I have the privilege of having a DSTV subscription. And one of the perks of this subscription is that they occasionally show a film that is less than 10 years old. Today, that film was Jurassic World: Rebirth. I hadn't heard anything overtly negative about the film, and the press tours last year generated much social media hype. So I tried to watch the film with an open, generally optimistic mind.
Before I begin my rant, let's start with some good things about the film:
Warning: Some potential spoilers ahead!
The positives:
1) The acting was generally better compared to previous films. You get the idea that these are professional actors doing their jobs as best they can with the material they are given.2) The characters were mostly likeable and somewhat distinct from one another. Don't ask me any of their names, but I would be able to distinguish one character from the next.
3) The plot moved along fine. There wasn't much dead space from one scene to the next
The negatives:
1) Do we really need endless Jurassic World movies with hybrid dinosaurs? Dinosaurs are interesting enough by themselves without being *more* predatory, *more* equipped to handle sky, sea and land, or *more* intelligent. Longer tails, more bulbous heads, much bigger bodies. It is such lazy film writing clearly meant more for spectacle than substance
2) Johansson coming in strong with the "overly capable character" trope. She lands on a mysterious island and knows exactly how to lead her team and survive. She repels down huge cliffs with ease all while laughing at Bailey's character fear of heights. Meanwhile, his character bumbles along while simpering nonsensical yet "intelligent" dino speak. His defining characteristic is poor decision making. So in other words, it is just a gender swap of Pratt and Dallas-Howard's characters from previous films. Other characters disappear and die and the plot just chugs along. This worked in the original Jurassic Park because there was a sense of slow-growing panic and desperation where the other characters' ability to move on from the tragedies was integral to their survival. These characters scream their friends' names a few times and then continue to gather dino samples.
3) The dinosaurs are constantly hungry and looking to chow on humans. This seems to be an ongoing theme from the first Jurassic Park, but with none of its exposition and build up. We are never fully convinced as to why these dinosaurs are constantly ravenous and hungry for human flesh. Real world animals, even predators, are not always in attack mode. They are persistent in their hunting far beyond any real world animal would be. It becomes entirely unconvincing when almost every single dino-hybrid seems to have human flesh as their primary meal preference.
4) Why the pet dinosaur? Honestly, the thought of the little girl keeping a pet dinosaur drags you out of any immersion in the film. There seems to be no obvious function to the pet except him informing her of the d-rex's presence once. It does not provide cute comedic relief nor does it do much but eat snacks.
5) The boring villain. Friend's character wasn't really a threat and barely registered as sinister. We aren't ever convinced of the efficacy of his nefarious plot. The characters were barely moved by the fact he was wielding a gun (as evidenced by Delgado's character continuing to threaten him while he brandished it). His death was sudden and frankly uninteresting.
6) The movie, while generally cohesive, is guilty of what many films are nowdays which is we aren't given a reason to root for any of the characters. Only at the end are Johansson's team proven to be redeemable.
That is the problem with most modern day films. They seem to be made for consumption rather than creativity. A lot of these films come across as soulless, formulaic and forgettable.
Conclusion:
While I do not want to end on a negative note, I think these types of films are an indicator for the future of filmmaking if we aren't more intentional in assessing what we are looking for in a good movie. We need to 'hit back' at these film production companies who seem to be making films more palatable and visually dazzling but soulless and mind numbing. There is no miracle salve except more intellectual rigour on our part as the thinking audience. So less hybrid dinosaurs please, Universal Pictures. My asks are for more convincing characters, higher stakes, and better plot development for future films.
