A lot about me has changed over the years. Physically, mentally, emotionally, the lot. But one thing that hasn’t changed, apparently, is that if you sit me down in front of a movie about dinosaurs, I will have a pretty damn good time.
Because that’s the only way I can make sense of the fact that I keep finding these Jurassic World movies an enjoyable little addition to the blockbuster canon on the seemingly-random summer Thursdays they drop three times a decade. If you’ve been with us at No But Listen for a while, you’ll know that I have been tossing my hands in the air in bafflement at the consistently dreadful reviews that the modern Jurassic World movies have earned – I just don’t think any of them are that bad, and, at this point, I can only assume that it’s some nostalgia hangover from my childhood that has me so enjoying these films, since I seem to be one of the few still able to.
Which brings me to Jurassic World Rebirth, the latest entry into the Jurassic Park canon, directed by Gareth Edwards. Starring Scarlett Johanssen and Johnathan Bailey as two members of a crew setting out on a surreptitious mission to collect blood from a handful of the world’s surviving dinosaurs to serve one of the generic Evil Corporations who have always served as the villains for this iteration of the franchise. Throw in Rupert Friend hamming it up as a sneering coroporate bad guy with better hair than anyone I’ve ever seen, Mahershala Ali as an old ally captaining the mission, and a stack of dinosaurs of the land, sea, and air, and we’re up to our mosquitos in amber. Or something like that.
Jurassic World Rebirth certainly has its problems, the most significant being David Koepp’s script. I still haven’t forgiven him for the atrocious offence of Presence, and the frequently clunky and robotic scene-to-scene dialogue undermines some otherwise-decent character work. Bailey does well as the central nerd character, more effusive and excited than supercilious and smug, and David Iacono manages to subvert the usual deadbeat teenage boyfriend trope into something moderately interesting. Ali and Johansson, despite their very solid chops, are dragging themselves through the sludge of dialogue in their character-driven scenes, but they’re both good enough to elevate it to something at least watchable.
But what of the real stars of the show – the dinosaurs? I’ve always liked how the Jurassic World series contends with the broader reality (well, something close to it, at least) of a world with dinosaurs in it, and this is no exception – after the thrills of Dominion, dinosaurs have become a curio at best, an annoyance at worst. The dismissive attitude towards them leaves them underestimated at the start of the movie, and Rebirth throws every kind of set piece at the wall to remind us just how scary they can be.
The action is almost-universally solid in Rebirth, even brilliant, at times – the way Edwards makes use of light puncturing darkness to underline his biggest and baddest villains really works here, and he delivers on a really solid range of locations and set-pieces that make the most of the expansive premise of the mission. If you’re here for the dinosaurs – and I think you likely are – then Rebirth comfortably sticks the landing.
Rebirth is another entry into the Jurassic World canon that more than makes a case for the franchise’s continued existence – even if there are still places it could use tightening up, it’s a solid chunk of dino-blockbuster fun. Though, at this point, maybe I need to accept that I’m biased.
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By Lou MacGregor
(header image via Los Angeles Times)
No But Listen 