“Heh, I’m too smart to die.”
“Intelligence is massively overrated as an adaptive trait.”
“Enlighten us.”
“Look at dinosaurs… pretty dumb, right? And they survived for 167 million years. Homo sapiens, with our cranial size, geniuses by comparison, only have around 200 thousand so far. I doubt we’ll even get to a million. And yet we already have the capacity to annihilate ourselves.”
“Don’t we rule the earth? We must be doing something right.”
“We don’t rule the earth – we just think we do.
And we’re the ones changing the environment, which makes us the ones to worry about not the planet.
When the earth gets tired of us, believe me, it will shake us off like a summer cold.
Of all the species that have ever existed on this planet, 99.9% of them have gone extinct.
Survival is a long shot.”
– Dr. Henry Loomis, with interjections from Martin Krebs
After an intense build-up, Jurassic World Rebirth has arrived – and what a movie it is. The Jurassic franchise continues with its seventh entry, and it feels equal parts Alien, Jaws, King Kong, and ultimately Jurassic.
For context in this review: Jurassic has been my favorite thing for most of my life, my favorite story to explore, and my top choice for escapism in the world of 2025.
Eleven viewings in, Jurassic World Rebirth truly contains all the elements I want in a Jurassic film. It’s a great mix of the tone, subject matter, science, and creatures I love about both the Jurassic Park & Jurassic World films. It feels strongly injected with the DNA of the original trilogy, while also containing the spectacle and unpredictability of genetics that the sequel trilogy continued and aggressively expanded. The thrill ride and adventure the audience is taken on is a step in a very exciting direction for Jurassic. I loved it overall.
The prologue/lab accident scene establishes Rebirth as a Jurassic film early on with many artful nods and elements, but is also partially set outside the lab – in the jungle. I love how the opening shot sets a tone of wild, open nature. It’s breached by what becomes a gorgeous, undeniably Jurassic shot of a sleek helicopter traversing mountainous jungle and landing on a helipad. Chaos ensues from there, swelling into a Psycho-esque slashing of strings in a flurry of blood red. Jurassic opening scenes are arguably supposed to leave you horrified, and this absolutely does that trick. The opening scene of Rebirth lands among the very best in the series in my book.
There are phenomenal, top of the franchise moments in this movie. The Mosasaurus chase sequence is exhilarating, thanks in no small part to the ways the film and score echo Jaws’ swashbuckling shark hunt. Combined with the way it was shot and the mosasaur’s colossal, whale-like behavior, it’s truly a blast every time.
The spinosaur/mosasaur mutualism and the resulting peril are the type of motor vehicle-destruction-by-carnivore I cheer for in this franchise. The Spinosaurus backs up its vicious franchise reputation, and to make it even better, “they’re amphibious!”
The swamp walk & talk is a standout scene with excellent dialogue directly from the brain of Michael Crichton. David Koepp does this kind of thing really well, and his writing is refreshing and engaging to have back in Jurassic.
The entire Titanosaurus sequence is the best of the film. Utterly massive, deeply moving, and full of majesty in sound and scale. Jonathan Bailey is perfect as Dr. Henry Loomis. His growth from slightly timid into an “adrenaline junkie” courageous enough to play into the titanosaurs’ distraction and touch a living dinosaur is completely relatable as both a Jurassic and paleontology fan. I truly enjoyed Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, the entire Delgado crew, and all of the family dynamics in Rebirth, but in case it wasn’t clear, Loomis is my favorite character in this movie. He loves dinosaurs and quickly learns how to live in the moment with them in spite of his fears. I both feel represented by and love that.
And of course, the river raft sequence is worth the price of admission. It’s incredible to finally have it exist in film form (with the mind-blowing visual effects that are possible these days) after imagining it while reading the Jurassic Park novel. Rebirth’s napping, lumbering, rumbling T. rex is as Jurassic as can be – a wild animal and an inevitable predator.
Alexandre Desplat’s score achieves everything I hoped for this film, and I am really loving it more with each listen. From a musical perspective, it’s orchestrated and written in the spirit of John Williams (beautiful and aleatoric brass & woodwinds steal the show) and that makes it feel like yet another piece of classic Jurassic DNA injected into the movie. In-film it is packed full with wonder and adventure but also ominous suspense and terror. Another part of what really works for me in Rebirth is the care taken in cuing the score. While previous films could have perhaps dialed back the sheer volume of music present, this movie knows when to use music as well as silence to manipulate every single emotion. It’s very dramatic and French (not surprising given the very talented composer at the helm), but it plays into all the right types of drama, from human to monstrous. “Natural History Museum,” “Boat Chase,” “Dino Lovers,” “Crossing the River / T. rex,” “Bella and the Beast,” and “Sailing Away” are my favorite cues so far. Because of my personal attachment to his work and his previous relationship with Gareth Edwards, I wanted Desplat to score this film and have been ecstatic since he was announced. He has delivered a fantastic and solid addition to the Jurassic music catalog as well as his own.
I really love what this movie has to say about making difficult decisions to survive both normal life and life in the presence of dinosaurs & other creatures. Placing that in a story driven by pinnacle Jurassic anti-messing with nature and anti-capitalist themes – that also shouts “science is for everyone” – really makes this a great modern Jurassic film.
My qualms with this movie are small. I do wish some elements were fleshed out a tiny bit more when it comes to franchise details and lore, and I wish the Velociraptors were a bit more present. However, overall I love David Koepp’s thrilling writing, Gareth Edwards’ gorgeous visual style, and everything this film contributes to the franchise’s story, old and new.
And for what it’s worth, I think some of Rebirth’s choices are a response to what has come before, for better or for worse. But I also think these things are very capable of being expanded and made even better in the future.
In a way this film is its own genetic experiment:
Can another (the seventh!) Jurassic film with new characters, a new story, and enough familiar DNA survive and be successful at the box office?
Can it satisfy fans, general audiences, and critics?
I think the answer, overall, is a pretty loud yes.
While going back to a lot of what makes Jurassic the icon that it is (culturally, artistically, thematically) Rebirth also continues the Jurassic World era’s pattern of embarking in a daring and fresh direction. At the same time, the animals feel like animals, the science is tangible, and the wonder & terror are gripping.
Some people will blame Snickers for major events in this film, but to paraphrase a line from the incredible Mahershala Ali:
How about we just not fuck with weird genetic shit in the first place?
In all seriousness, this film’s ending and its many similarities to the ending of Jurassic Park make me so happy and emotional.
Jurassic has once again proven itself a capable box office powerhouse, and I would imagine more of this story is on deck. I honestly can’t wait to see where it goes. I have a few ideas.
