Cara-Lynn BranchJurassic Park has always been one of my favorite movies. The original film is pure dino magic, as my hometown, Toronto, clearly recognized with the naming of our NBA team. The combination of Steven Spielberg’s masterful direction and his expert use of animatronics (in collaboration with VFX), a majestic score by John Williams, and a script by David Koepp that balanced humour and tension created a captivating experience. There was a compelling conflict in the original films between the wonder of “dinosaurs are cool” and the people seeking to profit from them. Hammond was somewhat mysterious because he clearly fell into both camps; his main motivation for creating Jurassic Park was his fascination with dinosaurs, but he was also a capitalist. Based on the main interaction scene with Nedry, Hammond entered into a contract he knew was underbid, setting the stage for the film’s main disasters. However, after the events of Jurassic Park, Hammond is persuaded to abandon his plan to open the dinosaur theme park. It wouldn’t be until Jurassic World that a park would open, though that film felt quite different from the Jurassic Park movies of the 1990s and early 2000s. While every Jurassic film has explored capitalism versus altruism with the dinosaurs, Jurassic World: Rebirth feels like a return to the roots of the Jurassic Park trilogy, fittingly as David Koepp returned to write the script.
Right from the start, after we meet the D-Rex and are introduced to the site we know we’ll return to by the climax, the film shows where the world currently stands with dinosaurs and possibly where the franchise sees itself. It’s no longer the major blockbuster that has NBA teams named after it, but more like something people are waiting to go extinct again. In North America, theater chains have Secret Movie Mondays, which are usually reserved for smaller indie films aimed at generating positive word-of-mouth. On June 23rd, it was Jurassic World: Rebirth, signaling that they need word-of-mouth to boost ticket sales, and they trust the quality of the film to succeed on it. It’s a gamble, but I believe it could pay off because after the initial meta-introduction, it doesn’t take long to show what the stakes are and who we’ll be rooting for or against. The heroes: Zora (played by Scarlett Johansson) and Dr. Henry Loomis (played by Jonathan Bailey). The villains: Martin (played by Rupert Friend).
They set off on their adventure, where Zora meets another ally, Duncan (played by Mahershala Ali), who will captain their boat to the only area where dinosaurs still thrive and where humans are banned. Naturally, that is also where a family, including the older sister’s boyfriend (played by David Iacono), on a sailing trip, gets capsized by a Mosasaurus. Ignoring Martin’s order to stay the course, Duncan and Zora decide to rescue the family, only to bring them along on their journey to chase a Mosasaurus and two other giant dinosaurs to obtain their DNA. It wouldn’t be a Jurassic film without kids or young people in danger. That fear, along with the wonder at the dinosaurs, is essential. Iacono, as the laid-back boyfriend who steps up in a crisis, provides much of the humour in the film’s second act.
The film expects most audience members will have seen a previous installment, and it plays on that. Setting up moments that we’ve previously seen with dinosaurs and have expectations for how they play out, only to find ways to undercut them and surprise us. I was happy to have empty seats beside me when I was caught by surprise and jumped a little in my seat.
Gareth Edwards deftly helmed the behemoth that is a Jurassic film; his experience from Godzilla (2014) was apparent. Like with Jurassic World, Rebirth utilizes John Williams’ theme from Jurassic Park, and it’s as majestic as always when you hear it; however, Alexandre Desplat, score stands on its own, carrying epic adventure and heartfelt moments. When Dr. Henry Loomis finally got to touch a dinosaur, Desplat’s score swells around him, and my heart soared with the character. It was a moment very reminiscent of the “My Friend Brachiosaur” scene from the original film.
Jurassic World: Rebirth opens in theatres on July 2.
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