, Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) and Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) to keep the humans safe from becoming snacks. Ha.

The story also incorporates a shipwrecked family (led by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), because any “Jurassic” movie requires at least one child to be in peril.

Credit to Edwards and Koepp for thoughtful first-act attempts to give the main characters some personality and motivation, though most of that falls by the wayside once the dinos attack. The presence of Johansson, Ali and Bailey certainly helps, and the shipwrecked family serves as a counterbalance to the otherwise machismo-heavy cast.

The three-objective mission structure of the film allows Edwards to craft chase sequences by land, air and sea before the final act devolves into familiar hide-and-seek scenes, this time with the inclusion of some deformed hybrids that would fit right in with the Godzilla universe. “Rebirth” has two terrific sequences: One involving the team trying to extract DNA from the massive, seafaring mosasaurus, and the other focusing on the family encountering a groggy, hungry Tyrannosaurus rex. That scene, set on a river, will be familiar to those who read the original “Jurassic Park” novel by Michael Crichton.

“Rebirth,” like all the “Jurassic” sequels, suffers from disjointed plotting, and the stop-and-start nature of the central mission staggers the momentum of the overall movie. The dinosaurs look fantastic, and the film uses enough real-world locations to give the movie proper scale. However, like almost every big-budget movie these days, “Rebirth” suffers from an over-reliance on artificial, digital backdrops that don’t quite blend with the human characters in the foreground (a particular problem once Johansson and Bailey face off against a massive flying dino on a comically humungous cliffside).

Fans of the franchise will also probably feel major déjà vu in how “Rebirth” essentially rethreads the plots of “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic Park III.” In the end, this new film probably sits somewhere near those sequels in terms of quality, at least ahead of the more recent “Fallen Kingdom” and “Dominion” installments.

The release of “Rebirth” also creates the opportunity to mention the supremacy of Netflix’s animated “Jurassic World” series, “Camp Cretaceous” and “Chaos Theory.” While squarely aimed at kids, those shows contain a multitude of terrific dinosaur-heavy action sequences, as well as a sincere approach with its core characters.

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” opens in theaters July 2.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at [email protected].

    Jonathan Bailey poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Jurassic World Rebirth" on June 17, 2025 in London.