By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Written by David Koepp
Universal
The title of JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH is a bit of a misnomer, as the latest in the now 32-year-old franchise follows more in the oversized, clawed footsteps of the original JURASSIC PARK than those of the more recent WORLD trilogy. No surprise, since David Koepp, who wrote that first movie and the subsequent THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, returned for scripting duties here. And amidst the numerous plot and visual shout-outs to the 1993 blockbuster, REBIRTH also harks back to an even earlier Steven Spielberg trendsetter–the one that turned 50 earlier this month.
The plot of REBIRTH hinges on the goal of retrieving blood from three of the very biggest prehistoric species now revived and dwelling in the present, and one of them is the aquatic Mosasaurus. Leading the team on that mission is ex-Navy SEAL turned mercenary Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), and when she crouches on the bowsprit of the boat she’s commissioned, trying to get a good shot at the fast-swimming predator, the setpiece’s own DNA is clear. Yet this extended sequence is a genuinely thrilling highlight of JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH–scary and exciting, well-sustained with visual effects that are completely convincing. It’s often said that water is one of the toughest things for CG animators to pull off realistically, and there’s never a moment, in REBIRTH’s numerous scenes set on and in the ocean and a river, where you don’t believe the dinosaurs are really splashing and surging after their human prey.
The assorted beasts–some familiar, some new and mutated–get up to fearsome business on land as well, and the JURASSIC brain trust landed just the right director for this installment in Gareth Edwards. In his handmade debut feature MONSTERS and megapicture debut GODZILLA, he demonstrated an uncommon (in both senses of the word) knack for suggestiveness when it came to unveiling his creatures, and makes that work here in the seventh of a franchise that hasn’t previously been shy about putting its titans front and center. Under Edwards’ direction, the dinos often loom or lurk in the background of the frames or shrouded in darkness, starting with a brief, creepy prologue, before taking the front and center, and he even finds a new and shivery way to introduce the old reliable T. rex. Like J.A. Bayona with the underrated JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM, Edwards approaches the material like a horror film, and taps into the primal terror of something much larger than yourself trying to eat you.
It’s just a shame that Koepp has provided the kind of script in which, when faced with the imminent threat of being devoured by gigantic ancient reptiles, one character actually has to tell another to “Run!”, as if there’s any other choice of reaction. Koepp’s motivating conceit does carry a bit of satirical self-awareness: In the present day, more than three decades after Jurassic Park initially opened, the public has gotten bored with dinosaurs, and one of the first ones we see, holding up traffic on Manhattan’s FDR Drive, is seen with more annoyance than awe by New Yorkers. In addition, climate and modern diseases have taken their toll since these animals were first unleashed upon civilization, and now they only thrive in environments close to the equator.
It is one of those regions that’s the destination of Zora and her team, which also includes paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey), faced with the closure of his museum and anxious to get up close and personal with living species; Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), Zora’s longtime comrade and captain of the boat taking them into potentially dangerous waters; Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), a rep from the ParkerGenix pharmaceutical who believes the dino blood holds the key to curing heart disease (and making him a lot of money); and a few others whom viewers possessing any experience with this kind of film will know are expendable. (Though it should be said that one of their deaths occurs at an unexpected moment and is shot in an offhanded manner that makes it scarier.) On their way to their first stop with the Mosasaurus, they pick up the Delgado family–father Reuben (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), his college-bound daughter Teresa (Luna Blaise) and preteen child Isabella (Audrina Miranda), plus Teresa’s jerk boyfriend Xavier (David Iacano)–who have already survived one attack at sea and soon find their “rescue” is only carrying them into more peril.
The early moments in NYC contain a few fun visual references to the first PARK, and the plot similarities become more pronounced as REBIRTH goes on. (A key episode in which the T. rex takes off after the rafting Delgados is directly inspired by one in Michael Crichton’s PARK novel that was originally intended for inclusion in the ’93 film.) That makes this a kind of “legacy sequel” even though the characters are all-new, and it’s a plus that Edwards’ confident, atmospheric staging takes the curse off the familiarity. The characters themselves, on the other hand, aren’t much help; they’re thinly conceived and not terribly developed, and any interest in them is the result of having charismatic actors like Johansson, Bailey and Ali in the lead roles. That’s a particular shame given how well-drawn the central family was in the Koepp-scripted PRESENCE earlier this year; there are only fleeting attempts at depth and meaning in REBIRTH’s characterizations, and even those don’t always land.
On balance, it is Edwards’ achievement that he keeps the excitement and fear factor cooking nonetheless, with the solid assist of John Mathieson’s lush cinematography (shot on 35mm–yay!), a score by Alexandre Desplat that holds up the great John Williams tradition and those superb effects by Industrial Light & Magic and other houses. JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH is a step up from the first and third in the previous WORLD triptych (FALLEN KINGDOM is underrated, says I again!), and if it launches follow-ups of its own, the producers would do well to keep Edwards aboard and develop a screenplay to match his talents.
