As a nothing-better-to-do weekend watch, Jurassic World Rebirth is fine. But the franchise is losing steam, observes Deepa Gahlot.
A paleontologist rues the decreasing interest in dinosaurs; the museum he runs is about to shut down because kids no longer line up around the block to get in.
Directed by Gareth Edwards, Jurassic World Rebirth, the seventh film in the Jurassic Park franchise and fourth in the Jurassic World series, seems to be the way of retaining interest in the prehistoric creatures that Steven Spielberg brought into the cinematic universe with the first Jurassic Park in 1993, based on a book by Michael Crichton.
Over 30 years later, that sense of awe and dread evoked by that film has obviously diminished. But the producers are still at it, hoping to attract a new generation of kids to these VFX heavy films, selling movie tickets and dinosaur merchandise, long after there is nothing new to say.
The moral always was that human greed is steadily destroying nature. 99.9 species of fauna are extinct, the new film reveals, even as it sends a bunch of mercenaries to a remote, restricted area where several kinds of dinosaurs survive.
Genetic experiments have created mutated species that are deadlier than the original prehistoric giants that are extinct, except in the movies.
The excuse to intrude on their beautiful habit is brought up by the evil (are there any other kind?) pharma executive Martin Krebb (Rupert Friend), who hires a former military operative Zora Bennett (Scarlet Johansson) to lead him there, along with paleontologist Dr Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) with the promise of a huge fee.
The mission is to extract DNA samples from three species of the prehistoric creatures, which will help create life-saving drugs.
It is as implausible an excuse as any, but Duncan Kindaid's (Mahershala Ali) boat is chartered and three other crew members added to sail to the island where the dinosaurs roam.
There cannot be enough emotional manipulation unless there an ordinary family is thrown into the mix. A kid is a must!
So adventurous dad Reuben (Maneul Garcia-Rulfo) is sailing with two young daughters, the teenage Teresa (Luna Blaise), her boyfriend Xavier (David Iocono) and the pre-teen Isabella (Audrina Miranda), when their boat is capsized by a giant mosasaur.
Their Mayday transmission is heard by Kincaid and despite protests by Krebb, he rescues the family and brings them on board.
In spite of the destruction of their ship, Zora manages to get the first of three samples. Now, the two sets of people are left to traverse the untamed forest, and try to reach the village abandoned by an earlier scientific expedition, from where Zora has arranged an exfiltration.
The film moves on well-worn tracks -- attacks by huge reptilian monsters of a variety that an imaginative VFX crew created.
Some of the thrashing tails and gnashing fangs the humans escape. At regular intervals, one of them is grabbed and eaten.
It can be predicted how it will go. The characters with no emotional backstories and no well-defined roles will be chewed up first.
The good people will be spared.
The most evil one will get the cruellest death.
The writers and director design the action so that there is not a moment to blink.
There are armies of dinosaurs on the prowl, and considering the humans are trespassing on their land, they have every reason to flare their nostrils, stamp their feet, unfurl their wings and snap their massive jaws.
The humans run, scream, howl in terror, climb cliffs, rappel down cliffs, fall into swamps and look like they went on a picnic gone wrong.
This one's a paint-by-numbers script, too dependent on the breathtaking CGI to build up momentum and pump up the horror.
Once in a while, there is a heart-stopping visual like the mating dance between two surprisingly graceful creatures, or relief at the appearance of a cute Barney-like baby dino.
The combined star power of Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Manuel (Lincoln Lawyer) Garcia-Rulfo can add any extra sheen to the cliches-ridden plot.
As a nothing-better-to-do weekend watch, Jurassic World Rebirth is fine.
But the franchise is losing steam. What are they carrying on for, anyway? To sell more stuffed dino toys and T-shirts?
Still, this one ends with a promise of more.
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