Well we’ve finally made it.

With 32 years — and six other movies — in the rear view mirror, Jurassic World: Rebirth has quite a bit to live up to. And so it mostly did what probably more long-running franchise additions should do, and struck out on its own with a new island, new characters, and new (read: weird) dinosaurs the likes of which we have never seen before.

Mostly I’m in favor of all these changes (spoiler: except the new dinos), as even though I enjoy all the call-backs and homages we’ve seen in previous films, there is a way in which the constant references to previous films not only distract from the momentum of the plot, but often break with logical sense.

However, that does not mean that this film was completely devoid of nostalgia. Screen writer, and Tik Tok personality Nicolas Curcio mentions in his review that the film has ‘throwback energy’, and a lot of ‘Spielbergian moments’. He continues that this might be because (allegedly) the idea to do the script came from Spielberg himself.

Whether or not that’s true I can’t say, but a few moments stood out to me throughout the film because they ‘felt’ like scenes from one of the previous movies. In particular, the scene in the gas station convenience store in which the cast is trying to hide from a kind of weird mix of Velociraptor and pterosaur (apparently called a Mutadon?), feels a lot like the kitchen scene from the original Jurassic Park movie.

Another easy to spot homage happens pretty early in the film when we are introduced to Dr. Henry Loomis (played by Jonathan Bailey). He’s the team’s resident paleontologist, and general dinosaur expert. We first meet him in a museum which is closing due to lack of public interest in dinosaurs. The shot leading into this scene showcases a falling banner echoing the ending shot of the original Jurassic Park film.

That’s what I managed to catch just in my first viewing when I wasn’t particularly looking for allusions to the old films. I’m sure there are many others I missed (I was told that somewhere there is an ‘objects in mirror are closer than they appear’ reference from the first film but I missed that).

These little moments are fun, but generally I’m always more interested in what the movie does on its own. How does it stand on its own two feet?

In the beginning, I’d say it stands pretty solidly. The earliest encounter with live dinosaurs in the movie comes from a chase sequence involving our pal from previous Jurassic World films, the mosasaur (not a dinosaur) working in concert with reimagined Spinosaurs (which look very different from Jurassic Park III). This scene was thrilling in the extreme.

Also, encountering the “Titanosaur” herd — and their . . . love scene? — is as cool and awe inspiring as anything I’ve yet seen in a dinosaur film. The Aquilops was of course very cute (and will assuredly sell 1,000 toys).

We finally got our swimming Tyrannosaurus Rex! Something we’ve seen most recently in the first episode of Prehistoric Planet, but was also a scene in the original Jurassic Park (Novel).

And I also enjoyed how the movie tried to more directly tie Quetzalcoatlus to its namesake (a flying serpent deity from Aztec mythology called Quetzalcoatl) by having it nest in a literal Aztec temple ruin (I should do a post of how these movies are just becoming more and more Indiana Jones as they go along and how that’s just fine hahah).

But as the film progresses, the threats we encounter become stranger and stranger. The new island in this film is distinct from Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna in that it was used for genetic splicing aka mixing dinosaurs together. Which is why we have the strange pterosaur/velociraptor mix I mentioned earlier, and why we have the film’s primary antagonist, the Distortus Rex.

Personally, I thought the “D-Rex” a bit ridiculous. It has two sets of arms, one of which appears to be vestigial, and it moves quite slowly. And its beluga-whale-like face meant that it just did not appear terrifying to me despite its massive size and jaws (it also just kinda looked like knock-off Rancor from Star Wars (ahh Spielberg Strikes Back!)).

As I sort of hinted at above, the mutant dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Rebirth were for me its weakest element. Real dinosaurs are awe inspiring enough. They’re scary enough on their own. And with like 50 new Dinosaur species discovered each year, there are assuredly many more absolutely terrifying beasts in the fossil record from which build these amazing movies.

Of the real dinos we do get to see, my favorites (which have not already been mentioned) were probably the brief Ankylosaurus appearance towards the end of the film. I think we do get to see a non-mutant Velociraptor for like the briefest of moments, and I was honestly quite shocked that these favs did not play a larger role in the film since I feel like it’s these creatures alone which are driving 90% of people towards these films.

Now sometimes half the fun of watching these films can be comparing the on-screen depictions of these dinosaurs with the current theories of what they may have looked like in real life based off evidence in the fossil record, and modern advances in paleontology. Rebirth has so many mutant dinosaurs and deviations from the real science that it almost makes this exercise moot, however the paleontology community is obviously still abuzz with discussion and can definitely explain things better than I would.

I was proud of myself that I realized there was something off about the use of “Titanosaur” although I couldn’t figure it out all the way (check out Matt Wedel’s Semi-Spoileriffic First Thoughts on Jurassic World Rebirth over on Sauropod Picture of the Week for the full story).

Thomas Holtz at UMD provides another good analysis and Nathan Myhrvold gives the film a “Jurassic reality check” for his blog: Cosmic Log.

I’ll finish out this review with by giving a shoutout to the cast who played the Delgado family (Luna Blaise: Teresa Delgado; Manuel Garcia-Rulfo: Reuben Delgado; Audrina Miranda: Isabella Delgado and Xavier Dobbs: David Iacono). This family really was the heart of the film in many ways, and when I think of all the truly memorable lines and actions from the film, it’s these folks doing it, which I think is incredible given the other all-star cast members they’re sharing the screen with. Dobb’s character in particular was a constant source of amusement throughout the film which I did not see coming when he’s first introduced. What a delight.

Go See Jurassic World: Rebirth?

Yes Jurassic World: Rebirth definitely gets my recommendation. While there is a lot about this film I did not enjoy — mostly all the fake mutant dinosaurs which simply can’t compete with the legion of REAL dinosaurs which are already terrifying — there is also a lot of the film I did enjoy.

I won’t be touting the film as my new favorite in the series any time soon, but I also don’t think that it’s an excuse to end the franchise. The film pays due reverence to the old films but is not completely consumed with these ‘Spielbergian moments’ to the point of cliche. There is enough going on here — like the Delgado family and reimagined Spinosaurs — to set it apart. And I for one am hopeful that rather than being the franchise’s meteoric extinction, it will be what the title posits, the series’ rebirth.