Movie review: ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’

FloridaGator80

I found the trailer interesting to “Jurassic World: Rebirth” because of the special effects and further noted that Scarlett Johansson was the star of the latest effort in that oh-so-great, but also oh-so-bad franchise. It isn’t Johansson’s fault that while I wasn’t disappointed in the special effects, those effects all encompassed what constituted any enjoyment of the film. Sometimes the special effects can overcome a bunch of flaws in a movie, but there was no way for them to even elevate “Jurassic World: Rebirth” to “somewhat adequate” status.

‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’
(2025; 133 minutes; rated PG-13; directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey)

SADLY, ANOTHER ‘FRANCHISE’ FAILURE

I thought the putrid sequel “Jurassic World: Dominion” from 2022 would be the final nail in the coffin of the “Jurassic” franchise since it is horrible. I renamed it “Jurassic World: Septic Tank” (click here to read my review), yet, with a worldwide box office of $1 billion, you knew even crap would spin out another sequel. Well, “Jurassic World: Rebirth” is out now in 2025 and, although not the steaming pile of the previous one, this sequel stinks, too.

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” is the seventh in the franchise and I thought having Scarlett Johansson as the lead would be interesting. Well, I can tell you that the camera enjoys Ms. Johansson and she enjoys it, too, because of how comfortable she is in front of one. Unfortunately, she wasn’t given much to work with as far as an intelligent plot goes, but Johansson is the reason I didn’t stop watching this mess – well, her and the special effects. Despite the vapid story and screenplay, Johanssen is watchable and the effects are what you’d expect in 2025.

Oh, by the way … the story of “Jurassic World: Rebirth” is a group is going into a new island (the film is set five years after the last) to get some dino genetic samples that’s gonna be the foundation of a cure, well, for cardiac maladies found in humans. But, the prize becomes who gets the stuff: will it help humanity in general or just for the profit of a big-pharm company? Yawn (seen it before and know the practical answer).

Oh, also by the way … I’m putting in some plot spoilers, but since the film has been out for four months, I’m really not spoiling anything.

Sadly, you get every stereotype in “Jurassic World: Rebirth.” Just about all the other films’ key scenes is somewhat replicated (from one of the mercenaries being grabbed and obviously gobbled off the team’s boat like the guy getting pulled out of the wreckage of the airplane in “Jurassic Park III” – click here to read my review) and virtually all the characters are stereotypical from Johanssen as the tough leader to the good-intentioned scientist to the corporate maggot who ends up dino-kibble similar to how the attorney met his end in “Jurassic Park III.”

Even one of the “mutant dinosaurs,” a “Disortus Rex,” looks as if its design was influenced by a “Rancor” from 43 years ago in “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.” Sigh. They couldn’t even show creativity with the mutant dinos and you immediately get the impression that you’ve seen the action with the creatures before, such as a character using a flare to distract a rampaging beast. Sigh again. You pretty much have seen it all before, since most of the film isn’t much in the way of creative.

I must go back to the plot …

In a convergence, a family on a sailboat for a long cruise is attacked by sea-going dinosaurs (a Mosasaurus, if it matters), gets picked up and becomes intrinsic to the film. The family is stereotypical: patient, strong father; somewhat rebellious older daughter and her teen boyfriend, who comes off as a slacker; and the younger daughter, who ultimately picks up a small dinosaur in a quite obvious marketing element.

Now, since I must do it, here’s my look at some of the cast (and, yes, some have Oscar and Golden Globe nominations) …

  • A two-time Oscar nominee and five-time Golden Globe nominee (not yet for this one), Johansson plays “Zora Bennett” and is the leader of the expedition. As I’ve noted, she’s quite natural on camera and has the presence to make you want to watch her, even though she’s hobbled by a thin veneer of a screenplay. Although a somewhat diminutive 5-foot-3 (co-star Mahershala Ali is nearly a foot taller at 6-foot-2), the height disparity isn’t a distraction. I was much more impressed with her work in the Coen brothers’ “Hail, Caesar!” (click here to read my review) as a spoiled, petulant movie star. She has been in a couple of the superhero films (“Iron Man 2” and “The Avengers”) and I first saw her as a sibling in “Home Alone 3” (click here to read my review). Johansson’s nominations for both awards was for 2019’s “Marriage Story” and the rest of the nominations were for “JoJo Rabbit,” “Match Point,” “A Love Song for Bobby Long,” “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and “Lost in Translation” with Bill Murray. BTW … “Home Alone 3” was her sixth film at the age of 13 when it had its premiere in 1997!
  • A two-time Oscar winner and Golden Globe winner and two-time nominee, Ali plays “Duncan Kincaid” and gives the best performance from the entire cast and offers excellent rapport with Johansson as her second-in-command. He isn’t asked to stretch his talent very far given the weak screenplay, but it’s obvious he wasn’t gonna just mail it in, either. Ali won an Oscar and his Globe for “Green Book” and was nominated for an Oscar and Globe for “Moonlight.” His other Globe nomination was for “Swan Song.” He has also won a Primetime Emmy and has four Emmy nominations.
  • A Primetime Emmy nominee, Jonathan Bailey is “Dr. Henry Loomis” and he’s the “good guy” in the story, who wants to see the science benefit all of humanity instead of a corporation. Like the others, he’s restricted in showing his full talent because of the screenplay. He, too, has effective rapport with Johansson, but not as much as Ali. His nomination was for the tee-vee mini-series “Fellow Travelers” and he’s been in the mini-series “Bridgerton” as well as the films “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good.”
  • A Primetime Emmy nominee and four-time Screen Actors Guild award nominee, Rupert Friend is “Martin Krebs” and he’s the “bad guy” by being the pharmaceutical company official who is a treacherous scumbag and pays the ultimate price. All his nominations are for the tee-vee series “Homeland” with Claire Danes and Friend has been in the film “The Death of Stalin” as well as the video “Montblanc: Let’s Write” about writing and creativity.

After those four actors, you don’t get much either from the mercenary “team” to the family that the team rescues. Both Philippine Velge (team member “Nina”) and Ed Skrein (team member “Bobby Atwater”) exit early and there’s not much left to talk about the “team.”

On the family, you get stock performances from Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (father “Reuben Delgado”), Luna Blaise (older daughter “Teresa Delgado”), Audrina Miranda (younger daughter “Isabella Delgado”) and David Iacono (underestimated teen boyfriend “Xavier Dobbs”).

The supporting cast isn’t much, but, like the “stars,” wasn’t given much to work with.

So, after all that, here’s my judgment on each of the franchise entries (as if anyone cares):

As of the posting of this review on Nov. 14, 2025, “Jurassic World: Rebirth” was the fourth ranked film at the U.S. box office with $339.6 million in ticket sales ($888 million worldwide on a reported budget of approximately $225 million). The No. 1 film was “A Minecraft Movie” with $423.9 million and at No. 2 was “Lilo & Stitch” with $423.7 million. NOTE: I will update these totals when the 2025 season is complete.

Here are the films from 2025 that I’ve reviewed:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Johansson’s middle name is Ingrid; Ali’s birth name is Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore; Friend’s full name is Rupert William Anthony Friend; and Blaise’s birth name is Luna Blaise Boyd and her nickname is “Lu Lu.”
  • Johansson is married to SNL “Weekend Update” co-host Colin Jost and has appeared on the show (and was fun to see on the small screen).
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “Isabella wears a T-shirt that includes a picture of a pelican, which is a callback to the ending of Jurassic Park (1993), in which Alan Grant and the others witness the pelicans flying alongside them symbolizing the dinosaurs now living in their natural environment. Below the picture of the pelican on Isabella’s T-shirt is the Spanish phrase ‘La vida se abre camino,’ which translates to ‘Life finds a way.’ This is the same phrase famously spoken by Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park and is a key theme of the series.”
  • Johansson had auditioned for parts in at least a couple of the franchise’s previous films, but had been turned down. She got the “Zora Bennett” role after Jennifer Lawrence and Amanda Seyfried turned down offers.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “A school bus in New York City is seen with “Crichton Middle School” painted on its side. This is a reference to the late Michael Crichton, the author of the Jurassic Park novel that spawned the film franchise.”
  • Filming took place in Thailand, Malta and the UK.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “Gareth Edwards is the first person to direct both a Star Wars and Jurassic Park film, having previously directed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). Steven Spielberg, who directed Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), was the first choice to direct Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983), but he declined due to DGA disputes. Colin Trevorrow, who directed Jurassic World (2015) and Jurassic World: Dominion (2022), was originally attached to direct Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019), but dropped out due to creative differences with Lucasfilm. Joe Johnston, who directed Jurassic Park III (2001), served as a VFX artist on the original Star Wars trilogy.”

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