Jurassic World Rebirth 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 2½/5

Plot Synopsis: Zora Bennett (SCARLETT JOHANSSON) leads a team of skilled operatives (MAHERSHALA ALI, JONATHAN BAILEY, ED SKREIN) to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park. Their mission is to secure genetic material from dinosaurs who’s DNA can provide life-saving benefits to mankind. As the top-secret expedition becomes more and more risky, they soon make a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.

Review: The Jurassic franchise is one that have mostly had its down more than ups. The first Jurassic Park was revolutionary not just a box office juggernaut but the practical and visual effects were amazing not just for its time but still holds up so well 32 years later. The subsequent sequels had its moments with The Lost World: Jurassic Park being decent but felt like two movies spliced together; Jurassic Park III felt like a shell of the original despite the return of Sam Neill and Laura Dern returning after skipping the last one; then 14 years later came the quasi-reboot with Jurassic World bringing in the red hot Chris Pratt following his success in Guardians of the Galaxy as well as Bryce Dallas Howard, a movie that had a few lame moments but I still found relatively entertaining. The subsequent Jurassic World sequels however were downright drivel. I don’t mind studios making cash-grab for movies like these (contrast that with Joker: Folie à Deux) but maybe try to disguise it was written paint-by-numbers style or, in the case of Jurassic World Rebirth, generated by AI (with the assist of original Jurassic Park scribe, Dave Koepp.

I went into Rebirth with low expectations following the vast disappointment with Jurassic World: Dominion which brought together the legacy characters and new generation ones. The story of Dominion was asinine to say the least losing the plot of dinos with locust to damage the world food supply. Then add in the clone element of the Maisie Lockwood character. Less is more would be the best way to describe both Lost Kingdom and Dominion, frankly.

So now with Rebirth which has lines eluding to parts of the previous movies gives the franchise another reboot this one bringing aboard some solid talents with Scarlett Johansson (who in interviews said it was a dream to join the Jurassic franchise) alongside Mahershala Ali and for his part Ali wasn’t too bad and while Johansson doesn’t quite give a hard-hitting performance, I would say she was having a bit of fun and she’s probably as memorable in terms of character as Chris Pratt was, so take that for what you will.

The rest of the supporting cast doesn’t really add a whole lot. Rupert Friend plays the greedy corporate guy and main human antagonist and Ed Skrein is forgettable as one of Johansson’s mercenaries. The others, notably the family, just was not needed and could’ve been exercised and make this a tighter movie, one that could’ve easily been under two hours. I can only think their inclusion was to target the family demographic.

Jurassic World Rebirth was directed by Gareth Edwards who previously helmed Godzilla in 2014 and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in 2016, both films I found pretty entertaining, the latter especially. Here he does okay with a bloated plot while the visual effects were decent enough albeit many scenes were still shrouded in darkness, probably to cut down on costs and time to render the effects. In any case, for what this is, Edwards did an alright job helming.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 4½/5

This release comes with an embossed slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.

• Alternate Opening (1:39) 
• 2 Deleted Scenes (4:17) 
• Jurassic World Rebirth: Hatching a New Era (6 Parts) (56:20)

• • THE WORLD EVOLVES – Journey into a reimagined Jurassic World with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and the rest of the cast and filmmakers.
  • OFF THE DEEP END – Dive into the thrilling ocean sequence and learn about the challenges of shooting on open water, the one-of-a-kind gimbal used to toss around the Essex and Mariposa, and the VFX wizardry that brought the Mosasaurus and Spinosaurs to life.
  • TREKKING THROUGH THAILAND – Follow the cast and crew’s footsteps as they navigate the challenges of shooting in exotic jungles, beaches, and tall grass fields that become home to the Titanosaurs.
  • REX IN THE RAPIDS – Brace for a T. rex encounter that’s different than anything experienced before with a nail-biting river chase recreated from Michael Crichton’s original Jurassic Park novel.
  • DON’T LOOK DOWN – Soar into the Quetzalcoatlus sequence with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Bechir Sylvain as they train for and shoot their cliff rappelling scenes.
  • MINI-MART MAYHEM – Go inside the heart-stopping third act of Jurassic World Rebirth and witness the process of crafting sets that allow the movie’s mutant dinosaurs to step out of nightmare-inspired designs and stop on an exhilarating rampage.

• Gag Reel (1:52) 
• Meet Dolores (3:57) — Meet the animatronic Aquilops with an extraordinarily lifelike personality.
• Munched: Becoming Dino Food (5:34) — Get a victim’s firsthand view inside the frightening jaws of deadly dinosaurs that munch, chomp, and chew their way into creating unforgettable death sequences.
• A Day at Skywalker Sound (10:24) — Actress Audrina Miranda guides a personal tour of Skywalker Sound in California to meet the audio editors, foley artists, and mixers who design the movie’s wide array of sounds.
• Hunting for Easter Eggs (6:25) — Find out where to look for cleverly hidden Easter eggs that pay homage to everything from the first Jurassic Park film to other Steven Spielberg classics.
• Feature Commentaries

• • Director Gareth Edwards, Production Designer James Clyne, and First Assistant Director Jack Ravenscroft
  • Director Gareth Edwards, Editor Jabez Olssen, and Visual Effects Supervisor David Vickery

4K VIDEO – 5/5, BLU-RAY VIDEO – 5/5

Jurassic World Rebirth arrives onto 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray where it’s presented in its original 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and given 2160p and 1080p high-definition transfers respectively. This is one that I actually did see in theaters on opening weekend and doing a comparison in my head, this is pretty darn closely resemble and maybe even better as my local Cinemark doesn’t have the best presentation (especially the audio). In terms of this transfer, detail on both formats is incredibly sharp and well defined while colors are nicely balanced.

AUDIO – 5/5

Both of the discs comes with a boisterous Dolby Atmos track which showcases each roar of the dinos with great depth from every available channel while dialogue thrives via the center channel with each insipid line. Even though I wasn’t a fan of the movie itself, no doubt this is a show stopping audio track that one should come to expect from this series. As mentioned, the audio in my theater isn’t the best and walls so thin you can hear the action going on in the theater next door, and this one is definitely better.

OVERALL — 3¼/5