Jurassic World- Rebirth review

 

The fact that you sort of know what’s going to happen in a Jurassic franchise film – disparate characters fleeing from big jaws and not all of them will make it – doesn’t necessarily negate the thrills. This seventh iteration somehow manages to come up with yet more inventive sequences in which people are caught in seemingly inescapable peril at the claws of prehistoric monsters. Some of them make it, others don’t- surely not a spoiler at this late stage. This film is something of a reset, largely ignoring previous characters (there are a few references) but neatly linking back to  the lore presumably setting up another trilogy though after what the survivors have been through here, would any of them really come back for more?

 

Spoilers past this point

After some initial aquatic danger, the narrative sees an unlikely couple of groups attempting to survive on the remote island of Ile Saint-Hubert where genetic experiments on dinosaurs took place thirteen years earlier. For one group- a team of for - hire types that probably only exist in fiction – the destination is intentional even if the form of arrival is not. They are looking to take blood from three spices of living dinosaur to potentially help create medicines that will help millions. Why they think this is ever going to go well I’m not sure!  En route their somewhat ill-equipped craft also soon collects a family left stranded when their even less adequate boat was up turned by a massive sea creature. Quite why they would be holidaying in such dangerous waters is another of those questions you just don’t ask.

After a dramatic arrival, once on the island both groups strive to stay one step ahead of the dinosaurs and in the case of the larger party collect those samples which needless to say is dangerous. The poor family are just trying to stay alive. Inevitably whatever dynamic the script tries to spark amongst the people is literally silenced whenever a dino appears so the actors have to make do with comparatively slim material. Scarlett Johannson’s Zora Bennett is a Covert Operations expert whose seemingly varied missions means she is unflustered by those ear shaking roars. She is stoic and secretly principled though doesn’t show it and gets some of those bravura action scenes usually reserved for the guys. Mahershala Ali’s Duncan is her team leader; the sort of gung-ho team leader you would want by your side. We spend much of the film expecting his bravado to get him killed though whether he does or not I’m not saying! The chemistry between the two is great  and I could really see a spin off into another franchise as they’ve clearly meant to have worked together for ages.

Bringing geeky enthusiasm is Jonathan Bailey as palaeontologist Henry Loomis who is given an unexpected chance to see the creatures he’s studied in captivity in the wild. Surprisingly perhaps he too turns out to have adventure chops and despite having worked in a museum seems able to handle a lot of action. If there’s an antagonist that doesn’t have very scary teeth and roars a lot its Martin Krebbs played by Rupert Friend. The character has his own agenda because of course anyone who works in the pharmaceutical industry is unprincipled and untrustworthy. More could have been made of his character I felt. 

The Delgado family are probably more identifiable for the average viewer and what they lack in defined character they more than make up for with their terrified reaction to everything that goes on. Elder daughter Teresa’s stoner boyfriend Xavier (David Iocono) gets the funniest lines and I liked father Reuben’s (Manuel Garcia Ruffo) fatherly disposition which added the human touch to proceedings. Younger daughter Isabella is especially spooked at least that is until she meets a cute little grass eating dinosaur. Which I suppose is as clichéd as a nasty pharmaceutical guy.

Of course, what people come to see are the dinosaurs and now we are so used to them being rendered impeccably this film has to use its imagination to come up with new scenarios which it achieves really well. Stand outs include the team’s boat under attack from a Mosasaur and some Spinosaurus as it runs aground, another water based sequence in which a massive Tyrannosaurs Rex toys with the Delgado family in and around a river which elicits the film’s best OMG moment. Then there’s a terrific scene involving a couple of Quetzalcoatlus (sort of large pterodactyls) who return- as we knew they would- when the team are raiding their nest for a sample from one of their eggs. Gareth Edwards directs assuredly to give the audience the edge of seat stuff we want from this franchise.

Homage is also paid to the original film with a sequence in which some more placid plant eating dinosaurs are presented with that stirring theme and an overwhelmed Loomis looking up in awe. It reminds us that however critical we may be of the set ups for these movies, the sheer wonder of seeing dinosaurs rendered in such a convincing manner upends our cynicism. It’s the sort of spectacle that surely will keep cinema going because it won’t look as amazing even on the very largest, most high definition tv. The sound mix as well really makes the most of those fearsome roars. 

Character work is thin on the ground beyond the archetypes laid out from the start though the Delgado family dynamic works well as they adapt to the dangers which in turn brings them closer. What I liked about them too is that unlike the other group they possess no hidden survival skills and escape by a very narrow margin. That is if they all do escape- I’m not saying! The film’s only really surprising dramatic moment comes when Krepps is clearly ready to allow Teresa fall into the jaws of the Mosasaur but this fizzles out later. There’s also a briefly debated moral dilemma over who should actually get the material they are collecting. However because Krepps is presented as such a duplicitous character throughout  any proper debate is off the cards though the script teases us as to which side of this argument Zora might be on.

Towards the end we encounter some of the mutated dinosaurs which for me fail to generate quite the same thrill simply because they just look too weird and physically unlikely. Plus, I felt like we were drifting into Alien territory in the final chase despite the superb editing and a climax that is both nail biting and ultimately triumphant. In term of gore there is some and we do see people disappear into those chomping mouths but it is edited to avoid gratuitous material and there’s much less blood than you may think. Anyone of a nervous disposition may be affected by some of the sudden shocks though.

Jurassic World- Rebirth is a tightly wound, exciting film though I did feel it was sometimes a little too neat and predictable. Yet it fulfils expectations appropriately and is definitely an exciting roller coaster ride from start to finish.