Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)

I’ve never missed any of the movies in the Jurassic Park/World/Universe franchise, and I must admit that I enjoyed Jurassic World: Rebirth more due to the actors than the dinosaurs this time. The setup is a little silly, but it follows the formula much like a Bond film always features an opening stunt. Yet another human goof leads to disastrous results with a particularly gruesome and ugly mutant, the D Rex, but more on that later. As we know from previous movies, the dinosaurs are loose now from the islands that contained them, but they can only live in certain temperate zones or they die. Rupert Friend’s pharmaceutical rep Martin Krebs is trying to develop a breakthrough drug to treat heart disease, and he needs blood and tissue samples from three different species of dinosaurs: one that lives on the land, one that lives in the sea, and one that flies through the air. All bases covered, I suppose. So he assembles a team that includes Scarlett Johansson at her baddest-ass self as a former covert operative, Mahershala Ali as a former member of her team, and Jonathan Baily at his most adorable (slutty little glasses and all) as a paleontologist. Added to the mix are a family sailing near the latest dinosaur island: a father, his two daughters, and the slacker boyfriend of the older daughter. Xavier, the boyfriend, seems to be the comic relief until he actually turns into a bit of a hero. Once everyone has been connected, it’s just a danger-filled journey to find a means to get someone to rescue them after all of the ships have been wrecked. Along the way, the team tries to collect its samples, and we get to see just how adept Bailey is at showing the wonder of seeing dinosaurs in the wild. His facial expressions – and what a face it is – are almost childlike with joy. The youngest daughter, Isabella, acquires a cute little dinosaur companion that she calls Dolores, but most of the creatures are downright scary. A Tyrannosaurus Rex that can swim? A Distortus Rex that looks like a misshapen blend of a T Rex and a xenomorph from Alien and a bunch of leftover parts from other dinosaurs? No thank you. I’ll still with more familiar ones; they’re scary enough for me. There are some clever links to the earlier movies and to TV shows with dinosaurs scattered throughout the narrative, and the bad guy gets his comeuppance in a deliciously brutal way. I keep wondering just how many dinosaur islands are there? How many more islands with dinosaurs can there be to keep the sequels going? Given its box office success, it probably won’t be long before we find out.

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Visual Effects