Jurassic World: Rebirth

JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH lives up to its name, breathing innovative fun and relentless summer dino thrills into a tired series.

Gareth Edwards created one of the best Star Wars films of all time with his superb 2016 "Rogue One" and his last film, "The Creator" was one of my faves from 2023. (Not enough people saw it, if you haven't, do yourself a favor and stream it tonight on the biggest screen you can find.)

So, it's no wonder that Edwards has created a stand alone chapter that ranks among the best Jurassic films since 1993's original entry.

It's also a terrific add to have screenwriter David Koepp back. He wrote the screen adaption of Michael Crichton's original novel and brings back not only some of the wonder of the first film, but the same rhythm of action set pieces that blew us away the first time Crichton's dinosaurs appeared on the big screen.

Koepp deftly educates us on the world as it stands, 33 years after the original park opened. People are bored with dinosaurs and most of the creatures have died, but the equator provides a perfect temperate zone for the hearty survivors.

We meet mercenary Zora Bennett (Scarlet Johansson) as she is hired by mega tech/pharma man Martin Krebbs (Rupert Friend) to collect DNA from living dinosaurs. Those specific species only live on the island that was used to create the magnificent creatures that made it to Jurassic Park. Of course, you tend to create a lot of Frankensteins before you get it right.

Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey from "Wicked") is along as scientific advisor.

Zora partners up with longtime friend and nefarious partner Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), a global adventurer skilled at taking people where no one wants to go.

Johansson, Ali and Bailey have an easy chemistry and create evolving relationships that keep us more than engaged. With these three on the front line, I never once missed any of the actors in the previous films. As a matter of fact, I loved the fresh start.

Koepp then drops in a second story line that starts off on rough waters, but gets better as it goes.

We plop down into a sailboat with a Dad, Reuben (a very solid Manuel Garcia Ruflo from "The Magnificent Seven" remake by Antoine Fuqua) and his two daughters Isabella (Audrina Miranda) and her older sister, Teresa (Luna Blaise). Teresa's lazy boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono) is also aboard.

In the first of the great action sequences, their boat is attacked by a Mosasaurus on the open sea. The special effects and sound design teams bring incredible realism to the sequence.

The story begins to split between Reuben and his family and Zora and her mission, which at first seems clunky. Edwards pulls it together quickly though, providing so much suspense in each group that there's never a lull.

There are plenty of surprises here, along with some incredible re imaginings of some of the series greatest hits. I'll divulge none of them here.

Edwards and Koepp create one of the best action scenes of the entire series in a T Rex encounter on a river. Every fan of Crichton's original novel and its sequel novel, "The Lost World" will remember the life raft/sleeping T Rex chase from the pages of the best seller, and Koepp has finally been able to bring it to the screen.

It is, from its first quiet moments to its ROARING conclusion, a film study in suspense, cinematography, special effects and music. The score by Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water, Godzilla) features a full orchestra that pounds home the suspense and drama with equal bite. Desplat also weaves in John Williams score at moments primed to give you chills.

The entire sequence in the massive green marshlands in which Loomis and Zora gather their second sample serves up warm nostalgia, creating the grandeur and size of the creatures that's been missing for years.

Lastly, who would have thought that the best film reference to "Jaws" since Spielberg's original film would be in a Jurassic film? Edwards serves up a boat/dino sequence on the high seas that made me laugh in its allusions to my fave shark film, when it wasn't dropping my jaw at the action.

It's a WOW.

Koepp has said that he wanted the last hour of the film to be a "Run Like Hell" movie, the best example of which I would note as James Cameron's "Aliens". That film was also a sequel that took what you know and love and then wound it up into a thrill ride with NO breaks. Or brakes, for that matter.

Koepp achieves that and more. REBIRTH is one of the most suspenseful films of the year.

Certainly the strength of the story is its backbone in the pages of Crichton's novel. No one wrote science gone amuck adventures quite like Crichton. He is missed, but lives on proudly here.

JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH is a an exciting, scary roller coaster of dino sized thrills, landing as the third best film in the entire series from my seat. Edwards continues to be one of the globe's best sci-fi directors and his latest gets an A.

Talk about exceeding expectations....