JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH (2025)

Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Gareth Edwards
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, Philippine Velge, Bechir Sylvain, Ed Skrein
Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 2 July 2025

Synopsis: Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind. Academy Award® nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.

Movie Review:

In this writer’s opinion, the best part of the seventh instalment in the Jurassic Park franchise is seeing the iconic T-rex return to the big screen. With its bone-crushing jaws, thunderous footsteps, and a roar that echoes through the valley, the T-rex remains the ultimate prehistoric predator.

The T-rex sequence in this movie directed by Gareth Edwards features the fearsome dinosaur charging after a group of terrified humans as they frantically paddle down a river. With its teeth bared in pursuit, the T-rex is a breathtaking, heart-pounding sight - one that thrills audiences even as it terrifies the characters. And who could blame them for being scared out of their minds? Interestingly, this scene was originally featured in Michael Crichton’s 1990 Jurassic Park novel but was left out of Steven Spielberg’s classic film due to technical limitations at the time.

It might be a sign that this reviewer is a sucker for nostalgia - because beyond the T-rex, he was also gleefully delighted by the brief appearances of old-time favourites like the Velociraptor and Dilophosaurus.

But perhaps Edwards wasn’t aiming to please longtime fans. Much of this standalone sequel to Jurassic World Dominion (2022) introduces dinosaurs we haven’t seen on the big screen before - including, unsurprisingly, mutated creatures. While species like the Titanosaurus and Spinosaurus deliver visual impact, it’s the genetically altered dinosaurs that may leave an impression, though not always in a good way in this writer’s view.

The Mutadon (a mutated Velociraptor with pterosaur-like wings that allow it to fly) and the Distortus Rex (this big baddie looks like it wandered in from the Alien franchise are hybrids that detract from the primal awe that made the original films so captivating.

Perhaps this is the clearest way to drive home a message for today’s audiences: don’t meddle too much with science. When you start mixing DNA and experimenting recklessly in the lab, terrifying consequences can follow. As countless films have shown, it’s always the humans who end up paying the price.

This time, the human adventurers include a covert ops expert (Scarlett Johansson, channelling her Black Widow energy), a studious paleontologist (Jonathan Bailey, complete with his much-discussed “slutty glasses”), a gung-ho team leader (Mahershala Ali, effortlessly commanding the screen), and the token corporate villain (Rupert Friend, barely masking his sliminess). Tagging along is a family (because there has to be a kid in the mix) who soon find themselves caught in a series of perilous encounters.

There isn’t much to say about the story itself, as character development is fairly and predictably unremarkable, with nothing particularly standing out on that front. What is surprising, however, is how Edwards allows the 133-minute film to breathe in its early moments, with a fair amount of dialogue before the first major action sequence unfolds.

When the action finally arrives, it does so with a surprising sense of elegance. The scene sees the gargantuan Mosasaurus gliding silently beneath the water as a boat drifts unknowingly toward its doom - a moment charged with ominous beauty. It’s a sequence that echoes Edwards’ Godzilla (2014), where the monster was introduced through a similarly poetic, slow-burn reveal.

Of course, that quiet tension doesn’t last long. This is a dinosaur movie, after all. Audiences come for the action, and Edwards delivers with a series of competent, well-paced set pieces. The result is a solid popcorn adventure and a decent addition to the franchise, leaving the door wide open (because why not?) for future sequels.

Movie Rating:

(A decently entertaining dino romp that checks all the boxes for a summer blockbuster)

Review by John Li