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Credit: Universal PicturesJurassic World Rebirth (2025) is only a few months away. But while the first official trailer has left a lot of fans excited for the next chapter in the Jurassic saga, others, however, have quite a few bones to pick with it (no pun intended), ourselves included.
The film stars Scarlett Johansson as covert operations expert Zora Bennett, who’s tasked with leading a specialist team on a top-secret mission to a mysterious island, where nothing is as it seems. ”
This action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind,” the official synopsis reads.
“The planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs,” it continues. “Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.”
But unfortunately, Universal Pictures, in the words of Scarlett Johansson’s Zora Bennett, “None of what you just said is good.”
Concerns about the film first arose with that description, which can be found on the website for the film. Now, the trailer, which dropped just last week, has left fans even more worried that this sequel is nothing more than a rehash of everything we’ve already seen, as opposed to “a new Jurassic era” that promises “an ingenious new direction” for the franchise.
Before we dive in, watch the official trailer for the film below, per Universal Pictures:
Now, here are all the glaring issues with the trailer and the synopsis.
Jurassic World Rebirth Retcons the Franchise
Jurassic World Rebirth screenwriter David Koepp, who penned Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), said in a recent interview with The Wrap that he “hates a retcon.” Which begs to question why Rebirth features a third InGen island.
How many times are we going to be told that InGen’s dinosaurs were genetically engineered on a different island to what we were originally led to believe? When The Lost World introduced Isla Sorna/Site B into the mix, it was a nice, surprising development that expanded the Jurassic lore in an exciting and completely logical way.
Isla Nublar was the show-home and Isla Sorna was the factory floor. Makes perfect sense.
But Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom convoluted this by conjuring up InGen’s co-CEO Benjamin Lockwood (Oliver Cromwell), and with him, Lockwood Manor, where, apparently, he and John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) created their first dinosaur. Erm, okay…
Now, Jurassic World Rebirth has confused things even more with another island; a dumping ground for InGen’s failed genetically engineered dinosaurs, hence the giant mutant one revealed in the trailer (we’ll get to that a bit later).
Not only is a third island just plain lazy, but the fact that it’s located on the Atlantic side of South America, in a country named Suriname, makes no sense when you consider the logistics. Why did InGen purchase two islands off the coast of Costa Rica (Pacific side) and a third near Barbados?
What happened to the five-island archipelago named Les Cinques Muertes mentioned in The Lost World, which includes Site B?
Related: ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Accidentally Confirms the Deaths of Several Characters
Dinosaurs Dying Out Is a Pointless Development
As revealed in the synopsis, “the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs,” which means they’ve been dying out all around the world, while some have managed to migrate to “isolated equatorial environments” because the climates there resemble “the one in which they once thrived.”
But this makes zero sense.
The first film to release dinosaurs into the wild was Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018). Its sequel, Jurassic World Dominion (2022), takes place four years later to find that the dinosaurs are flourishing everywhere around the world, including oftentimes snowy areas like the vast Sierra Nevada region in North America.
Not only that, but we know that some dinosaurs actually lived in cold regions, so this doesn’t just break Jurassic canon, but it’s not grounded in real science, either, despite screenwriter David Koepp also promising that Rebirth would be “backed by real science.”
Why the sudden change of heart, Planet Earth? Oh, that’s right — plot convenience (more of that later as well). Rebirth simply needs its three massive dinosaurs in one place, even though a globe-trotting adventure similar to Dominion would have been more fun than watching an expedition venture to a jungle island where things go awry (sound familiar?).
But what’s really stupid about this contrivance is that the film doesn’t even need the dinosaurs to migrate to equatorial regions, because it’s set on an island anyway — those surviving dinosaurs aren’t even the ones that live there!
However, the synopsis does refer to the three massive dinosaurs as living “within that tropical biosphere,” so we’re very confused, because if they aren’t native to the new island, how, exactly, did they cross the sea? Did they take turns riding the Mosasaur?
At this point, we really wouldn’t be surprised.
Related: ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’: “Sinister, Shocking” Plot Twist Explored
Plot Contrivances Plague Jurassic World Rebirth
Contrivances are the key problem with Jurassic World Rebirth. But forget the trailer for a minute — the synopsis is littered with them, namely the whole “three most colossal creatures across land, sea, and air” plotline.
Not only is it unbelievably convenient that all three dinosaurs happen to be in the same location, but the fact that they span “land, sea, and air” is just plain ridiculous, as it’s nothing more than a way to justify three environment-specific action sequences.
In the trailer, Rupert Friend’s big pharma rep Martin Krebs (who obviously turns out to be the villain) pokes fun at this convenience, quipping, “Fortunately for us, all these species exist in one isolated place”.
But pointing out the flaws in your writing isn’t smart. It’s embarrassing.
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Releasing Official Never-Before-Seen Version of 1993 Film
Rebirth‘s “Race Against Time” Plot Is a Lie
The synopsis states that “this action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth” to retrieve specific dinosaur DNA as it holds life-changing benefits for mankind (although it’ll turn out to be some kind of rouse, no doubt).
We now know that the genetic material holds the cure to heart disease. Of course, heart disease is very serious, but to use the word “race” is a stretch. This isn’t a virus that’s ravaging mankind, so why is the plot being sold as a race-against-time when it isn’t?
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Reboot Based off the Books Could Get an R Rating
Rebirth‘s “Colossal” Quetzalcoatlus Is Tiny
Speaking of “colossal,” it’s an apt word for the flying prehistoric reptile Quetzalcoatlus, which first appeared in Jurassic World Dominion. This creature is so big that it confidently attacks a pretty sizable military plane with Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), and Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise) inside.
So, when Jonathan Bailey’s paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis says in the Jurassic World Rebirth trailer that “the adult [Quetzalcoatlus] is a flying carnivore the size of an F-16 [a US fighter aircraft],” he certainly isn’t wrong. But why does the trailer proceed to show the team being attacked by a Quetza that’s no bigger than a hand-glider..?
Jurassic World Rebirth Doesn’t Feel Like Jurassic Park
Jurassic World Rebirth screenwriter David Koepp and director Gareth Edwards (2014’s Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) have each said that the new film is going back to basics and will mirror the tone of the original 1993 film more than that of any other sequel.
But the trailer feels completely at odds with those promises. While there’s plenty of fun to be had, it doesn’t look or feel anything like the first Jurassic Park. Steven Spielberg’s ground-breaking 1993 masterpiece is a science-fiction suspense thriller, not a popcorn movie.
The same can be said of its 1997 sequel, The Lost World. But everything from Jurassic Park III (2001) onwards, which includes the Jurassic World trilogy, are sci-fi action movies that lack suspense. And Jurassic World Rebirth looks to be no exception. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but why try and sell it as one thing when it’s clearly something else?
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Sequel May Bring One of These Characters Back From the Dead
The Trailer Is Full of Cringeworthy Jokes
Though it’s only been online for just over a week, the Jurassic World Rebirth trailer has already become a bit of a meme for featuring a bunch of cringeworthy jokes many cinemagoers have come to call “Marvel humor.” In short, these are punchy one-liners uttered by characters who might as well be aware they’re in a blockbuster action movie.
The Jurassic World Rebirth trailer is full of them, from Henry Loomis’ “More or less??” to Zora Bennett’s “None of what you just said is good.” While “Marvel humor” is nothing new in blockbuster movies, these jokes kill any sort of suspense, especially in a film that’s apparently going back to the franchise’s horror roots, according to the creatives themselves.
Of course, there’s every chance the film will be nothing like the trailer, but we won’t hold our breath (but we will hold onto our butts).
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Official Sequel: Everything We Know
The Mutant Dinosaur Feels Like a Bad Joke
And so we arrive at the mutant dinosaur fans have dubbed “D-Rex.” One of InGen’s genetic experiments gone horribly wrong, this prehistoric mutation is primarily a Tyrannosaurus Rex, according to Gareth Edwards in a recent Vanity Fair exclusive, with “Some Rancor” (from Star Wars) and “some H.R. Giger” (the Xenomorph from Alien) thrown into the mix.
But we know we aren’t alone in saying that this simply isn’t Jurassic Park. Sure, Jurassic World (2015) and Fallen Kingdom each featured genetic hybrids with the Indominus Rex and the Indoraptor, respectively, but at least they looked like dinosaurs.
What is this new creature supposed to even resemble? The rounded head looks more like a dolphin than a Xenomorph, and the face looks like the hideous alien/human hybrid from Alien: Resurrection (1997). Have Koepp and Edwards even seen the original Jurassic Park?
When Is Jurassic World Rebirth Out in Theaters?
Watch out for impact tremors in your cup of water — Jurassic World Rebirth will be stomping into theaters worldwide on July 2, 2025.
This latest installment introduces an entirely new cast, headlined by Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali, alongside Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Rupert Friend, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, Philippine Velge, Bechir Sylvain, and Ed Skrein.
However, none of the characters from previous films are returning—a major shift that leaves behind Jurassic Park and World veterans like Sam Neill (Alan Grant), Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcolm), Laura Dern (Ellie Sattler), Chris Pratt (Owen Grady), BD Wong (Henry Wu), Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire Dearing), and Isabella Sermon (Maisie Lockwood).
What do you think of the trailer and the synopsis? Let us know in the comments below!