Movie Review: Jurassic World Rebirth

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

A step in the right direction for this franchise. 

While this new entry in the Jurassic Park franchise, may not come even close to recapturing the magic to the original Jurassic Park (1993) (something even Spielberg himself couldn't accomplish), it is an entertaining trip to the movies. That is more than could be said for the previous three films in the series. I admit when this film was announced I was far from hopeful. When Gareth Edwards, who directed my least favorite Star Wars movie, I had less hope. But to my surprise Edwards did a much better job directing this film than he did directing a Star Wars film. He creates some surprisingly successful suspense scenes. These scenes are very well staged, and the timing is excellent. This movie also brings back one of the most important accepts of the original movie that have been missing from the past few. This is actually trying to create some awe and wonder. While Gareth Edwards does a good job directing this film, he is not Steven Spielberg. Because of this he creates some beautiful visuals and a great sense of atmosphere but is unable to create the sense of magic that flowed throughout the first film. Yet after the last three movies were lacking in visual beauty and atmosphere, this was still a delightful surprise.  

The characters are definitely undeveloped. However, they do accomplish their jobs. The characters that are supposed to be likable are likable. The characters we are supposed to hate we hate. While we may not become fully invested in these characters, we care about them just enough for the suspense and action scenes to work. A great cast (including Scarlett Johanson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey) also helps these characters accomplish what they need to accomplish. 

The humor on the other hand falls consistently flat with not a single laugh in the whole film. The movie is also much longer than it needs to be and quite a bit could have been cut to make it flow better. There is also a message about capitalism that is overly preachy and subtle as a giant T-Rex.