The first time a dinosaur appears in Jurassic World Rebirth, the camera holds on the surrounding jungle rather than cutting to the creature. It is a small decision and a telling one. Gareth Edwards is making a film about what you cannot see as much as what you can, and that instinct, largely absent from the franchise for two decades, gives Rebirth a tonal identity the Jurassic World trilogy never found.
At a Glance
Director: Gareth Edwards
Runtime: 134 minutes
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali
Release: 2025
Critics Rating: ★★½ (2.5/5 stars, a purposeful reset undermined by an uneven screenplay)
Audience Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 stars, atmospheric, character-driven, and genuinely tense)
Review Breakdown
Plot
Set five years after the events of Dominion, Rebirth presents a world in which dinosaurs survive primarily within equatorial environments suited to their biology. A new team enters one of these isolated biospheres on a mission tied to scientific research and genetic discovery. By moving away from collapsed theme parks and rescue narratives, the film introduces a welcome structural shift: the jungle setting restores a sense of unpredictability, allowing encounters with dinosaurs to feel less like scheduled attractions and more like confrontations with wild animals. The screenplay is not without weaknesses: certain character motivations are underdeveloped, and the middle section loses momentum in ways a tighter edit might have addressed. But the narrative clarity of the central mission gives the film a propulsion that Dominion conspicuously lacked.
Characters
Scarlett Johansson leads with a grounded performance that emphasises competence and economy of expression rather than blockbuster bravado, finding authority through restraint. Jonathan Bailey brings intellectual curiosity and energy to his role, his enthusiasm for the scientific dimensions of the mission providing a counterpoint to the more pragmatic members of the group. Mahershala Ali provides a gravitas that anchors the ensemble and gives the more emotionally demanding passages a solidity they might not otherwise sustain. The decision to centre entirely new protagonists rather than continuing the Owen and Claire storyline proves to be one of the strongest choices, freeing the narrative from the accumulated obligations of the previous trilogy and allowing the audience to encounter the island's dangers without the cushion of established survival. The three leads form one of the franchise's most persuasive ensembles in years.
Tone
Edwards applies a visual approach shaped by his earlier work in large-scale science fiction, favouring atmosphere and deliberate pacing over constant action. Wide compositions, obscured sightlines, and environmental unpredictability create a tactile world that contrasts sharply with the sleek technological settings of the Jurassic World films. The tropical setting plays a significant role: dense vegetation and shifting light give the film a texture that makes the dinosaurs feel genuinely dangerous rather than managed. The most tense sequences exploit the principle that effective creature cinema depends on what the audience cannot see as much as what it can.
Meaning / Themes
Rebirth returns to one of the franchise's foundational questions: what does humanity confront when it encounters forces beyond its control? The film moves away from corporate satire and instead explores ecological imbalance and the illusion of human mastery over nature. This reconnects the series with its original philosophical concerns in ways the Jurassic World trilogy rarely managed, and treating the dinosaurs as wild animals rather than managed attractions gives those concerns a dramatic grounding that feels earned. The mission's scientific objectives also reintroduce questions about genetic ethics that the series had largely set aside, and while the film does not develop them with the depth they deserve, their presence signals an intention to restore intellectual seriousness to a franchise that had drifted toward pure spectacle.
Direction
Edwards demonstrates a clear understanding that effective monster cinema depends on scale relative to human experience, and the strongest sequences rely on suggestion, sound design, and framing rather than constant creature visibility. Alexandre Desplat's score supports this approach, favouring tension over overt nostalgia, and the result is the franchise's most tonally distinctive entry since the first film. The production design creates environments that feel genuinely hazardous, and Edwards' handling of the action sequences demonstrates a clarity that the Jurassic World trilogy did not consistently achieve.
Cultural Reception
Jurassic World Rebirth received mixed reviews on release, with critics acknowledging Edwards' direction and the strength of the new ensemble while noting uneven pacing and familiar narrative structures. Audience response was considerably warmer, with many viewers responding positively to the return to a more grounded, character-focused approach. Its commercial performance confirmed that the series retains an audience willing to follow it in new directions, and it stands as the franchise's most purposeful attempt at renewal since the first trilogy concluded.
Final Verdict: Jurassic World Rebirth is an imperfect but serious attempt to recalibrate a long-running franchise, and it succeeds more through atmosphere and discipline than through flawless execution. The new ensemble is among the franchise's strongest in years, Edwards' direction restores a sense of genuine dread, and the decision to strip back the scale pays dividends. Uneven pacing and underdeveloped character motivations hold it back, but as a course correction it is convincing.