The Jurassic films have been formulaic, Jurassic World: Rebirth, has some twists to the Dino DNA! It all started with Steven Spielberg’s classic, Jurassic Park (1993) with David Koepp adapting Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel. Koepp returned to adapt Crichton’s 1995 sequel for The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). The sequels were fine, they have moments, but maybe it is Koepp who knew the formula. It took 18 years before the park finally opened with Jurassic World (2015) with director/co-writer Colin Trevorrow. I liked the volcano destroying Isla Nubar in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) directed by J.A. Bayona. Then, the dinos were loose in the world. The series seemed to fizzle out especially losing interest in dinos and instead focus on locusts(?) with Jurassic World: Dominion (2022).
It brought together casts from both Jurassic trilogies and just forced to bring all the stories to a finish. Instead, Rebirth is more of a refresh. Gareth Edwards is the director of Jurassic World: Rebirth. He is the director and co-writer of the visionary sci fi film, The Creator (2023), Godzilla (2014) launching the MonsterVerse franchise, and wrote and directed the original sci fi kaiju film, Monsters (2010). Koepp takes the script reigns here. It begins “Seventeen years ago”, five years before Jurassic World, 2010. There is a rumbling as a helicopter comes to land at an InGen facility at Ile Saint-Hubert, 226 miles east of French Guiana. InGen is the bioengineering facility that we saw from the first Jurassic Park. Finally, we see the lab that was the beginning of the dino trouble.
We see a scientist, Williams (Adam Loxley) passes a large specimen container labeled Mutadon. It has strange mutant pterosaur in green fluid. This is similar to the containers in Aliens (1986). He goes up to a lab door, marked D-rex, and meets with a colleague, DeSanto (Niamh Finlay) on the as he gets his environmental suit on. Williams is also fumbling with a candy bar wrapper. They do the three-two-one countdown with fingers before turning lab keys. Williams enters the lab, but of course there is an unforeseen complication. He joins colleagues when there is a containment failure! The system shorts out and then begins a reboot. Someone screams, “It’s loose!” The others are able to escape before the lab door closes! DeSanto tries to reach the door with the lab key, but she pauses, shocked at what is behind Williams in the red mist!
The Distortus rex has the domed head of the Alien xenomorph mixed with a Tyrannosaur that has two tiny limbs like the Alien Queen. The accident at the beginning is a standard for Jurassic films. Weak security if there are dangerous animals around. “Shoot her!” We see a roll up explaining that five years after the last Jurassic World movie, the environment has become hostile to dinosaurs with the climate and disease. They can only survive in the tropical band around the equator which is forbidden to enter. Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) is stuck in traffic. Friend is also in this year’s Wes Anderson film, The Phoenician Scheme. He hears from the radio about the last surviving sauropod in North America. It is seen being covered with tarps and about to be lifted by crane. Martin says the dino should have died already and finds that Zora Bennett played by Scarlett Johansson is in the car! Johansson also stars in The Phoenician Scheme as Cousin Hilda. She also directed her first film, the drama, Eleanor the Great.
Her specialization is retrival and extractions. They walk over to a dock and Martin who works for ParkerGenix says, “We have very deep pockets." He offers a payment with ten and six zeroes, ten million. The mission to collect Dino DNA may have a cure for coronary disease. Martin brings up her mother’s death. He also says, “We’re bringing a civilian.” Of course on this mission, Martin is also a civilian, a corporate representative like Carter Burke in Aliens. This shifts to a museum a painting of a hadrosaur is covered up with white paint. A cartoon mentions the Neo Jurassic Age, a term from Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" banner falls. This references the first movie and also the terrific 1970 caveman and dinosaur movie. The museum is mostly empty with only dinosaur skeletons on display and the construction crew breaking down the exhibits. They meet with Dr. Henry Loomis played by Jonathan Bailey. Lord Anthony Bridgerton was played by Bailey in season four of Bridgerton. He also reprises his part as Fiyero in Wicked: For Good.
Henry is an academic seen with the glasses and he is the consultant for the mission. Henry explains that the DNA is best found in the largest Dinos in land, sea, and air. These include the Mosasaurus which we saw in Jurassic World. Then, a new dino, a sauropod, Titanosaurus, and Quetzalcoalus, a massive pterosaur which was in Jurassic World: Dominion. The DNA needs to be extracted from living dinosaurs and of course they are only found in the forbidden zone. Martin tells Henry that they are bringing him along. He is surprised to go out in the field and his decision leads to the funniest part of the movie! This moves to Suriname, 322 miles from the equator, and we get the John Williams, the classic score is used only a few times, to connect with the franchise, but the tension and action of this brilliant score is by composer, Alexandre Desplat. He worked with Edwards on the music for Godzilla. This superior to just variations on Williams' music. A prehistoric fish, a Dunkleosteus is hauled up to a dock. Duncan Kincaid played by Mahershala Ali takes all of the winnings of his card game. Ali is a distinguished actor with his role in Moonlight (2016) as Juan winning him the Best Supporting Actor Academy award. He was also in the thriller, Leave the World Behind.
Five darts out of Five!
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