The Jurassic Park franchise has slowly become one of the most stale and lifeless franchises in the current blockbuster era. Entries like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World: Dominion have failed to recapture the magic of the original film with some of the worst screenplays ever written for a major blockbuster. Despite the poor critical reception, the series manages to rack up billions of dollars. Although Dominion was perceived to be the final entry, the box office would not let the franchise die. 

Jurassic World: Rebirth is a story departure from the previous films in the franchise, but sees the return of the original Jurassic Park writer David Koepp. The film follows a group of operatives, played by Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, who venture to an island research facility to gather dinosaur DNA. While the film manages to harken back to the original’s smaller-scale plot, the writing is as weak as the most recent entries in the series.

The MacGuffin-esque plot works mostly well for the film, but the execution is stale and uninspired. The stakes never felt real enough to warrant any emotions, with a plodding pace and lack of carnage. The only moments where the film felt truly dangerous was when they were reenacting scenes from the original Jurassic Park. It was disappointing to see so little stakes from a filmmaker who made Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2014’s Godzilla, two of the most intense franchise blockbusters in recent memory.

Bringing back David Koepp as the sole screenwriter was extremely exciting, but the film feels like they are restricting him from writing something truly introspective. There are ideas at play about humanity and greed, but they play out in the most generic way possible. Instead of having any form of identity, the screenplay feels like it was written by a committee. 

The Jurassic World films have always had a hard time landing with its comedy, and Jurassic World: Rebirth is no different. There are a lot of glaring pauses where the film is attempting to make you laugh, but it comes off as extremely cringe-worthy. What’s made worse here is that the film is attempting to return to its horror roots, which made its comedic moments even more jarring. David Iacano easily has the funniest line delivery of any actor in the film, but not even he could save the film from being a tonal mess. 

The runtime is another one of the film’s weakest aspects. For a film with so little going on in the story, it pushes the runtime way too far. From an overabundance of characters or a drawn-out first act, Jurassic World: Rebirth includes an insane amount of filler instead of fulfilling what audiences want: dinosaur action.

Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey are fine as the leads, but their characters are paper-thin. Johannson has an interesting, almost Black Widow-like backstory to her, but the film has no idea how to utilize her. Instead of creating smart and interesting characters, the filmmakers create caricatures of past characters of the series.

The film also centers on a family who add nothing to the overall narrative. Although there are ideas about how humanity is stronger in groups, the theme is never executed in a way that is satisfying. The characters act more like damsels in distress instead of contributing to any overarching themes. 

Although the film is littered with flaws and conveniences, the film is a step up from the past couple entries in the franchise, and that is because of the technical work. The visual effects are seamless throughout, with a shocking amount of detail on the dinosaurs as well as the island backdrops. The film also has an incredible use of color, with every frame oozing with life and vibrance despite its sometimes horrific imagery. 

The sound design is also spectacular. The dinosaur stomps and nature noises are heavy and crisp, which helps the audience feel like they are with the characters. The lack of sound in the horror sequences was effectively used to build tension. While the previous films relied more on the visuals to convey emotion, Jurassic World: Rebirth mixes in the auditory sense to create a new type of experience for the viewer.

 While there are many commendable technical aspects, Jurassic World: Rebirth fails to revitalize the franchise by its uninspired screenplay and disaster of tone. Some may enjoy the callbacks to the previous films, but for a film titled ‘Rebirth’, there isn’t a whole lot new here. If Universal decides to make more Jurassic World films in the future, they need to completely restructure how they tackle it.

Jurassic World: Rebirth will be in theaters nationwide on July 2.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• The only category I can see this film getting into is Best Visual Effects. The VFX are genuinely fantastic, and with Gareth Edwards’ previous films receiving nominations, I can see the Academy going out for this film. That being said, none of the Jurassic World films have gotten a nomination before, so it is not a guaranteed nomination whatsoever.