When the dinosaurs and their associated mayhem are at the film’s forefront, as it should be with any Jurassic Park film, Jurassic World Rebirth soars. Koepp’s ideas for each set piece are brilliantly executed under Edwards direction, which builds the anticipation and fear within viewers, delivering heart pounding moments throughout the entire film. While the dinosaurs are largely created by computer generated images in this entry, missing the practical effects that have been a notable feature of the franchise throughout its history, the CGI is very good and helps to bring to life these prehistoric creatures. Most notably, it is the tyrannosaurus rex raft sequence that is the highlight of the entire film, as Koepp (and life) finding a way to incorporate the sequence from the original novel that Spielberg had to cut from the original film. It’s a knockout of a sequence that delivers absolute terror and big screen thrills, instantly reminding audiences why some films must be experienced on the big screen. Infused in each set piece are callbacks to Spielberg’s iconic film, as Edwards pays tribute to one of Hollywood’s greatest films with visuals that audiences see on screen. It is even extended to Alexandre Desplat’s musical score, which does a great job of creating its own thrilling soundscape for the film, but brings back John William’s iconic themes to make some of the film’s most awe inspiring moments pop right off the screen, helping them to capture the magic and wonder of the original film.

 

Where the film runs into problems is with Koepp’s script. Koepp, who himself is no stranger to the franchise after writing the original classic, and is part of the reason why audiences continue to watch these films today, struggles to connect with audiences. When focused on the dinosaur driven set pieces, the film is absolutely enthralling and will have audiences holding their breath in fear that someone is about to become the dinosaur’s next meal, which is the majority of the film’s second half. It is getting to this point where Koepp’s script does the film no favours. With incredibly clunky dialogue that reiterates plot points rather than developing characters and an emotional reason for the audience to become invested in their survival, it's hard to believe that Koepp even wrote this film considering that he wrote Black Bag earlier this year, which is full of some of the most sophisticated and engrossing dialogue of any film this year. The human characters are rather dull and underdeveloped to say the least, and the conversations between them have no emotion or substance, causing the film to fall flat outside of the set pieces and suffer from pacing issues (which is the majority of the first half). Luckily, the ideas that Koepp has up his sleeve for the set pieces are awesome, creating that big screen spectacle and dinosaur chaos that audiences have come to love about the Jurassic Park series, helping them to quickly forget the film’s rough start.

 

There is no distracting from the dinosaurs who are the true stars of the film, but the human cast does a great job, especially given the script they are given to work with. Johansson always makes for a dependable action lead, and she does exactly that as Zora, while Ali is dependable as Duncan even if his character is given the least important role of the main characters. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is charming as the father who finds himself and his two young girls in the midst of the dinosaur chaos, and Audrina Miranda is adorable as Isabella in her big screen debut, especially alongside her dinosaur co-star Dolores. Ed Skrein is instantly hateable, doing his job perfectly and creating on character to be served up as dinosaur fodder when called up, David Iacono is that annoying boyfriend, while Friend relishes in the evil corporateness of Martin, developing one character that would in a blink of an eye feed someone to a dinosaur if it advances the goals of his employer. 

 

But, it is Bailey who runs away with the entire film as Henry. Encompassing the nerdiness of his character, the wonder Henry experiences as he sees dinosaurs for the first time in the wild and sees his life’s work come to fruition, and packing a secret, undeniable sex appeal, Bailey is nothing short of transcendent. Elevating the script with his passion in every scene, it's easy to see why Bailey has become a worldwide celebrity as he possesses a natural charm and tenderness that helps to create a character to ground and centre a film featuring countless dinosaurs. His connection with Johansson is instant and delightful and clearly not acting as displayed on the film’s press tour, allowing them to develop the heart of the film’s moral subplot, though it is his scene where his character meets the Titanosaurs up close that is the pinnacle of his performance without him even having to utter a single word.

While it is easy to sit around and discuss a film’s shortcomings from a critical point of view, when your film is about dinosaurs who have been extinct for tens of millions of years, the spectacle should rightfully overtake the pitfalls. And if viewers approach Jurassic World Rebirth with that in mind, they are destined to have an exciting trip to the movies. While it ranks near the bottom of the Jurassic Park franchise, director Gareth Edwards brings true terror back to the beloved franchise with nerve wracking set pieces that deliver a thrilling spectacle of epic proportions that is only bolstered by a talented cast. Despite a screenplay and dialogue that creates noticeable pacing issues when the dinosaurs are not on screen, dinosaurs breathe a sense of terror and excitement back into the beloved franchise that with Gareth Edwards delivering spectacle driven set pieces that will have audiences’ hearts racing and a stellar lead cast of Jonathan Bailey, Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Rupert Friend, solidifies Jurassic World Rebirth as exciting summer popcorn entertainment.