Summary
TheJurassic Worldfranchise is again hoping to take a bite out of the box office, and while some thought the franchise had ground to a halt with 2022’sJurassic World Dominion, Universal is here to hopefully score another dino-mite hit. Even thoughDominionofficially has the lowest critical scores of the franchise, the fact it still made over a billion dollars worldwide means the studio was always likely to churn out another outing. The next adventure is on the way, withJurassic World: Rebirthcoming in 2025.
As the name suggests,Rebirthis poised to chart a new dawn for theJurassicname. Instead of revisiting the islands of Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna,Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’s Gareth Edwards looks like he’s taking audiences to a new locale that could be the mysterious Site C. Said to house the ‘worst of the worst’,Jurassic World: Rebirthis set to deliver some gnarly deaths that could be up there with the franchise’s best, while also homaging some of the greats that have helped theJurassicname survive 32 years.
Jurassic World: Rebirth Brings Back Jurassic Park III’s Spinosaurus
The action-packedJurassic World: Rebirthtrailer introduces a new crop of doomed characters, including Scarlett Johansson’s Zora Bennett, Jonathan Bailey’s Dr. Henry Loomis, and Mahershala Ali’s Duncan Kincaid. There are elements of Laura Dern’s Dr Ellie Sattler and Julianne Moore’s Dr. Sarah Harding in Bennett, while Loomis feels like a hybrid of Sam Neill’s Alan Grant and Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady. As for Kincaid, he has a mischievous streak that echoesJeff Goldblum’s iconic Dr. Ian Malcolm. It’s not just flavors of fan-favorites being brought through, withRebirthboasting some major nods to the franchise’s past.
Alongside a callback to Tim (Joseph Mazzello) being electrocuted in 1993’sJurassic Park, there’s a banner falling on a T-Rex to echo the movie’s climactic finale. One shot of Zora and Loomis is a clear wink toThe Lost World’s “Don’t go into the long grass,”Jurassic World’s gigantic Mosasaurus again teases a nautical bloodbath, andDominion’s flying Quetzacoatlus take the action up into the air. It appears that there’s some sort of Easter egg honoring every movie that’s come before, with the presence of InGen looming large at this research facility replicating the feel ofJurassic Park III. Looking a little closer, there’s a much bigger connection to Joe Johnston’s maligned threequel from 2001.
One of theJurassic World: Rebirthtrailer’s big talking points is the unexpected return of the Spinosaurus. First introduced inJurassic Park III,the Spinosaurus was a large-finned carnivore that caused trouble for Dr. Grant and the Kirby family when they went to rescue their son from Isla Sorna. Instead of the usual climax where a T-Rex is the big bad,Jurassic Park III’s Spinosaurus killed a T-Rex and was left with its fate unknown when the heroes were rescued. InRebirtha group of three Spinosaurus are seen helping the Mosasaurus protect its territory. As this seems to be a different island, don’t expect the Spinosaurus seen inRebirthto be an Easter egg likeJurassic Park’s T-Rex returning in 2015’sJurassic World.
DespiteJurassic Park III’s reputation, the legacy of the Spinosaurus lived on. The species has been MIA from the live-action movies for 24 years, but in the animatedJurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, the very one that terrorized Dr. Grant was brought back to cause more chaos. It was also here that fans learned its DNA had been fused with a Sinoceratops to create a new hybrid. Although the idea of hybrid dinosaurs was touched on withJurassic World’s Indominus Rex,Jurassic World: Rebirthlooks like it’s making a much bigger deal out of it with the mutated D-Rex that’s inspired byAlien’s Xenomorph andStar Wars’ Rancor. With the Spinosaurus being overlooked as a potentially great addition to theJurassiclore, the fact there are at least three of them inRebirthsuggests this underrated movie monster can finally get its time to shine.
What Went Wrong With Jurassic Park III?
Like the Spinosaurus, there’s a general feeling thatJurassic Park IIInever lived up to its potential.Jurassic Parkauthor Michael Crichton begrudgingly wroteThe Lost Worldas a 1995 novel that was then turned into the 1997 movie, meaningJurassic Park IIIwas the first in the franchise not to have any source material. Johnston had wanted to direct a sequel afterJurassic Parkcame out, but when Steven Spielberg returned to the director’s chair, he had to wait until the third movie.Jurassic Park IIIfaced numerous problems, including a complicated script aboutSam Neill’s Dr. Alan Granton the island and a series of dinosaur-related killings on the mainland being thrown out just five weeks before filming.
Whereas the originalJurassic Parkonly featured 15 minutes of dinosaurs during its 127-minute runtime,Jurassic Park IIIwas criticized for becoming a straight-up monster movie. It’s also the first movie in the franchise that introduced a problematic trope. Taking a leaf out of InGen’s book of bigger is better, theJurassicmovies continue to push the idea of an increasingly elaborate big bad that a doomed crop of humans has to escape. It’s something that the series has been unable to escape, withJPIII’s Spinosaurus,Jurassic World’s Indominus Rex,Fallen Kingdom’sIndoraptor, andDominion’s Gigantosaurus. It’s a trap thatRebirthis destined to fall into with the D-Rex, and despite the Spinosaurus’ legacy, it won’t stand a chance against the new monster to end all monsters.
Thankfully,Jurassic Park III’s critical and commercial bashing killed plans for a fourth movie dead…for a while. In the immediate aftermath of the third movie, there was talk aboutJurassic Park 4releasing as early as 2005 and featuring genetically engineered human-dinosaur mercenaries. Perish the thought of what human-dino hybrids would’ve looked like with some noughties CGI, although the idea of weaponized dinosaurs was later revisited for bothJurassic WorldandDominion– albeit a little more subtly.Jurassic Park IIIis viewed in a new light following the increasingly action-packedJurassic Worldmovies, but with Edwards hopefully reminding fans what a great movie it could’ve been, the black sheep of theJurassicfamilyis well worth a rewatch beforeJurassic World: Rebirthhits cinemas.
