On an initial viewing, I found ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ to be a disappointing addition to the franchise. The film is filled with vacuous, often interchangeable characters on a mission to collect dinosaur DNA near the equator – an isolated part of the world where dinosaurs now roam freely and humans have been banished. Despite the intriguing setup, the narrative feels flat, and the emotional stakes are low. Scarlett Johansson leads the cast this time, playing a character who initially seeks profit by harvesting dinosaur DNA but gradually shifts perspective.

As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the real threat isn’t the dinosaurs themselves but the ruthless corporate mercenaries aiming to exploit the discovery. Johansson’s character arc is one of the more engaging elements, though it’s not enough to fully redeem the film. One of the problems is the disposability of the supporting cast. Characters are gobbled up by dinosaurs in expected fashion, but there’s little emotional weight to these deaths. We are never given a reason to care deeply about any of them, making their fates feel more like routine spectacle than losses that we should feel for.

There are nods to the past, including snippets of John Williams’ original ‘Jurassic Park’ theme and visual callbacks to the first film, but these mostly serve to remind us how much stronger and more inspired the original was. The first half of the film plays almost like a reimagined ‘Jaws’, with underwater dinosaurs stalking a ragtag crew on a boat. It’s an interesting angle but never fully developed. Critics have been divided, and it’s easy to see why. The film opens with a fascinating glimpse of dinosaurs tamed and shackled in the streets of New York – an image that hints at bold world-building. But this quickly gives way to a tropical island setting more in line with the original ‘Jurassic Park’ fantasy.

Unfortunately, what’s missing is the intellectual tension and ethical debate that defined the 1993 film, particularly through characters like Sam Neill’s Alan Grant and Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm. Ultimately, for a film about the grandeur of humanity confronting dinosaurs, ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ feels stale and uninspired. It recycles many of the same tropes – dinosaur-in-peril motifs, last-minute escapes, and awe-struck stares – but with diminishing returns. That said, one strength is the commitment to location shooting.

It feels less reliant on green screen than recent entries, and the natural landscapes do evoke some of the mythic wonder these films are known for. But the magic of ‘Jurassic Park’ – its sense of awe, its moral complexity, its genuine fear – remains largely unmatched. ‘Rebirth’ tries to recapture that numinous effect, but it doesn’t fully understand what made the original so extraordinary.