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Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali lead the cast of the seventh Jurassic Park movie, this time directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and written by prolific screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man). Johannson and Ali play mercenaries hired alongside Bailey’s paleobiologist character to extract DNA samples from the three largest dinosaurs on the planet for a lucrative payment as well as the promise that the DNA will lead to a breakthrough in the prevention of heart disease.
Once their journey begins, they are joined by a family of four whose sailboat is capsized by a Mosasaurus, the first target of the expedition. The expedition and the rescued family are separated after dinos force them to shipwreck on their island destination. The family makes a pet out of a small dinosaur and tries to avoid becoming T-rex chow while Johansson and the expedition complete their sample collection from a beautiful Titanosaurus and a deadly flying Quetzalcoatlus. All the characters are reunited for the final act, where a mutant dinosaur behemoth stands between them and any hope of escape from the island.
While we’ve seen families in peril, genetic engineering, preying on dinos for profit, etc. all before — the film does offer originality in a trio of big action set pieces. The first of these is a thrilling attack at sea, when the Mosasaurus and a group of amphibious Spinosaurses work in tandem to crash the boat and eat its passengers. The second is when the family of four try to escape a Tyrannosaurus in a river raft, and the third takes place on a steep cliffside when the group encounter the flying Quetzalcoatlus. There’s a fourth, climactic action sequence with the giant mutant dinosaur, but I found it less compelling than the previous three.
Johansson and Bailey conjure enough chemistry and charisma for me to look forward to their scenes together. I wish they had been given more of a chance to carry the film on their capable shoulders, but there are too many other characters fighting for screen time. The only other character that registers a reaction is one played by David Iacono, the boyfriend of the eldest daughter in the rescued family. He’s annoying at first, but ends up bringing some needed, irreverent levity to the film. The effects and sound design are great, as usual. And Alexandre Desplat does a good job picking up the scoring duties, which includes recycling a lot of those famous John Williams themes form the original film.
Jurassic movies seem to fall in a spectrum. On one end, they try to be simple monster movies that deliver spectacle and thrills. On the other end, they try to sophisticate themselves with original plotting, characters, and themes. The problem with Rebirth, Dominion, and Fallen Kingdom, is that they all make a half-assed attempt to take the second route. But if you don’t commit fully to that route, you’re not going to win over the audience who appreciates that sort of thing. And at the same time, you risk losing the audience who’s just looking for a good old-fashioned monster movie.
As a big fan of dinosaurs and monster movies, I enjoyed Rebirth a little. But I think Universal is endangering the franchise by riding the line between exploitation entertainment, which is easier to do, and ‘sophisticated’ storytelling, which the franchise hasn’t really pulled off since the original Jurassic Park. I think Universal would be wise to drop the pretenses moving forward. No more genetic splicing, no more clones, no more conspiracies, tedious expositions or detailed character backgrounds. Don’t worry about explaining or justifying things — you’ll just draw attention to how stupid we are, the audience as well as the filmmakers, to want to go back to Jurassic Park an eighth or ninth time. Any excuse will do. Next time, cast two or three great actors like Chris Pratt or Scarlett Johansson, actors with screen presence and charisma, let them carry the film without too many other subplots and characters, and just let us experience a pure, simple, wonderfully unrefined monster movie through their eyes.
Favorite Scene: When Jonathan Bailey cautiously sneaks up alongside a Titanosaurus, lays a hand upon its foot and, overwhelmed by the awe and beauty of the moment, sheds some tears. I almost cried, too.
With Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, and Audrina Miranda.