As this critic continues to look back at some of this Summer’s films I have taken in, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the most overall unsettling trends in Hollywood over the last several years…..sequels, reboots, and remakes. Look, I am all for seeing more than one film for certain originals that made a splash, ie: “Jurassic Park“, “Pirates of the Caribbean“, “Transformers“, etc. HOWEVER, once it all gets pushed TOO far over the course of TOO MANY follow-ups, sorry, but the luster, uniqueness, and quality heads decidedly southward.
I was already going into seeing this newest endeavor set in the realms of genetically grown dinosaurs with highly cautious, level expectations. What I ended up witnessing was grander proof that, as a whole, it’s best to truly let certain creatures, and film series, go and/or remain extinct. While I perfectly and admittedly embrace the love of a Summer event film that just wows with its imagery, doesn’t require much thinking, and provides entertainment, seeing this newest installment very much felt like beating a dead horse….or, um, REPTILE, sorry.
With its narrative set five years after the events of “Jurassic World: Dominion”, the story sees a group of scientists and special operators heading to yet another island populated by the re-birthed monoliths of awe, bygone eras, and destruction in order to harvest DNA (surprise, surprise) for, wait for it, further use in what could be a colossal medical breakthrough. Why does this general concept sound so darn familiar?? Oh, yeah, many of the previous films! Things go sideways (again I say surprise, surprise) and turns into the prototypical fight for survival. Sadly, in this particular “been there, done that” scenario….**yawn**.
Now, let me again state as hinted at in this review’s title, the VISUALS are utterly stunning, perhaps even more so yet than any of the film’s predecessors. The absolutely majestic (affectingly emotional!) sequence with a pair of Titanosauruses, the tension-builders involving everything from a newly awoken from slumber T-Rex, several “Mutadons” (winged hybrid of pterosaur and velociraptor), and encountering the newest baddie to the reptilian crew, the monstrous and plain nasty “D-Rex” ALL deliver the thrills we WANT from a film like this.
Add in the sea-faring instances with the crowd favorite Mosasaurus being joined by the prey-hunting assistance of Spinosauruses, and some aerial insanity with an angry mother Pteranodon, it’s the eye candy our pupils crave. Yes, there is the humor provided by an unwitting family (plus the daughter’s boyfriend!) caught up in the mess, and certainly an endearing cuteness represented by a baby Aquilops whom tags along. BUT, it’s when you get BEYOND all this that, at least for me, the film is simply dull in its ongoing attempt to rehash all the things we’ve already seen once, no…TWICE, no…THREE, no…FOUR, no…FIVE, no..SIX times prior. Come on, LET IT GO!
Scarlett Johansson is no stranger to action films to say the least (think “The Island“, “Lucy“, “Avengers“, “Black Widow“). Yet here, playing Zora Bennett, a special forces soldier haunted by her past who leads the group into the madness to come, seems too one-dimensional even FOR a film of this ilk. Likewise, superb actor Mahershala Ali, who plays her former compatriot in combat Duncan Kincaid, honestly seems wasted on this role even though he does a fine job for what it is.
Joanthan Bailey is Dr. Henry Loomis, a man out of his depth and at the same time well WITHIN his expertise as the “mind” of the group charged with getting the DNA samples. Rupert Friend is Martin Krebs, a complete cad and greedy corporate puppet who easily becomes that character we just LONG for to get munched! Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is Reuben, a father just trying to enjoy a sailing vacation….through dinosaur-infested waters….with his daughters Teresa (Luna Blaise) and Isabella (Audrina Miranda) plus the former’s innocently questionable boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono). Comic relief often comes through this quartet.
The film, of course, has gone on to earn the gazillion dollars it was created to do, and hence I am sure that immediately indicates we shall see yet ANOTHER film in the future. Please understand I am not saying I go into an effort like this anticipating Oscar performances or content, but I still maintain that it’s a sad statement of Hollywood’s current, and ongoing, lack of originality that sparks the aforementioned trends above. I DO like SOME of it, I am WEARY of the rest of it. “Jurassic World: Rebirth” provides the mindless fun it should. It’s just not the overdone, beleaguered “fun” this critic looks forward to anymore as a whole.
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