Jurassic World Rebirth has already solved a major problem from the $4 billion trilogy

Theaters saw a rerun of Jurassic World in 2015, intriguing a whole new audience while smashing box office records. But in hindsight, many die-hard fans felt the sentiment of Jurassic Park had diminished at some point along the trilogy that amassed $4 billion.

What once felt like an exploration of science and nature had devolved into a ‘dino-saur’ of scare tactics, senseless action, and overly modernized monstrosities.

That is exactly what Jurassic World: Rebirth sets out to change.

The new film aims to return to tap into the franchise's magical roots by invoking critiques of modern ethics, horror, and survival instincts. It turns our primal fascination with nature into the white-knuckle fear of something potentially dangerous lurking just beyond view. In doing so, the film plans to achieve what the last trilogy could never fully accomplish.

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Trading Chaos for Claustrophobia: Back to the Island

The Jurassic World trilogy suffered greatly from a particular problem: its setting and tone. Relocating dinosaurs from their secluded habitats to metropolitan landscapes drastically diminished the thrill of being trapped in an ecosystem that defies human dominance. The outcome? More grandiose stunts, but far less nail-biting suspense.

Directed by Gareth Edwards and written by David Koepp (who co-wrote the original Jurassic Park), slated to release this year, Jurassic World: Rebirth makes the bold choice of setting the story back on an island.

The island serves as more than a tropical getaway; it’s a no-go zone packed with mutant dinosaurs, containing an ancient research facility that could either change the world or annihilate those who find the secrets within.

Rebirth restores the trope of fear and survivalism of the original film by abandoning the idea of reshaping the world to suit human needs, but instead placing humans back under the rule of nature's most ancient predators

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A new mission, a familiar nightmare

Three years after the events of Jurassic World: Dominion (2022), Rebirth features a movie about a pharmaceutical corporation that sends a team on an expedition to extract precious dinosaur DNA. The objective?

A new blockbuster medication. The peril? An unmapped island packed with volatile and mutated forms of life—life that have been in seclusion since the original park fell into ruin.

These failed experiments pose a myriad of challenges, ranging from unseen raptors and T Rex beasts. There are no guiding standards of fictitious science or franchise blueprints for these developments. This offers a unique opportunity for fear, tension, and captivation in storytelling, something this trilogy sacrificed in favor of shallow themes and bloated action.

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Jurassic Park’s legacy lives on

The original Jurassic Park captivated audiences as a stimulating summer blockbuster since the early 1990s. But it also left people contemplating long after the credits rolled.

It revolves around more than just fleeing from rampaging dinosaurs; it explores themes of humanity playing god, the illusion of control with consequences, Mother Nature’s wrath, and revenge. The deeper themes have been sidelined with the action-adventure focal shift in the Jurassic World trilogy.

That balance is aimed to be restored in Rebirth. A smaller cast with a tighter setting that incorporates survival rather than spectacle, including Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, and Rupert Friend, has the potential to revive the psychological element that the franchise is lacking.

It’s no secret that Jurassic World’s direction went off-course. But, with Koepp’s return, the franchise might be headed back toward a path that aligns with the tone of the original films. A franchise can only evolve if it remembers what elements made it iconic in the first place—and it seems like Universal’s finally getting that.

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A promising new chapter

Jurassic World: Rebirth isn't just a new concept; it is shedding global chaos in favor of solitary dread. Something old and previously cherished is being revisited. By coming back to an island environment rich with suspenseful conflicts and moral struggles, the film has fixed the primary issue posed by the last trilogy. In other words, it understands that dinosaurs are supposed to invoke fear.

Rebirth is not just another sequel set to premiere on July 2, 2025. It is an opportunity for the franchise to once again thrill, terrify, and leave us in awe, just like it did three decades ago.