2025's summer movie season is going prehistoric, with the arrival of the first trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth. This seventh installment, and the first of a "new era" following the Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard trilogy, features director Gareth Edwards and a fresh cast including Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali. Even with the impressive talent, including the return of original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, the trailer hints at a potential misstep. The promised "world of dinosaurs" teased in Fallen Kingdom and Dominion seems absent.
Let's examine the trailer's reveals and omissions, and why the Jurassic World series might be overlooking its greatest opportunity.
**A Cretaceous Regression?**The Jurassic World trilogy, while receiving mixed critical reviews, has been a consistent box office powerhouse. Global audiences love dinosaurs, and despite Universal's apparent intention to retire the original World trilogy cast, more dinosaur blockbusters were inevitable. A new cast and crew were quickly assembled, with Gareth Edwards (known for Godzilla and Rogue One) as a particularly exciting addition. Edwards excels at conveying scale in VFX-heavy films, a skill particularly valuable for a four-quadrant blockbuster.
The dinosaurs themselves look stunning in motion, and Edwards' attention to detail in lighting and proportions elevates the visuals beyond many recent blockbusters. His achievement is even more remarkable considering the compressed production schedule (hired in February 2024, production began by June). While the trailer doesn't offer extensive character introductions, the action sequences look promising, and the abundance of dinosaur screen time is reassuring. (Remember the locusts from Jurassic World Dominion? Probably not.)
However, the film's apparent disregard for the "world of dinosaurs" concept, established since Fallen Kingdom, casts a shadow.
AnswerSee Results**Island Hopping Again?**The trailer reveals yet another dinosaur-infested island—a seemingly new location, described as the original Jurassic Park research facility. Ignoring the canon inconsistencies, this decision represents a regression to familiar franchise tropes, placing the dinosaurs on a tropical island removed from civilization. Why revisit this well-trodden path when the previous trilogy concluded with dinosaurs spread across the globe? Universal's synopsis explains that five years after Dominion, the planet’s ecology proves largely inhospitable to dinosaurs, confining them to isolated equatorial environments.
This feels like an unnecessary course correction. Why invest in establishing a "Jurassic World" only to abandon it? Similar to Dominion's retconning of Fallen Kingdom's ending, Rebirth discards the promising concept of a world overrun by dinosaurs. This creative choice undermines the film's intended relaunch with new characters and ideas.
The established lore also suffers. Dominion depicted dinosaurs thriving in diverse environments, from snowy regions to cities. If the world is so inhospitable, why did they fare so well in the previous film? The Malta chase sequence in Dominion, featuring dinosaurs in a city, was arguably the film's best scene. The Jurassic franchise is a Hollywood safe bet; audiences consistently crave dinosaur adventures. Why not embrace risk and explore uncharted territory?
The Jurassic franchise is a Hollywood safe bet, so why not take a chance and do something truly different with this series?
While Jurassic World Rebirth may hold undisclosed surprises, the initial trailer suggests a missed opportunity. The film's rumored original title, Jurassic City, hints at a setting potentially concealed in the trailer. Regardless, the franchise needs to move beyond the tropical island trope. While not advocating a full Planet of the Apes dinosaur adaptation, a middle ground is necessary to showcase dinosaurs in new and exciting environments. The ultimate success of Jurassic World Rebirth remains to be seen, but the franchise needs to prioritize innovation over recycled concepts.
Jurassic World Rebirth - Trailer 1 Stills
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