Jurassic World: Rebirth review - come for Jonathan Bailey, stay for the magic of the original movies

Bechir Sylvain, Jonathan Bailey, and Scarlett Johansson in Jurassic World: Rebirth © Universal Pictures

I am very easy to please when it comes to a movie. I am a firm believer that even bad movies have their good parts, and I will gladly set one or two small expectations I hope will happen for me to believe the movie was enjoyable. So, with that in mind, I enjoyed all the Jurassic World movies so far - but I never expected them to be good. I just wanted to see dinosaurs terrorizing people for a couple of hours, with a loosey-goosey plot about how whatever new science they invented was a bad idea. I had expected the same from Jurassic World: Rebirth, but instead was shocked at how well they managed to finally recapture the magic at the heart of the original trilogy.

The first thing they did correctly in this movie was bring back a scientist, played by Jonathan Bailey. His character, Dr. Henry Loomis, did his post-doc work with Alan Grant - giving a much needed nod to the original movies, while showing exactly how much the world has changed since Jurassic Park was first envisioned. Henry is determined to work with dinosaurs because they came back, and has dedicated his life to not only studying them, but saving them. He went to Jurassic World as a guest, studied under Alan Grant, and knew from a young age that making the world a better place for both dinosaurs and humans was his life's purpose. Henry's goals are never about money, and it's refreshing to see a character who has a proper sense of wonder for these marvelous creatures.

Jonathan Bailey and Scarlett Johansson in Jurassic World: Rebirth © Universal Pictures

The next thing they brought back was a proper team. The death count in this movie is much less than any of the other Jurassic World movies, and that's what makes it scary in all the right places. These aren't just nameless people at a theme park where everything goes wrong; each member of the cast is fleshed out with a life and personality, making you fear their deaths (or, in some cases, root for their demise). And with it, each of them has a motivation: some being money, some being atonement, and some being altruism. This mess of motivations makes this team feel real, with the snippets of their backgrounds speaking multitudes for their personality.

Now there were some minor pacing issues with the movie, especially when it came to the secondary plot of the stranded family who were trying to survive. It seemed like they mostly existed just to prove how heartless the villain was early in the movie, but as this franchise doesn't kill kids, they had to survive. It felt strange that the main concern of this plot was of the boyfriend trying to get his girlfriend's family's approval - especially when they were being attacked by dinosaurs constantly. They still got me to care about them, but I honestly wish they had stayed with the rest of the group instead of going off on their own.

Philippine Velge in Jurassic World: Rebirth © Universal Pictures

Overall, Jurassic World: Rebirth was the strongest entry to the franchise since The Lost World (which still is my favorite of all the movies). It has characters worthy of being cared about, terrifying action sequences, and a lot of heart. And reminds people that capitalism and unethical science are what got the people of this world into this mess in the first place, and we have to try and help everyone, instead of only the few who can pay for it.

Jurassic World: Rebirth is currently playing in theaters.