Jurassic World: Rebirth

As if nothing was learnt from the first 6 movies, Gareth Edwards and David Koepp’s Jurassic World: Rebirth has now stomped into theatres, the newest instalment in the franchise. I was a huge fan of the original Spielberg led trilogies. And my inner child will never forget the shock and excitement of seeing Spinosaurus dethrone T-Rex in the 3rd Park film. However, when the Jurassic World instalments came about, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed. I could appreciate the idea of hybrid dinosaurs (something had to be done to make the next few films “different”). But, I found it challenging to watch the new characters repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Consequently, I haven’t watched movies 5 & 6. But out comes the trailer for Jurassic World: Rebirth, the 7th film, and I decided to hop back on the proverbial T-Rex.

Just like the other 52 million YouTube viewers, I clicked on the Rebirth trailer to see some dinosaurs. And to that end, the trailer did not disappoint. Straight off the bat, there’s a shot of the iconic T-Rex skeleton with the falling black and orange banner. Great stuff. My inner child is buzzing. As we go on, we see giant Titanosaurs, a soaring Quetzalcoatlus, our not-so friendly neighbourhood T-Rex, and (the real icing on the cake) a pack of swimming Spinosaurus - in recent times, dino-experts have drastically changed their minds on the appearance and behaviours of the Spinosaurus, so I was very keen to see how they’d be portrayed in the film. They also show quite explicitly, even if only for a split second, Rebirth’s main dino-antagonist, the mutant Distortus Rex. 

I, for one, am not a fan of the Distortus Rex. It looks alien and has bug-like features. The bulging forehead and weird set of non-matching arms takes me out of the world of dinosaurs. I understand the need to bring an original concept to the franchise, but this wasn’t the one for me. As well as this, Distortus Rex, unceremoniously, does not feature heavily in the film. 

The trailer is very dinosaur heavy which, very surprisingly, doesn’t match the film. I felt Rebirth had considerably less screentime dedicated to dinosaurs compared to the other Jurassic Park/World instalments that I’ve watched. I went to the cinema in hopes I would be seeing Jurassic Park remade with the industry’s latest CGI and tech, but was left wanting more.

The next pull of the Rebirth trailer is the cast. The film stars some A-list talent by the way of Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali. Then some smaller actors like Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, and Luna Blaise. Interestingly, my sister, who I watched the Rebirth with, said since it has Johansson and Ali, the film would be worth a watch. Typically, I’m not attracted to a film because of its cast, but I could see the merit. Funnily enough, I thought the B-plot of Rebirth was far more entertaining than the main plot. I think the smaller characters, especially David Iacono, stole the show. I would’ve liked them to feature more in the trailer.

This brings us on to my final critique of the trailer, the teased plot. The storyline is clearly stated in the trailer - we need to go back to dinosaur island, and extract DNA samples from the most ferocious dinosaurs to help cure a major life-threatening disease. Simple enough. But, maybe too simple. This definitely seems like a bad idea, and with lots of holes in execution. I’m sure no one would mind if a few dinosaurs were peacefully put-down in order to aid a medical breakthrough, without the loss of human life. Compared to other films which are centred around creating the greatest human attraction, immense financial gain, and captivating rescue missions, Rebirth’s plot is by and large nonsensical.

And that’s pretty much it for the trailer. It's essentially a Hollywood cash-grab with some big named actors and weak plot, shielded by the umbrella of a beloved movie-franchise. This is what I thought when I first saw the trailer, and it was true when I watched the film. My main criticism is the trailer makes it out as if there are very high stakes at play in this dino-adventure. It implies the dinosaurs are going to throw tooth and claw at the characters, as they try and extract what they need. All very high-energy. But this didn’t match the film in my opinion. The characters were tested, yes, but mostly due to their own poor planning. I guess it's hard to enjoy a trailer, when you don't like the film. But, for me the trailer is all roar and no bite - even if I would pay for a full-priced cinema ticket to see a Spinosaurus on the big screen.

Overall rating - 1/5