_Jurassic World Rebirth_ tries to revive the magic but mostly goes through the motions. The dinosaurs look fine, but the sense of wonder’s long gone. The plot recycles old beats—corporate greed, a betrayal, someone shouting “Run!”—while new characters feel like action figures with catchphrases. A few set pieces land, and it’s refreshing to see a Hispanic family in the lead, even if they feel a bit gimmicky. It’s not bad, just safe. If you want thrills, it delivers. Just don’t expect awe.

Eh, sure better than the last couple outings but also pretty forgettable. Nice everyone involved, including Scarlett Johansson, director Gareth Edwards and the screenwriter David Koepp, got a paycheck but can't say I'll remember this one come next week. Most positive thing I have to say is it doesn't overstay its welcome as it is under two hours when you take out the credits. **2.75/5**

Well at least there is one scene where huge great dinosaurs walk, accompanied by John Williams’s original theme, to remember - but otherwise this is a really disappointing video-game of a film that offers us nothing at all that the Jurassic franchise hasn’t already. By now, these great creatures have largely been taken care of by Mother Nature and have been reduced to living in small groups in equatorial zones around the world where they just want to be left alone to eat and be eaten, protected from a humanity which is “expressly” prohibited from going there. The grasping “Krebs” (Rupert Friend - Orlando Bloom must have been busy) has a plan to cure heart disease and so recruits special ops veteran “Zora” (Scarlett Johansson) to help him secure the living DNA from three of the greatest of these creatures. They wouldn’t know one if they saw one though, so have to convince the nerdy scientist “Loomis” (Jonathan Bailey) to accompany them and their local fixer “Kincaid” (Mahershala Ali) and they head deep into these deadly waters. Meantime, a family are blithely sailing from Bermuda to Cape Town, apparently unaware of the dangers posed by these Vernian monsters. They are dad, young daughter, hormonal older daughter and her bone idle boyfriend, “Xavier” (David Iacono). Boy are they in for a shock when they cross some huge great, and angry, Mosasaurus and end up with most of their boat pointing the wrong way in the water, but with “Xavier” still able to catch some rays whilst they await rescue from, well you can guess who comes, and largely what happens from here on in. For much of the movie, we have two parallel storylines to underwhelm us: the unarmed yet remarkably resilient family have to find an abandoned HQ whilst the mercenaries play a sort of level-by-level game navigating the usual island full of beasties adventures that haven’t really advanced much since it’s nearest biological cousin - “Jurassic Park III” (2001). Oddly enough, I didn’t think these visual effects were anywhere near as effective as in the originals. Maybe we are all just too used to these great animals lumbering about on land, breaching like whales at sea, or swooping and pecking relentlessly from the air? Johansson does join in enthusiastically and Jonathan Bailey really has one one of those smiles on his face that suggests he is enjoying his days in front of the green screen knowing it has to be easier than singing “Not Getting Married” on stage eight times a week - and probably better paid. The others really only make up the numbers, though, with a few characters obviously designated as dino-fodder early-on as it rehashes scenarios from just about everything from “Indian Jones” to “Harry Potter”. It might be like comparing apples and pears, but I have to say I found the current “How to Train Your Dragon” a much more enjoyable adventure about man’s relationship with thick-skinned, scaly, predators, because this entirely forgettable film will do little more than slot nicely into the Christmas television schedules with little, if anything, to distinguish about it once it’s grand scale cinema run has concluded. PS: I don’t know about inventing a miracle-cure drug, but whoever designed JB’s glasses ought to patent a design that stays firmly affixed to his face the entire time without moving, cracking, breaking or even slipping down his nose!

🌟 8/10 – A Thrilling Ride, But Lacking Depth Jurassic World delivers on the action and spectacle, with thrilling dinosaur chases and jaw-dropping visuals that keep you on the edge of your seat. However, it feels more like a reboot than a reinvention, relying heavily on nostalgia and familiar tropes. The plot lacks the depth and intrigue of the original Jurassic Park, and some character arcs feel a bit underdeveloped. Still, if you're a fan of dino mayhem, it’s a fun, visually impressive ride that’s hard to resist.