A million years ago, in 1993, Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” unleashed two menaces on the planet. The first, of course, was dinosaurs, as the movie warned would-be genetican engineers the consequences of playing God. Far more upsetting, however, was the explosion of computer-generated visual effects, which have been abused and misused in nearly every way imaginable since we collectively marveled at a herd of virtual brontosauruses majestically stomping across a tropical island.
The “Jurassic” sequels have been among the worst offenders, illustrating corny situations with unconvincing visuals and thereby subjecting one of Hollywood’s most profitable franchises to the tyranny of VFX (as in the turducken-like gag of a Mosasaurus eating a Pterodactyl halfway through eating a park guest). The $6 billion franchise’s seventh installment, “Jurassic World Rebirth,” serves as a reset of sorts, bringing back not a single one of its former cast members, but instead allowing screenwriter David Koepp to restore what worked so well about the original film.
Koepp, who adapted the Michael Crichton bestseller and its 1997 sequel, “The Lost World,” is just as committed as anyone to serving up monster-movie thrills, but he and filmmaker Gareth Evans (the “Godzilla” director whose entire career, dating back to his 2010 debut “Monsters,” depends on the strategic use of CGI) understand how to prioritize the human characters over the imaginary threats. That all-important dynamic starts with the script, as none of it works if we don’t believe in the people being endangered, and here we get an all-new ensemble.
Shady Big Pharma hotshot Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) spares no expense in recruiting amoral special-ops vet Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) and pragmatic paleontologist Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) for a suicide mission to the off-limits equatorial habitat of Ile Saint-Hubert. Johansson is a marked improvement over the Bryce Dallas Howard character in the previous three “Jurassic World” movies — embarrassing follow-ups it’s now possible to pretend didn’t happen, as escaped species are dying off around the globe — and it’s especially satisfying to get a woman in the role of the team’s toughest member, with no obligation to be anyone’s love interest.
Rendered “bookish” by a pair of wireframe glasses, Henry is introduced as a student of Dr. Alan Grant, but despite several decades of dinos roaming the earth (again), he’s spent more time studying fossils than interacting with any of the living creatures. Krebs offers him a chance to observe them up close as he attempts to collect blood samples from the three largest species: the aforementioned Mosasaurus in water, Titanosaurus on land and Quetzalcoatlus of the air.
Meanwhile, an intimidating old-school opening sequence teases the true attraction of “Rebirth”: The island houses a research facility where scientists hatched a number of mutant hybrids, including the six-legged Distortus rex (not unlike the top-heavy Rancor from “Return of the Jedi”). The movie brings back several old favorites — including Velociraptors, Dilophosaurus and a T. rex from the original — before unleashing this fresh monstrosity on the handful of characters who make it to the end.
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In order to reach the island, Bennett enlists Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), a Suriname-based old friend adventurous enough to steer his ship and crew (co-pilots Philippine Velge and Bechir Sylvain, plus gun-crazy security chief, played by Ed Skrein) to certain doom. Kincaid may seem ruthless, but Koepp gives him a more sympathetic backstory, suggesting that the grieving mercenary recently lost a child and may sacrifice himself in order to spare another, if given such a chance.
That turns out to be relevant when the team comes across a family that narrowly survived a Mosasaur encounter — father Reuben (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) and his daughters Isabella (Audrina Miranda), 11, and college-bound Teresa (Luna Blaise), along with her exasperating boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono) — huddled on an overturned sailboat. The attack itself delivers classic “Jaws” excitement, illustrating Evans’ instincts for suspense over excess, showing commendable restraint in the use of CGI (and a refreshing return to practical locations and celluloid film stock that counteract how fake the other “World” movies look).
The Mosasaurus first appears as an intimidating silhouette in the water. When it does finally breach the surface, the film treats that sight with all the awe of a dramatic whale watching expedition. Evans understands that the “Jurassic” franchise is most effective when the dinosaurs seem real. At two hours and five minutes before credits, “Rebirth” runs long, but not excessively so, allowing time for audiences to observe and appreciate creatures that went extinct long ago, whose behavior is based largely on speculation. When the team stumbles across a small Titanosaurus herd, the film privileges Henry’s reaction as the paleontologist witnesses an elegant mating ritual for the first time.
That sequence is every bit as satisfying as the action set pieces, many of which rely on a common gimmick (one Evans relies on perhaps three too many times): While the camera concentrates on a distracted character in the foreground, a menacing shape moves silently out of focus behind their back, cueing audiences that an attack is imminent. As such, we’re nearly always one step ahead of our heroes, cringing over threats those on screen rarely see coming — as in the humorous moment when Xavier takes a late-night bathroom break, urinating toward the camera as a tense dino battle unfolds over his shoulder.
Evans and Koepp include a decent number of knowing winks to the earlier films, starting with a falling banner that reads “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth.” But they also manipulate our expectations in clever ways, recognizing that we’ve been trained to anticipate how selfish and absent-minded acts can “justify” certain characters being eaten. Xavier is both when first introduced, but the slacker pothead lives long enough to reveal his chivalrous side. Although most of the dinos don’t hesitate to devour people, a herbivorous, puppy-sized Aquilops that Ella dubs “Dolores” is cute enough to adopt.
Scenes between Ella and her potentially ill-advised pet, along with tender moments involving several other species, introduce a surprising counter-argument to the earlier “Jurassic” movies: namely, that they have a right to exist. But entertaining as it can be at times, stripped of the silliness that tainted the second trilogy, “Rebirth” doesn’t necessarily make the same case for itself. The movie offers an updated version of the same basic ride Spielberg offered 32 years earlier, and yet, it hardly feels essential to the series’ overall mythology, nor does it signal where the franchise could be headed.
From Variety US