- 07/07/2025
Scarlett Johansson leads a team to a dinosaur-infested island in this soft reboot of the franchise that won't go extinct, but Film Brain thinks this is something of a return to form...
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00:00Hello and welcome to Projector, and on this episode Scarlett Johansson leads an expedition
00:04into a dinosaur-dominated island in Jurassic World Rebirth.
00:08Mercenary Zora Bennett, played by Scarlett Johansson, is hired by pharmaceutical
00:29executive Martin Krez, played by Rupert Friend, to lead a team on a secret mission to the Isle
00:33of Saint-Hubert, one of the last places where dinosaurs still thrive, and a former InGen
00:39test site, to get three samples of rare dino DNA that could cure heart disease.
00:46Recruiting Duncan Kincaid, pleb of Mahershala Ali to lead the team, and paleontologist Dr.
00:51Henry Loomis, pleb of Jonathan Bailey, on their way there, they rescue the shit-wrecked Delgado
00:56family, Manuel Garcia Ruffalo's Reuben, Luna Blasey's Teresa, her boyfriend Xavier, pleb of
01:02David Iacono, and Audrina Miranda's Isabella.
01:06But when the mission goes wrong, it becomes a struggle to get the samples and escape with
01:11their lives.
01:12How hard is it to make a good sequel to Jurassic Park?
01:16That's the question we probably all asked ourselves for the best part of 30 years of
01:20lesser follow-ups.
01:22But the fact of the matter is, it's hard because you're never going to match the impact of Jurassic
01:26Park in its day.
01:28It wasn't just a movie, it was an event.
01:30It was a seismic shift in the way that blockbusters are made.
01:34When Sam Neill and company encountered the Brachiosaurus for the first time, and human actors
01:38interacted with realistic CGI dinosaurs seamlessly, it confirmed digital effects as an evolutionary
01:44leap for filmmaking.
01:46When Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malkinger exclaims,
01:48You crazy son of a bitch, you did it.
01:51He could just as well be speaking for the audience about Spielberg pulling it off.
01:55Up until that point, dinosaurs were largely played by stop motion, which has its charms
02:01admittedly, but never quite looked realistic, especially with human actors in the frame.
02:06Seeing that first dinosaur was awesome, and things would never be the same again.
02:12And you can't put that genie back in the bowl.
02:15You can't recreate that first impact.
02:17And Jurassic Park helped usher in our current era of special effects blockbusters and countless
02:22creature features in its wake.
02:24Even Spielberg tried and failed to recapture the magic in the lost world, which is usually
02:29listed as one of the weakest films he's ever directed.
02:32But the two sequels apart didn't nearly miss the mark as much as the Jurassic World franchise
02:37did when it made the series de-extinct in the same way as the dinosaurs themselves.
02:42And I think most of you watching this know just how I felt about those films.
02:47It wasn't just they were flagrantly stupid, like Chris Pratt no-selling a volcano in Fallen
02:52Kingdom or whatever the hell that stuff about locusts was in Dominion.
02:57What made it worse was they were so smug and cynical about it as well.
03:01They tried going a bit meta about audiences not being wowed by special effects.
03:06So they constantly have characters going, people aren't interested in dinosaurs anymore.
03:11Which is just demonstrably not true, as seen by the fact these movies make a kajillion
03:16dollars every time they make one of these, despite the last several mostly being one
03:20big pile of shit, to borrow a phrase from Dr. Malcolm.
03:24Now I've long felt that Colin Trevorrow was the wrong man for the job, but he's out of
03:28the picture now.
03:29And Diminua's meant to be the last one, at least for a while, but obviously the negative
03:34feedback from that has meant that only three years later we now have a soft relaunch in
03:39the form of Rebirth.
03:40Apparently Spielberg himself was quite heavily involved in the development of this one and
03:44it does appear like Rebirth is a concerted effort to try and get the series back to basics
03:49and closer to the original film, particularly the fact they brought back David Koepp, who
03:54adapted the first two films and has had a pretty big year between this and his Steven Solberg
03:59double bill.
04:00Koepp apparently did some uncreated rewrites in Dominion, but he's the main writer here
04:05and the influence of him and Spielberg can be found on Rebirth, which I've got to be
04:10honest here, feels like the closest to the original films that this franchise has done
04:14in a very long time.
04:16And I know my rants about these films are legendary at this point, but alas, I'm getting one this
04:22time because Rebirth is, in my opinion, the best out of any of the world films.
04:27Although, don't get me wrong, this is still a pretty flawed sequel, but at least it feels
04:32like a Jurassic Park movie.
04:34After the title card appears, there's some opening text that quickly recaps things which
04:39could basically be paraphrased as Jurassic Park happened, and then a whole bunch of other
04:44stuff.
04:45It almost practically invites the audience to skip over the world films without totally
04:49retconning them.
04:51The world films set up dinosaurs roaming across the world, but almost instantly lost interest
04:56in that idea even within Dominion, and Rebirth opens with a world mostly back to normal.
05:02The dinosaurs have largely died off because they're ill-suited to the modern world and
05:07climate change, and those that have survived do so on warm, oxygen-rich islands near the equator,
05:13such as the one in this movie.
05:15But I was irritated the film handles this with some of the same cynicism that tainted the world
05:20films, because once again we're back in a world where no one cares about dinosaurs anymore.
05:25We're introduced to Jonathan Bailey's Doctor Loomis, packing away his dino exhibit because
05:30no one is showing up and it's being closed.
05:33And if you bet they're going to drop a When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth banner as a very
05:38overused nod to the famous bit in the original, of course they do.
05:42But the dinosaurs that are left are treated as nuisances, like the sad sight of a dying brontosaurus
05:48holding up traffic in the middle of New York, just like any other escaped zoo animal.
05:54Rupert Friends Krebs even mutters, why can't you die already?
05:58Which is our first indication that he's going to be the bad guy.
06:01I don't mind them effectively reverting things, but it's just a bit unnecessarily mean about
06:06it when the whole point is to try and take away the bitter taste the last trilogy left.
06:12Once past that though, Rebirth is a refreshingly clean slate.
06:16Despite the subtitle, it feels quite standalone.
06:19So it isn't burdened by too much continuity or trying to set up a new series.
06:24It's just trying to tell a new story within this universe.
06:27We've done all the legacy sequel stuff with the original cast in the last one.
06:31So instead we got a new setting and a totally new set of characters, mostly relying on some
06:36big names.
06:38Here we have Scarlett Johansson as mercenary Zora, who is largely very pragmatic.
06:43She just goes where the money is, does the job and isn't paid to ask questions.
06:49But just because she can compartmentalise her ethics, that doesn't mean the reality of
06:52the job isn't catching up with her, as she's still reading from the recent death
06:57of her friend and it's kept her away from her family.
07:01Scarra wants out and she knows this is an illegal mission, but a $10 million payday is enough
07:06to sway her and the idea that, ultimately, this will save lives.
07:12You might even say she's got a lot of red on her ledger that she needs to make up for.
07:17What I'm basically saying is that she's pretty much playing a version of Black Widow here.
07:22And the fact that she's so focused on her tasks, maybe even coldly so at times, can make
07:27her a bit unlikable at points, so I appreciate the dynamic she has with Mahersha Ali's Kincaid,
07:33whose boat they hire for the expedition and it's obvious that these two go back a long
07:37way.
07:38I actually quite like the scene where they just talk about how messed up their lives
07:42are.
07:43He's mourning the death of his child, which adds a bit of debt to their characters and
07:48the trust they have for each other.
07:50And Ali is a good presence in the early going, but I do feel he's a little underutilised once
07:55to actually get on the island.
07:57He's ostensibly the leader, but it feels like Zora is the one really taking charge,
08:02so he kind of falls into the background sometimes and is not given enough moments of his own,
08:07at least until close to the end.
08:09Instead I think Jonathan Bailey's Dr. Loomis is probably the most memorable character here.
08:14He's clearly mauled after Dr. Grant, they even personally mentioned that he's a student
08:18of his, but there's also elements of Ian Malcolm in there as well, even getting a bleak speech
08:23about human survival that is directly lifted from the original Chrysler book, but was said
08:28by Malcolm.
08:30And Bailey acquits himself well as a bit of a hot nerd who gets himself surprisingly involved
08:35in the action once he's on the island.
08:37He's quietly charismatic and likeable, which is good for someone that is clearly meant to
08:41be the audience surrogate.
08:43He spends a lot of the film trying to protect the dinosaurs, but also reawakens Zora's
08:48own repressed morality about their employer.
08:51And Rupert Friend is clearly relishing the part of blood-sucking capitalist Krebs.
08:56There is a bit of dimension to him, he's not a complete caricature, but he's pretty
09:01immoral.
09:02Sure he wants to find a cure to save millions of lives, but mostly because he can make a
09:07lot of money from it, especially if he's first, even if that means breaking international
09:13law and sacrificing a few people in the process.
09:16His true ruthlessness and self-interest comes out when it's his neck on the line.
09:22Then his treacherousness reveals itself.
09:24And Friend feels especially well cast in this film, he's got the kind of matinee idol
09:29looks that would be right at home in a 60s B-movie dinosaur flick, but there's also
09:34a bit of a self-aware edge to his moustache-twirling villainy, which means that he looks like he's
09:39having the most fun out of anyone.
09:42Admittedly, Rebirth starts a little bit slower out of the blocks than previous world films, which
09:46race through to get to the action and dinosaurs, but I appreciate that we got more quiet moments
09:52to care about the characters.
09:54Something that I can't say I ever did about the ones in the last trilogy.
09:58But the longer setup is also down to the fact that it has too many characters.
10:02As we don't just have the Spec Ops team, we also get the Delgado family, whose boat is
10:07capsized by a Mosasaurus because their dad has decided that sailing his family close to a globally
10:11restricted dinosaur island is a good idea.
10:15They get picked up by the team, but then they get separated again, and the movie effectively has
10:19two sets of main characters in parallel plots, both trying to converge on the former research
10:25lad to get rescued.
10:26This is trying to replicate the dynamic in the original film.
10:29You had Malcolm, Ellie and Hammond trying to restore power while Grant and the kids were running
10:34around in the park.
10:35And the Grant parallels are even more obvious when there's a subplot that Ruben isn't a big fan of
10:41boyfriend Xavier, who's a bit of a lazy pretty boy that at first seems like he might have a future
10:47in a dinosaur intestine somewhere.
10:49But then he shows moments of bravery and responsibility that eventually earns Ruben's respect.
10:55And I didn't mind these characters, but having a second set of protagonists is just too heavy
10:59a load because now we have eight main characters, and that's not even counting the secondary characters
11:05that you know the film is going to whittle down.
11:08It's just a matter of how and when.
11:10Unsurprisingly, having to juggle between two different storylines does cause some pacing problems.
11:17But I did like having some distinct characters, as while people love the dinosaurs,
11:22we do also remember the characters in Jurassic Park, and I think that says something,
11:26because quite a bit of the first half of that film is ethical and scientific debates about
11:31bringing dinosaurs back from extinction and commercialising it.
11:34But we remember that stuff and quote it, you know, chaos theory and all that.
11:39But that's also something they probably couldn't ever do again.
11:43Sure, the sequels have continued those themes, but mostly it's a way of introducing some new,
11:49even deadlier dinosaur.
11:51And speaking of which, Rebirth introduces several freakish mutant crossbreeds,
11:55things that shouldn't have survived, let alone been made.
11:59But, uh, uh, uh, life finds a way.
12:03Most prominently, we have the bulbous-headed, six-armed D-Rex.
12:08The D stands for Distorters.
12:10No, really, that is its name.
12:12But the Jurassic Park sequels are largely just romps in the park,
12:16just getting characters onto the islands and then ripping them to shreds.
12:20And Rebirth especially feels in the tradition of the Lost World,
12:23and the third film that I've never quite understood the hate for.
12:27However, that does also mean there's quite a bit of been there, done that about this.
12:32Especially because the setup is reminiscent of the films that have followed in Jurassic Park's
12:37massive footprints, like Kong's Skull Island,
12:39or the pharmaceutical plot point of Anaconda's The Hunt for the Blood Orchid.
12:44Yeah, I can't believe I brought that out as a point of comparison for this.
12:47But after years of divisive entries, the franchise is playing it safe here.
12:53But what elevates the film is new director Gareth Edwards,
12:56who is the perfect fit for a movie like this,
12:58with his experience on movies like Monsters or the 2014 Godzilla.
13:02And it is abundantly clear that he's a massive Spielberg fan,
13:06because he does his best impression of the legendary director,
13:09and fills it with homages throughout.
13:12And coming from an effects background, he knows how to stage the dinosaur sequences,
13:16with both a sense of scale, but also wonder.
13:19Especially in the scene where they meet the Titanosaurus herd,
13:23trying to replicate that scene with the Brachiosaurus in the original Jurassic Park.
13:27Edwards is even quite liberal with his use of the John Williams theme,
13:31because when you have a John Williams theme at your disposal,
13:34you should absolutely use it as much as possible.
13:37I've sometimes found Edwards' movies like The Creator or Rogue One to be technical,
13:42and emotionally sterile.
13:44But there's a warmth to this, because it has that Spielberg spirit.
13:48Ironically for all the stuff about The Creator being shot on FX3s,
13:52Rebirth was shot on film to further be a throwback.
13:55But there's a wit to how he stages the dinosaur attacks.
13:58Especially the way you get little peeks of the dinosaurs in the water,
14:02and smoke in the background right before they attack.
14:05Just that little, it's right behind you.
14:09And the Spielberg callbacks extend past Jurassic.
14:12Like Zora attempt to get a sample from the Mosasaurus,
14:15there's a fitting tribute to Jaws in its 50th year.
14:17It's a really exciting set piece.
14:20I'm surprised that Scarlet didn't go full Roy Scheider at the end of it,
14:23and exclaim, smile you son of a bitch, as she fires off the dart.
14:27There's also a subplot where the youngest Delgado, Isabella,
14:30is traumatized mute early on, but befriends a cute Aquilatops,
14:34that helps her out of her shell again, that she nicknames Dolores.
14:38Not only does Spielberg love a cute, easily merchandisable gremlin,
14:42but Isabella lures Dolores using candy in a blatant nod to ET.
14:47Speaking of which, there's some pretty obvious product placement,
14:51especially for Mars products, particularly in a surprisingly well-stocked abandoned grocery shop.
14:57But this is by far most obvious in the very opening scene,
15:01where a Snickers wrapper causes the D-Rex to escape,
15:04which is pretty amusing when you think about it,
15:07because most sponsors don't usually want their brand associated with a lot of people dying,
15:12especially a sequence where the person eating the snack ends up as one by the end of it.
15:17Also, this is yet another Gareth Edwards movie,
15:20where people are separated by a blast door and something is coming up to kill them,
15:25be it a dinosaur or Darth Vader. Why do you love blast doors, Gareth?
15:29This is such a really specific director trademark.
15:33But these films are very dependent on their set pieces,
15:36and Edwards stages them with the right amount of suspense and horror.
15:39The one where they abseil down into the nest is actually really well done,
15:43until it gets a bit silly and someone survives something that should have very easily killed them.
15:48But easily the standout for me is the one taken from Crichton's novel that wasn't adapted previously,
15:54involving a sleeping T-Rex and a raft,
15:57which is genuinely tense and thrilling and fun in the way that these films should be.
16:03I personally found Jurassic World Rebirth to be a bitter return to form for the series,
16:07although I could easily understand being underwhelmed,
16:09as this monster mash in the jungle is very well trodden ground by now.
16:14But I think the film exemplifies just how badly Trevorrow handled his films,
16:18because this is so much closer to the spirit of the earlier movies,
16:21and Edwards' direction is far more competent all around as an unabashed Spielberg tribute.
16:27Rebirth has fairly modest ambitions, but the bar has been set so low at this point
16:33that even a decent if fairly disposable entry is still a major improvement.
16:40Yes, it has the clunky cheesy dialogue that Kepp's scripts are kind of known for by now,
16:45and it's a little long and bloated,
16:47but it also delivers a lot of what you come to see a Jurassic film to see,
16:52enough that fans should have less to complain about this time.
16:56It isn't close to the original because you're never going to match that,
16:59and it isn't exactly evolutionary, but at least it isn't a big pile of shit either.
17:05If you like this review and you want to support my work,
17:07you can give me a tip on my Kofi page, or YouTube's Sue Thanks feature,
17:10which is right below the video.
17:12Or you can give me a roar over on my Patreon,
17:15where you can see my videos early among other perks,
17:17including access to my Discord server,
17:19and you can also join YouTube memberships for similar perks.
17:22Or you can just simply like, share and subscribe, it all helps.
17:26Until next time, I'm Matthew Buck, fading out.
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