While I was in Indianapolis visiting my brother (a post about that trip will be up eventually), we went and saw the newest film in the long Jurassic Park/Jurassic World series, Jurassic World Rebirth (2025).  I wasn’t expecting much besides the usual popcorn summer flick—lots of crazy dinosaurs, huge explosions, etc.—and that pretty much is what the movie is all about it.  But I found I enjoyed the flick much more than I anticipated.

As I told my brother, it felt like a “return to form” for the franchise.  The movie managed to capture some of those notes and story beats that made the original film so memorable.

To be clear, it is not as good as the original film.  But it is very much a sequel in the sense that the film takes many of the elements that made the original so fun and amplifies them.

The story takes place on an island that was used as a genetic research facility that would produce dinosaurs for the original park.  The facility attempted to create more interesting genetic mutations because, well, eventually people would get tired of the classic dinosaurs and want bigger, scarier, weirder creatures.  Indeed, in the film’s universe, the public’s interest in dinosaurs has waned, and dinosaurs are yesterday’s news (again).

Of course, not all genetic mutations are charismatic mega-fauna—some of them look too weird.  So the dinosaurs that failed to be pretty enough were left on this island, the facility long-since abandoned.

A team of mercenaries and a nerdy paleontologist head to the island under the auspices of an oily pharmaceutical executive who needs blood samples from three different dinosaurs—one in the water, one on land, and one in the sky—to develop a medicine that will cure heart disease.  The setup for this three-part quest is a bit long—I found myself saying, “get to the dinosaurs!” at one point—but it gives the story clear objectives, as well as an easy-to-hate villain in the form of the pharmaceutical exec (who, to be fair, is trying to develop a life-saving drug, but, you know, making a profit is evil in movies).

There’s also a family of Hispanics sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.  They’re (predictably) attacked by the water dinosaur, and the mercenaries rescue them.  The family then gets separated from the mercenaries, and they have to meet up for a dramatic conclusion.

The characters are forgettable.  Scarlett Johansson portrays the lead mercenary, but the movie can never decide who she is:  a cold-blooded killer in it for the money; a kind-hearted merc with a soft side; or some combination?  She’s set up as being totally in it for herself, but then is a total softy whenever a hard decision has to be made.

The plot is kind of lame and inconsistent.  At one point, Hispanic Dad hurts his leg and can’t run.  Then in the very next scene, he’s running and jumping—only to be hurting again later—then running again.

None of that matters.  The whole point of these movies is to see awesome dinosaurs, and people getting eaten by them.  There wasn’t quite enough of the latter, but there were plenty of the former.  There is a scene where the paleontologist touches one of the dinosaurs—some manner of elegant, mutant brachiosaurus—and I got goosebumps.  It felt very much like the scene with the brontosauruses in the original film.

The big bad dinosaurs—the “D. Rex”—is a bit hokey.  It looks like a mix between a T. Rex and the alien from the Alien franchise.  The head is supposed to be something like a coelacanth, but it just looks like they ripped off Ridley Scott.

Is the movie good?  Well, it depends what you’re looking for in a film.  If you’re looking for a deep philosophical meditation on life and Creation, JWB isn’t the right film.  If you want to see wacky dinosaurs eat insufferable people, then it’s the movie to see this summer.

I appreciate that JWB knows what it is:  a big-budget B-movie.  That’s enough for me.