Jurassic World: Rebirth: The Franchise Returns with Another Typical Dinosaur Outing (4K/Blu-ray)

The Film:

Three years after the massive, billion-dollar success of "Jurassic World: Dominion," which had brought with it the return of the original film's trio of stars, it's hardly a surprise to see yet another entry come about so quickly. However, while this latest sequel doesn't feature Sam Neill, Laura Dern, or Jeff Goldblum, director Gareth Edwards & his team have still gone the route of adding massive star power in hopes of reinvigorating the series and keeping it fresh enough so as not to feel like just another perfunctory dinosaur outing. As we head into the seventh entry in the franchise overall, will the likes of two-time Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali be enough to accomplish this extremely difficult goal?

Starting in 2008, we witness disaster at an InGen testing site, where genetic experiments are being conducted on dinosaurs. After one of them escapes containment, it goes on a rampage and forces the rest of the personnel to abandon the site. In the present day, we learn that the remaining dinosaurs all live in areas around the equator due to it being the only climate that they're able to survive in, areas that are off-limits to everyone. Despite this, Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend), an executive for a pharmaceutical company, recruits mercenary Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) and paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) for a mission to collect DNA samples from three dinosaurs in order to develop a treatment for heart disease, a very lucrative prospect.

Before they depart, Zora recruits her old friend Duncaid Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) to lead the mission, one that immediately hits a snag when he decides to rescue Reuben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), his daughters Teresa (Luna Blaise) & Isabella (Audrina Miranda), and Teresa's boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono), whose boat was overturned by a dinosaur. Further trouble causes the team & those they rescued to be separated and stranded on the island where the former hopes to complete their mission, but, as one can certainly expect at this point, it turns out to be far more difficult & dangerous than originally thought.

As one can imagine, 32 years and now seven films into this franchise, it's rather difficult for even the most talented of writers to come up with excuses for anyone to interact with the remaining dinosaurs within this universe, especially since such interactions always lead to multiple deaths. This has led screenwriter David Koepp, who adapted the first two "Jurassic Park" films, to fall back on one of the oldest excuses of all: simple & unbridled greed. In this case, it's a treatment for heart disease that would be worth millions, if not billions of dollars. Throw in a promised hefty payday, and it ends up being more than enough to lure a team of mercenaries into an insanely dangerous mission to procure the genetic material.

As far as overall plots go, this one is a lot more straightforward than what we got last time. There's no potentially world-ending event or conspiracies, just a pharmaceutical company looking to make a ton of money. On that score, it may be a little more interesting, primarily because the main mission doesn't get as bogged down with a lot of superfluous material, but it still ends up being rather ho-hum because it is rather basic as far as stories go. What hurts it even more though is the completely unnecessary addition of the rescued characters from the boat, who can't help but feel superfluous because they're only there to put more people in danger while the team goes about their mission. It only becomes more apparent when you realize that they could've been eliminated entirely and it wouldn't have changed much of anything about the film.

Again, you might be able to say that the narrative is a slight improvement, but it still doesn't do much to reinvigorate the franchise. We still have people stupidly risking their lives by going anywhere near these dinosaurs, and several people still getting killed as a result, causing it to feel like more of the same thing that we've already seen several times before. Scarlett Johansson & Mahershala Ali are certainly nice additions to the cast and do the best they can with the material they're given, but there's only so much they can do with the film's somewhat simple set-up. In the end, if you've been enjoying these films up until now, then there's a fair chance that you'll enjoy this one, but if you've come to find them a little tiresome, then this latest entry will likely do little to change your mind.

Video/Audio:

This edition of "Jurassic World: Rebirth" comes with the film on both 4K (2160p, UHD) and Blu-ray (1080p, HD) in 2.39:1 transfers of outstanding quality. The picture on both transfers is remarkably sharp & clear throughout the film's entire 134-minute duration, with the 4K looking particularly gorgeous as it highlights the film's exotic locations & multitude of visual effects. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos audio tracks are marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and Alexandre Desplat's score in excellent quality. Overall, Universal has done a fantastic job in both departments for the film's physical release.

Special Features:

Feature Commentary with Director Gareth Edwards, Production Designer James Clyne, and First Assistant Director Jack Ravenscroft

Feature Commentary with Director Gareth Edwards, Editor Jabez Olssen, and Visual Effects Supervisor David Vickery

Alternate Opening (2 Minutes) & Deleted Scenes (2 Sequences, 4 Minutes)

Jurassic World Rebirth: Hatching a New Era (6 Featurettes, 56 Minutes)

Gag Reel (2 Minutes)

Meet Dolores (4 Minutes)

Munched: Becoming Dino Food (6 Minutes)

A Day at Skywalker Sound (10 Minutes)

Hunting for Easter Eggs (6 Minutes)

The film comes with a large selection of special features that includes two informative commentary tracks and about 90 minutes of featurettes, primarily consisting of a six-part behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. Definitely plenty of great material here for the fans to sink their teeth into if they're looking to learn more about this latest entry.

Conclusion:

"Jurassic World: Rebirth" may have a slightly improved, more straightforward plot when compared with the last entry, bringing with it some rather strong star power, but sadly it doesn't do much to reinvigorate the franchise, feeling like yet another standard, ho-hum dinosaur outing like we've gotten from the last several sequels. As such, your enjoyment of this latest outing will likely ultimately be determined by how much entertainment you've gotten from these more recent films in the franchise.

Score: 2.5/5

Available on 4K/Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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