What a revival. The Jurassic World series seemed all but finished after a string of underwhelming installments: Fallen Kingdom in 2018 and Dominion in 2022. Yet now, against expectations, this franchise has been revitalized with a livelier, wittier film, featuring stronger performances and sharper writing, while paying homage to classic summer blockbusters. The action sequences feel earned and purposeful.
Screenwriter David Koepp and director Gareth Edwards strip back the excess, starting fresh with a "17 years earlier" flashback that entirely dismisses the tangled narrative of recent entries. The story then shifts to the present day, where wild dinosaurs are all but extinct—except on the fictional Caribbean island of Île Saint Hubert.
A shady corporation has found that dinosaur blood possesses medicinal properties, prompting the ruthless Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) to assemble a team to extract samples from three dinosaur groups: land, sea, and air. Scarlett Johansson plays Zora Bennett, the mission’s no-nonsense leader; Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) is the dedicated paleontologist; and Mahershala Ali brings laid-back charm as Duncan Kincaid, the boat captain. Along the way, they cross paths with a family led by Reuben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), who become part of their own side-story, delivering the expected emotional beats.
Familiar Jurassic tropes return, including the slow, tense turns when someone suddenly realizes a dinosaur looms behind them—a moment always punctuated by a perfectly timed reaction shot. There’s also an overconfident mercenary (Ed Skrein) who underestimates the creatures, meeting a fitting end.
The film thrives on the chemistry between Johansson and Bailey. Zora’s quiet fondness for Loomis recalls past roles, like her dynamic with Mark Ruffalo in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Bailey, while different from his performance in Wicked, nearly steals the show with his endearing idealism. His character, Loomis, dreams of fossilizing in shallow water—because, as he explains, intelligence isn’t always an advantage in survival; after all, dinosaurs lasted millions of years longer than humans have so far.
Read next
Sebastian Barry's The Newer World: a near-miracle of storytelling review
Sebastian Barry’s latest novel, *The Newer World*, gives voice to Tennyson Bouguereau, a formerly enslaved man navigating post-Civil War America. Through Tennyson’s recollections, the narrative revives the perennial question: is history better served by novelists or historians? Historians might demur, but as Barry illustrates, fiction can fill
Wim Wenders says film-makers should not avoid political involvement
Filmmaker Wim Wenders has clarified his earlier comments on the relationship between cinema and politics. Speaking at the Venice film festival, he stated that he does not believe filmmakers should completely avoid political engagement.
Earlier in the year, while serving as jury president at the Berlin film festival, Wenders told
The week around the world in 20 images
The week witnessed a series of catastrophic events, including the devastating floods along the Nepal-Tibet border, Russian missile attacks on Kyiv, the rapid spread of the Plaskett Fire across California, and the vibrant celebration of the Notting Hill carnival. The following images, captured by top photojournalists, document these moments.