After pretty bruising reviews of Jurassic World Rebirth from the critics, fans have praised the new film for never having a dull moment.
With critical responses totted up on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes it’s currently sitting at a rotten rating of 51% from 240 professional reactions.
While this is far from ideal for filmmaker Gareth Edwards’ seventh feature-length entry in the franchise, it is not a series low point.
Audiences have also polled significantly better, with their reactions totting up to a very healthy 72% since the movie was released on Wednesday, already grabbing $30.5million (£22.3m) at the box office on day one.
‘My stomach is still clenched after leaving the theatre. Edge of your seat kind of action. 10/10. The actors did a great job. Scarlett and Jonathan are incredible per usual,’ wrote Anastasia S, while cinemagoer David agreed, adding: ‘Starts out on the edge of your seat. Not a dull moment. Has a great plot. Probably one of the best ones.’
Justin P also insisted in his audience reaction on Rotten Tomatoes that Jurassic World Rebirth was ‘easily in the top 3 Jurassic movies’.
‘It was back to basics: just stranded on an island, trying to survive. Most important thing of all: the dinosaurs are scary again!!’ he enthused, next to a five-star rating.
Other fans also praised the movie for delivering what people would want from a film in this popular series, as Josiah shared: ‘Great cinematography and dinosaur mayhem. Exactly what you’ve come to expect from a Jurassic World movie.’
‘Jurassic World Rebirth delivers exactly what fans of the franchise crave: a fun, popcorn-munching good time,’ Andre S insisted. ‘The action sequences are genuinely tense, keeping you on the edge of your seat, and the characters are well-developed, making their perilous journey all the more engaging. It’s a solid, enjoyable entry that reminds us why we love the world of dinosaurs.’
Nick chimed in to say he could ‘see a lot of hate for this online and don’t understand [why]’.
‘It was everything it needed to be. It didn’t want to be over the top and better then the originals,’ he suggested.
Not everyone was impressed however, with Andrew labelling it ‘a disgrace to the series’ and Michael calling it ‘absolutely unacceptable’ in brutally brief takedowns.
‘Disappointment is an understatement. I saw the homages to the original, they didn’t hit right. A sloppy mess of jump scares and absurd attempts at comedic breaks,’ complained Cindy Loo.
Starring Scarlett Johansson as former military operative Zora Bennett, Jonathan Bailey as bespectacled palaeontologist Dr Henry Loomis, Rupert Friend as pharmaceutical rep Martin Krebs and Mahershala Ali as team leader Duncan Kincaid, Jurassic World Rebirth starts afresh, 32 years after dinosaurs were brought back when public interest is waning.
This rag-tag group braves the forbidden isolated equatorial regions where dinosaurs still roam freely on a secret mission to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric creatures in the hopes of a major medical breakthrough.
But in the wreckage of the park and previous human experiments, life has also continued to find a way in unexpected forms too.
What have critics said about Jurassic World Rebirth?
‘How can a movie about mutant dinosaurs be this forgettable to look at? It’s a shame,’ wrote critic Danny Leigh for the Financial Times, also describing the movie as ‘a lumbering beast’.
‘The Jurassic sequels were bad enough when they made an effort to evolve – they’re even less worth seeing now that they already come pre-fossilised,’ added Indie Wire’s David Ehrlich, while The Cinematic Reel’s review suggested: ‘If this is the franchise’s big reset, maybe it’s time Universal finally let the dinosaurs and the Jurassic Park franchise go extinct.
Caryn James for the BBC observed in her two-star review: ‘Jurassic World Rebirth has major stars in Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey, and better-designed creatures than ever, but so few thrills that it may be the weakest of the Jurassic franchise.’
However, other critics were much more positive.
For The Independent, Clarisse Loughery insisted that Rebirth ‘is making the dinosaur cool again’, while Peter Bradshaw for The Guardian wrote in his four-star review: ‘Now, against all odds, these dinosaurs have had a brand refresh: a brighter, breezier, funnier, incomparably better acted and better written film.’
The Telegraph’s Tim Robey went even further, awarding a full five stars and adding: ‘It’s easily the best-looking, best-sounding film since the first. But it takes a deep, personal love of the medium for a director to deliver such crunchy impact, thrills, spills and euphoric highs.
These more positive professional reactions have saved Jurassic World Rebirth from ranking as poorly as some of its predecessors.
Kicking off with the original Jurassic Park back in 1993 – which revolutionised how dinosaurs are viewed in popular culture as well as being a roaring good time – it was legendary Steven Spielberg who was initially at the helm as the director, returning for sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997.
Unsurprisingly this first outing boasts an impressive 91% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, although the sequel plunges down to 56%.
This initial trilogy was capped off with Jurassic Park III in 2001 before a second trilogy began with a fresh cast in 2015 with Jurassic World.
While this reboot earned 72%, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World Dominion followed in 2018 and 2022, respectively, and received the lowest ratings of all at just 47% and then 29%.
From fans, Jurassic World Dominion, the last release, has a surprisingly strong 78% score from over 10,000 audience ratings, but Fallen Kingdom has just 48% and Jurassic Park III, 37%.
Jurassic World Rebirth is out in cinemas now.
This article was first published on July 1.
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