While “Jurassic World Rebirth” is not quite on the same level as the iconic 1993 film “Jurassic Park,” it is miles above most of the other sequels, especially the last two installments of the Chris Pratt-starring “Jurassic World” trilogy.

With a new cast and new dinosaurs, “Rebirth” intrigued me when I first heard the news of its existence.

As I suspected, taking three of the most charming actors working today (Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali) and having them lead a “Jurassic Park” movie was a great choice. These three are what make “Rebirth” worth watching.

The three of them are on a mission to illegally gather dinosaur DNA bankrolled by pharmaceutical exec (Rupert Friend). While this plotline is more than enough to fill a two-hour movie, they decided to add a completely different set of characters, and the two groups only interact at two short sequences in the film, despite them traversing the same locales.

The second group is a family: a father (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), his two daughters (Luna Blaise & Audrina Miranda) and the older daughter’s boyfriend (David Iacono). Their stories are where the plot really falters, and it truly seems like they added this family group as a way to tack on a cute kid and a cute dinosaur (I need a Delores plushy).

These added characters could also be seen as adding a bit of heart and morality to the story, but you don’t really need that when you have Johansson, Bailey and Ali. All three of them give layered performances that I would’ve loved to see more of vs. this secondary group of characters.

The storyline surrounding these three adventurers kicks off with a horrifying scene involving the D-Rex (which looks like what you get if you cross a T. rex and one of the aliens from the “Alien” franchise). This sequence and several of the other dino scenes in “Rebirth” harkened back to the delicate balance the original “Jurassic Park” took between sheer terror and wondrous displays of these magnificent creatures.

Watching the main characters frolic through a valley with a herd of herbivorous dinosaurs in between terrifying and traumatic sequences is truly one of the most joyous moments I’ve experienced at the movies in 2025.

Of course, all of these movies require some suspension of disbelief, and there are some moments here that perhaps go too far with that suspension.

Ultimately, I do recommend this seventh installment in the “Jurassic Park” franchise to fans of the original, just don’t let your expectations get too high.

Rating: 3/5