Jurassic World Rebirth
No Awe Left in the Jurassic Franchise
Overview: Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, covert operations expert Zora Bennett is contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs.
After the very bad, awful, no-good Jurassic World: Dominion, it really felt like the Jurassic Park/World franchise was finally going extinct—at least for a few years. Even producers admitted they had “no immediate plans” for what’s next. But Steven Spielberg wasn’t happy. Reportedly dissatisfied with how Dominion wrapped things up—saying it lacked the soul and clarity of the original—he regretted letting things end on that note. So he picked up the phone, called original screenwriter David Koepp, and convinced him to take one last crack at it. Like dragging a retired agent back for one final mission.
Spielberg didn’t stop there. He hand-picked Gareth Edwards to direct, pitched Scarlett Johansson for the lead role himself, and stayed closely involved throughout production. With that level of oversight, a director with fan goodwill (thanks to Godzilla and Rogue One), and a story that ditched Chris Pratt and the increasingly chaotic World saga in favor of a more straightforward island survival adventure… surely this would turn out at least decent, right?
Right??
Well—no. Not really.
Even from the trailers (and I usually avoid them, but this one was everywhere), I had a bad feeling. What I didn’t expect was for this to seriously compete with Dominion as the worst entry in the franchise. That one still holds the crown, but Rebirth puts up a strong fight—continuing the series’ almost impressive tradition of each movie being worse than the last.
While Jurassic World soft-rebooted the original Jurassic Park, this one—despite a few obligatory nods to the 1993 classic—feels far closer to Jurassic Park III. You’ve got a mercenary team tracking dinosaurs in the wild, a family dragged into the chaos, and a mission to extract DNA from three species. It’s not original, but it’s a workable setup. The opening attack on the family’s boat is solid, evoking Jaws-style tension. But from there, the film slips into bland, mechanical mode: dinosaur chases, close-call suspense beats, a lying corporate handler, and those “majestic” Jurassic beauty shots of peaceful herbivores scored to John Williams… all delivered with maybe 1% of their former magic. It feels like a straight-faced parody of itself.
And despite the many dinosaur types—some new, some mutant—the film somehow makes them feel dull. Jurassic Park III had that eerie pterodactyl scene. Dominion, for all its nonsense, gave us a ridiculous but fun dinosaur motorcycle chase. Rebirth has set pieces where characters infiltrate a dino nest for an egg or race against a countdown to reach an extraction point—but none of it generates tension or awe. It’s just… there.
This unfortunately confirms my suspicion about Gareth Edwards: he’s got a great eye for visuals (a dinosaur swallowing a helicopter, a T-rex disappearing behind a deflating boat), but he’s not a strong storyteller. The set pieces don’t build; they just happen. There’s no real rhythm, no sustained suspense, no payoff. And Koepp’s script doesn’t help. The characters are stock, and their decisions are either stupid or painfully predictable. Still, if the spectacle had delivered, that might’ve been forgivable—but Edwards’ direction is the real issue. Dinosaurs show up, the team grabs the DNA, and the creature basically vanishes like the level’s been cleared. At times it feels like a video game. And then there are just bad scenes—like a boy peeing while a dinosaur sneaks up, only to be eaten by another dino in what’s supposed to be a fake-out moment… except the boy never turns around, yet seems to understand everything that just happened.
Oh, and there’s a baby dinosaur sidekick. Of course there is.
Honestly, even Netflix’s Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous—the animated kids show—handled danger and suspense better than this. It’s depressing. Over the last three films, this franchise has done the seemingly impossible: it’s made John Williams’ themes feel empty, made dinosaurs feel lame, and turned one of the most iconic blockbusters ever into a lifeless routine. In 1993, dinosaurs terrified audiences. In 2025, they’re just… content.