MOVIE REVIEW – Jurassic World: Rebirth has no shame about digging up all the familiar dinosaur tropes and well-worn formulas we’ve seen a dozen times before. At the Mamut II press screening, it honestly felt like watching a nostalgia mixtape—same old character types and plot twists, now dressed up in modern spectacle. Edwards’ latest tries hard to steer the saga into new territory, but just can’t shake off the comfort zone of recycled beats—though, in fairness, there are flashes when the old Jurassic magic suddenly kicks in again.

Jurassic World: Rebirth kicks off with a scientist’s spectacular blunder: a single Snickers wrapper hits the ground, and next thing you know, the residents of Ile Saint-Huber are on the mutant dino lunch menu. It’s a promisingly simple premise, but director Gareth Edwards (famous for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and The Creator) stalls momentum with a long, drawn-out setup. Now seven films deep—after Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom turned dinosaurs into a global hazard, and Jurassic World: Dominion got sidetracked with mutant locusts—this saga seems unsure whether to reinvent itself or just keep spinning its wheels.

Stuck in the Loop

Rebirth wastes no time wrapping up the last trilogy’s loose ends: we’re told straight out that the new crop of dinosaurs is dying off, doomed by modern climate diseases. A dying, blotchy dinosaur gridlocking New York gets the point across, followed by an animated museum exhibit just in case you missed it—and then Jonathan Bailey’s paleontologist spells it all out again, for good measure. Over-explaining is hardly a new sin for blockbusters, but David Koepp’s screenplay (yes, the original Jurassic Park writer) underestimates viewers at every turn. This gets especially grating as we meet two new teams of characters, each delivered with clunky backstory exposition instead of letting action fill the gaps. Zora and Duncan (Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali) get saddled with an awkward, on-the-nose “old friends” scene that telegraphs every plot beat ahead of time.

Meanwhile, the main story finally grinds into gear: Zora, ex-Spec Ops, is hired by Rupert Friend’s pharmaceutical kingpin to fetch blood samples from three supersized dinos. Enter Dr. Henry Loomis (Bailey), the brains behind the fieldwork, with all roads leading to the now-chaotic, post-Snickers Ile Saint-Huber. Ali’s Duncan, the boat guy, Ed Skrein’s mercenary, and two obvious “dino food” supporting players round out the crew. And of course, a hapless family—dad, two daughters, and a perpetually stoned boyfriend—stumbles into their path, because that’s just how Jurassic stories roll.

Talk, Talk, ROAR

The film’s first act is basically an endless parade of dialogue, to the point where Ed Skrein is almost forgotten in the shuffle. But the moment our heroes set foot on Saint-Huber, something finally snaps to life. The conversations loosen up, the cast feels human again, and—thankfully—dinosaurs that don’t live underwater return to reclaim the spotlight. Edwards delivers a couple of real set pieces, like a breakneck T. rex river chase straight out of the original Jurassic Park novel and a harrowing cliffside scramble. With John Mathieson’s sweeping cinematography, this is what a Jurassic movie should be: people awestruck, chased, and totally out of their depth amid thunderous prehistoric beasts.

The MVP is Jonathan Bailey, who sheds his “Mr. Exposition” role and gets to genuinely react to dino chaos, especially alongside Johansson. Zora drops her snark and transforms into a bona fide action lead when survival is on the line. The supporting cast, sadly, remains flat—Mahershala Ali, in particular, is wasted (despite his last big outing being Alita: Battle Angel), but at least he lands one memorable scene by the film’s end.

Mutant Mess, Spielberg Shadows

Unfortunately, the third act loses its footing as the mutant dinosaur mayhem dials up. There’s an obvious attempt to echo the legendary kitchen standoff from Jurassic Park, but this time, the monsters lack any real personality. When an even bigger, weirder creature appears, it’s more bizarre than scary. Edwards drops plenty of homages to Spielberg—whether it’s Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, or Jaws—but Rebirth misses the sharp, family-friendly suspense that made those classics endure. Even major deaths barely register, and one twist is so thoroughly undone by the end credits it feels pointless.

It all leaves the sense that Rebirth needed more time in the incubator—after all, it arrives just three years after Jurassic World: Dominion supposedly wrapped up the trilogy. Edwards’ direction and action chops are as solid as ever, but the story is overcooked, overcomplicated, and underpopulated with memorable characters (or, honestly, memorable dinosaurs). Instead of the bold new start the franchise deserved, we’re left with another perfectly watchable but largely forgettable Jurassic entry in a series that once changed blockbuster cinema.

-Gergely Herpai “BadSector”-