On July 2, the sci-fi adventure blockbuster «Jurassic World Rebirth» was released in Ukraine — the seventh installment of the cult franchise «Jurassic Park» launched by Steven Spielberg in 1993. The previous film with the subtitle «Dominion» (2022) received devastating reviews from critics and low scores from viewers, but grossed just over a billion dollars worldwide. In the review below, we will tell you whether the renewal of the cast and creative team benefited the series.
Pluses:
there are several exciting scenes in the authentic spirit of the franchise; a good cast (even if there is absolutely nothing to play); a bright visual component;
Minuses:
a blatantly secondary and predictable plot; if not a character, then an archetypal image; the storyline with the Mexican family seems superfluous;
«Jurassic World Rebirth»
Genre adventure science fiction
Director Gareth Edwards
Starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Rupert Friend, Ed Skrein, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda
Premiere movie theaters
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb, official website
Once upon a time, dinosaurs were fascinating entertainment for ordinary ̶v̶i̶e̶w̶e̶r̶s̶ visitors to a theme park, but their glory days are irrevocably over. Today, no one would be surprised to see a diplomat in the middle of New York City whose transportation went awry. And while the relevant services are fumbling with the giant, the ambitious head of the pharmaceutical giant ParkerGenix, Martin Krebs, makes a tough mercenary, Zora Bennett, an offer that cannot be refused.
The mission is to obtain the genetic material of three dinosaurs to help create a cure for heart disease. To do this, a team consisting of paleontologist Henry Loomis, Zora’s old friend Duncan Kincaid, and several other extras travel to the island of Ile Saint-Hubert. Due to its favorable climate, the island is still home to not only ordinary dinosaurs, but also the extremely dangerous results of genetic experiments.
The very opening scene of this colorful, high-budget production reminds us of the golden rule of the Snickers bar — you’re not you when you’re hungry. Perhaps this is why the hybrid called Distortus rex does not look like a dinosaur, but rather like a mutant version xenomorph. However, this fanged creature is announced as the final boss, so we will return to it at the very end.
But besides that, David Koepp, the screenwriter of the first two films in the franchise directed by Spielberg, had to come up with at least a minimal plot where there was virtually no room for maneuver, because the unfortunate dinosaurs had already been milked dry over the past 10 years.
At the same time, it’s not the first time director Gareth Edwards has tackled the topic of prehistoric lizards since his 2014 work «Godzilla» (and yet the best work in his filmography is still «Rogue One» in the «Star Wars» universe). And he understood exactly what kind of material he had to work with.
Obviously, the bet was on a return to the roots — no experiments, all in the spirit of the adventures of the first films. However, this approach seems to be the path of least resistance. Everything here is so secondary and predictable that it will be more interesting to bet on this or that assumption than to watch the movie itself. Indeed, what else can you get out of another story a la «let’s wander around an island teeming with bizarre creatures and snarling predators the size of a two-story house»?
In fact, not everything in «Rebirth» is as bad as it might seem. In its best moments, it’s a great summer blockbuster, at least for kids. No wonder the local capitalist pharmacist throws out the meta-rejoinder «we have very big budgets». It’s a pity that there are so few exciting moments.
That is, for every beautiful scene with a quetzalcoatl defending its nest from uninvited guests or a tyrannosaurus chasing an inflatable boat with Homo sapiens (see the main image), there are a number of exhausting dialogues or illogical actions. There’s even a whole storyline that seems completely unnecessary — we’re talking about a Mexican family that is irritatingly underfoot in every sense. Although, in fairness, it is needed at least for spectacular scenes because it is these poor people who are in the inflatable boat.
For the most part, «Rebirth» — is a cumbersome and clumsy movie with a tired and tortured plot, like that brachiosaurus. In ’93, the coming of the dinosaurs was a real miracle that came to life on the screen. It was the magic of cinema, given to us by Spielberg and visual effects artists. In 2025, «Jurassic World» looks like a burden to everyone; the studio doesn’t seem to know where to move this giant machine.
We have seen everything in the movie many times before. Literally every step is read in advance. Titanosaurs will be grazing peacefully on a grassy meadow — keep everyone involved enthralled with another pack of harmless herbivores. As the text already makes clear, the franchise’s symbol, the T-Rex, will get its obligatory moments of glory. This time Scarlett Johansson will be hiding not from the Hulk, but from a pterosaur. The ardent adherent of all-consuming capitalism will definitely turn out to be a pest. There will be a cat-and-mouse game with the predatory inhabitants of the island, of course. The fate of the suitcase with its important contents, the rescue helicopter, and the final twists and turns are known in advance. The survivors will swim proudly towards the symbolic dawn.
Of course, this is no «Rebirth», but at least things have improved after the absolutely worthless «Dominion». On the other hand, as we saw in one of the scenes, even the omnipotent T. Rex needs a break from time to time.
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