★★☆☆☆

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” Review

We once again find ourselves in the world of Jurassic Park, or rather, Jurassic World. We have all likely lost track of how many Jurassic Park and World movies there have been at this point. And to be honest, I have absolutely no idea where in the Jurassic franchise timeline this movie took place before I entered the theater.

I went in with neutral expectations. I was there to see some dinosaurs, some action, and let’s be honest, to see Johnathan Bailey in those little wire-rimmed glasses. Although, I was not shocked that I left the theater feeling disappointed.

To put it simply, the movie was lackluster. The plot was almost entirely predictable, we’ve already seen this movie before. I hoping this newest installment would bring some more zest, but it felt flat. The side characters were so bland, the movie threw them to the wayside at the earliest possible moment.

Johnathan Bailey did bring an excellent performance as a Dinosaur paleontologist, entirely charming with his own little quirks. I loved what he brought to the character, he felt real, dynamic, interesting. Something almost every other character in this film lacked. There was also an interesting side plot featuring a family that fell upon some bad luck and got dragged into the Jurassic drama.

Scarlet Johansson was there, and that’s about all that she brought to her character and the film as a whole.

Let’s just be grateful they didn’t try to force a romance between our two main characters, because the was absolutely no chemistry there. They did, however, force us into a poignant ending featuring a piano-cover of the Jurassic theme that felt entirely misplaced.

In the end, it was simply a regurgitation trying to emanate the excitement and grandeur of every other movie in the franchise, yet lacking the originality to make it truly charming and interesting.