There are very VERY few sci-fi films that you can watch more than 3 decades later and say ‘that still holds up’ but without a doubt the original Jurassic Park is one of them. Since the 1993 Spielberg epic we have lucked out and had 6 more films set against John Hammond’s cautionary tale as to why the Pirates of the Caribbean ride does not have real pirates. Hitting cinemas this week we are set for a 7th film of the series, so is it dino-mite or dino-don’t?
For those who are coming late to the party the original 1993 film was based on a Michael Crichton book by the same name. The book created a fictional amusement park where scientists were able to clone DNA to resurrect dinosaurs that the park runners lose control of and they start killing guests. This is not to be confused with Michael Crichton’s other book Westworld (yes the one with the TV show) which is about a fictional amusement park where scientists create robot cowboys that the park runners lose control of and they start killing guests.
While somewhat following the Jurassic Park and Lost World (the sequel) novels the film series really has done it’s own thing after the first film occasionally adapting concepts from the novels for the big screen but the important information is this. While the original Jurassic Park was founded and maintained as a tourist destination, InGen the company behind the dinosaur cloning maintained several other island research habitats around the same latitudes.
While we saw a lot of this in the second film it has been revisited and alluded to with the films as being the climates most suitable for dinosaurs. One of these sites is where the new film takes us to.
Following the events of Jurassic Parks and Jurassic Worlds the existence of Dinosaurs is pretty much a known reality in the world with most of the population falling out of fascination with Dinosaurs after being able to visit a Brachiosaurus at their local zoo. However due to the climates dinosaurs around the world have been slowly dying out with the only ones still living being in equator based island chains that are strictly off limits to humans.
Enter multinational biomedical company with deep pockets to fund a black-ops style expedition to the remote island with the team leader – Black Widow. They are tasked with getting viable samples from living dinosaurs to be able to create the next generation of heart medication.
While the Jurassic World films were a clear nod and followed a lot of the original film flavour (more the 1st and 2nd Jurassic World films, not so much the 3rd), Rebirth very much follows the original Jurassic Park with a number of story beats. So much so that if the 3rd and every film since did not exist Rebirth could have comfortably slotted in as the 3rd of the trilogy.
Splitting the action between the black ops team and the family who they saved from a capsized yacht things do escalate fairly quickly with most of the action managing to both give us the familiar beats and ‘faces’ of a Jurassic Park film but still managing to mostly focus on new dinosaurs that we have never seen interacted with before. Couple this with of course a level of realism we have come to expect from Jurassic Park films and you will quickly find yourself being completely lost on an abandoned research island filled with living dinosaurs.
So, should you go see it? If you are a fan of Jurassic Park films then absolutely yes. There is a lot to like here if you are a fan of the originals even though you largely know what to expect. As mentioned this could have easily been the 3rd film of the trilogy this works well as a one and done and may be the way for Jurassic films going forward. Just as long as we don’t get any more of the sad Jurassic Park theme with dinos running from a volcano again.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is in cinemas across Australia from July 3
