Jurassic World: Rebirth — A Promising Premise Buried Beneath Chaos

The Jurassic franchise has always balanced on the razor’s edge between spectacle and cautionary tale, and Jurassic World: Rebirth certainly attempts to recapture that original magic. Set five years after Jurassic World Dominion, the film shifts from global chaos to localized suspense, asking a familiar, urgent question: When will humans stop f**king with nature?

It’s a bold new direction—on paper. Dinosaurs are no longer overrunning cities or frolicking in snow. What’s left of them survives in isolated, equatorial environments eerily similar to their prehistoric origins. And within the DNA of three of the most massive creatures across land, sea, and air lies the key to a revolutionary medical breakthrough—because of course it does. That idea, ambitious and morally gray, sets the stage for what could have been a taut sci-fi thriller. Instead, Rebirth struggles to find its footing.

Scarlett Johansson leads the charge as Zora Bennett, a covert ops specialist contracted to recover the critical genetic material. Johansson brings intensity and gravitas to the role, but even she can’t hold together a plot that seems to unravel faster than a velociraptor attack. Her team, including the always-excellent Mahershala Ali as Duncan Kincaid and Jonathan Bailey as conflicted paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis, is well-cast, but the film bounces between character arcs and action set pieces with a pace that feels more chaotic than compelling.

Zora’s mission collides with a shipwrecked civilian family stranded on a forbidden island that once hosted a secret Jurassic Park research facility. It’s here, amidst overgrown ruins and long-forgotten experiments, that the movie starts to echo the tension and wonder of the 1993 original. Gareth Edwards (Rogue One) brings his signature scale and atmosphere to some genuinely impressive sequences, particularly a misty jungle standoff that had the audience audibly holding its breath.

But even stunning visuals can’t mask a story that jumps around like a spooked compy. The plot is fragmented, the character motivations murky, and a key third-act twist—while thematically rich—feels rushed and underdeveloped. There’s a fascinating idea buried beneath the surface about how humans continue to exploit nature under the guise of saving themselves. It’s pure Jurassic DNA. But the film never quite gives that theme room to breathe.

The ensemble cast—including Luna Blaise, David Iacono, and Audrina Miranda—tries their best to inject heart into the narrative, and there are emotional beats that land, particularly between Garcia-Rulfo’s Reuben and his daughter. But overall, the film never slows down long enough for audiences to invest deeply.

In the end, Jurassic World: Rebirth feels like a movie caught between two eras—trying to honor the intelligent suspense of the past while chasing the blockbuster chaos of the present. It’s not a total misfire; there are moments that genuinely thrill, and it does reawaken some of the series’ foundational questions. But it’s a bumpy ride, and one that ultimately left me wondering how many more times we need to learn the same lesson.

Final Verdict:
(5/10)
Rebirth brings back some of the feel of the original, but it’s a messy, uneven installment weighed down by its own ambition. A missed opportunity dressed in T. rex-sized potential. Let’s hope, next time, they learn to let nature speak for itself.