10 NEW TO NETFLIX

“10 Things I Hate About You“
“28 Years Later“
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret“
“The Blackening“
“Bombshell“
“Daddy’s Home“
“Karate Kid Legends“
“Liar Liar“
“The Pledge“
“San Andreas“

15 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD

“28 Years Later“

Danny Boyle’s long-awaited sequel to “28 Weeks Later” is a truly insane and ambitious blockbuster. There aren’t a lot of filmmakers would even attempt something this bizarre, much less get Sony to put up $60 million for it. Set the titular time after the virus that decimated England, Boyle shot his film on iPhones, included more prosthetic penises than seems reasonable, and even embedded a Brexit commentary in his action flick. At its core, it’s a traditional coming-of-age action narrative about a young man who discovers that not only is the world unsafe but that adults in it will betray you, but it’s also just a visually stunning piece of work, a movie that looks like nothing else that played in a multiplex this year. The Sony Blu-ray quality is fantastic, showing off Anthony Dod Mantle’s unforgettable cinematography, but the special features are a little slight. With another movie coming in January and a third Boyle flick in production, a more special edition of this seems inevitable, but this will do for now.

Special Features:

• Days to Years
• Capturing the Chaos
• The Survivors
• Becoming The Infected
• Behind The Cameras

“Creepshow 2” (Arrow)

Arrow Home Video continues its admirable quest to give even the most unloved horror sequels the kind of treatment typically reserved for widely acknowledged masterpieces. While George A. Romero and Stephen King’s 1982 anthology flick “Creepshow” is widely considered a classic of its era, you would have trouble finding anyone willing to say the same about its follow-up, which was directed by Michael Gornick and dropped five years later.

This sequel had some notorious production problems (there were supposed to be five stories but the budget was cut so badly that it was trimmd back to three), and was widely hated by critics (29% on RT), but I’m here to defend at least “The Raft,” based on a short story included in King’s great Skeleton Crew. I think about it every time I’m on a raft in a lake (which is more often than you might think).

More importantly, Arrow nailed another horror release with interviews, commentary, and much more; however, the coolest feature might be a comic adaptation of “Pinfall,” one of the aforementioned canceled segments that was originally written for the first “Creepshow.” Given it’s never been included in a short story anthology, it feels like a must-own for King collectors.

Special Features:

• Audio commentary with director Michael Gornick
• Screenplay for a Sequel, an interview with screenwriter George A. Romero
• Tales from the Creep, an interview with actor and make-up artist Tom Savini
• Poncho’s Last Ride, an interview with actor Daniel Beer
• The Road to Dover, an interview with actor Tom Wright
• Nightmares in Foam Rubber, an archive featurette on the special effects of Creepshow 2, including interviews with FX artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero
• My Friend Rick, Howard Berger on his special effects mentor Rick Baker
• Behind-the-scenes footage
• Image gallery
• Trailers & TV spots
• Original screenplay galleries
• Creepshow 2: Pinfall, a Limited Edition booklet featuring the comic adaptation of the unfilmed Creepshow 2 segment “Pinfall” by artist Jason Mayoh
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by festival programmer Michael Blyth
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Mike Saputo

“Daybreakers“

Ethan Hawke is having an incredible year with one of the most acclaimed new shows (“The Lowdown“), an upcoming drama for which he should be considered for an Oscar (“Blue Moon“), and a soon-to-be-hit horror sequel (“Black Phone 2“). One of the best actors of his generation, there was a time when he seemed to be struggling to figure out the next phase of his career, appearing in genre flicks like “Staten Island” or “What Doesn’t Kill You.”

Even in this stretch of his filmography, Hawke distinguishes himself by working with interesting directors, including the Spierig brothers, who broke through with “Undead” in 2003 and would work with Hawke again on the fascinating “Predestination.” In between was the 2009 vampire flick “Daybreakers,” now given a 4K steelbook treatment with an excellent new cover and even new special features. The release also includes a commentary by the Spierigs and their short film “The Big Picture,” from 2000.

Special Features:

• NEW Building the World of Daybreakers
• NEW Art and Craft: The Actors of Daybreakers
• NEW Gag Reel
• NEW Art Department and Lighting Tests
• NEW Costume, Hair, and Make-up Tests
• NEW First Subsider Test
• NEW Make-up Effects Tapes
• NEW Stunt Department
• NEW On the Set of Daybreakers
• Making of Daybreakers
• The Big Picture (The Spierig Brothers Short Film)
• Audio Commentary with Co-Directors Peter and Michael Spierig and Creature Designer Steve Boyle
• Theatrical Trailer
• Poster Art Gallery

“Elio“

The first ten minutes of “Elio” are a tender study of a grieving child who becomes so lonely that he wants an alien species to take him away from everything. It’s a reminder of how empathetically Pixar can handle this kind of material. Sadly, the rest of “Elio” is largely a different movie, an adventure story of a kid and his alien BFF saving the universe.

While it remains largely inoffensive in a time when family entertainment from major studios can often be horrible, it squanders that early potential. And Pixar clearly saw the writing on the wall, burying this more than any movie they had made previously. Part of me wants to defend “Elio” because I dislike that Pixar has become a nostalgia factory that only supports its sequels. But even if we need more original Pixar ideas, we also need better ones than that.

Special Features:

• Inside the Communiverse: The World and Characters of Elio
• Out of This World: An Astro Q&A
• Astronomic Art Class: Ooooo and Glordon
• Extraterrestrial Easter Eggs and Fun Facts
• Galactic Gag Reel
• Deleted Scenes

“Flow” (Criterion)

One of the most unexpected Oscar winners was this Latvian tale of a cat trying to survive a dystopian future with rising water levels. Rather than just give the critical darling the Janus Contemporaries treatment like they’ve been doing with a lot of recent arthouse hits, Criterion gives “Flow” the full boat of special features, including new interviews and a new commentary with director Gints Zilbalodis.

As they’ve been doing often lately with new filmmakers, they include short films from early in his career, both with commentaries by the director. There is also a making-of documentary called “Dream Cat” about the making of the film. Everyone talks about the Oscar win (and nomination for International Feature), but here’s another cool piece of trivia: This is the most-viewed theatrical film in Latvian history, and has made over 50 million Euros worldwide on a budget that’s a fraction of that. People love “Flow.”

Special Features:

• 4K digital transfer, with 7.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, approved by director Gints Zilbalodis
• 4K digital master of Away (2019), Zilbalodis’s debut feature
• One 4K UHD disc of Flow and Away and two Blu-rays with Flow, Away, and the special features
• New audio commentary featuring Zilbalodis
• Full feature-length animatic
• New interviews with Zilbalodis and cowriter-coproducer Matīss Kaža
• Dream Cat (2025), a making-of documentary produced for Latvian Television
• Aqua (2012) and Priorities (2014), short films by Zilbalodis, with new commentaries by the director
• Unused-shot reel, with new commentary by Zilbalodis
• Trailers, TV spots, and proof-of-concept teasers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio
• PLUS: An essay by critic Nicolas Rapold and collectible stickers

“Friendship“

Just as Tim Robinson’s brand of cringe humor is about to return to pop culture in HBO’s “The Chair Company,” A24 drops his acclaimed anti-buddy comedy in which the “I Think You Should Leave” star plays the most awkward guy in suburbia. It may be written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, but “Friendship” clearly channels Robinson’s sense of humor, and all of his fans should snag this A24 online shop exclusive.

He plays Craig, a guy who becomes a bit too attached to the new guy in his neighborhood, a meteorologist played by the always-likable Paul Rudd. Robinson is all-in for this story of a friendship that approaches stalking, and A24 has given the future cult classic a solid release with a commentary and deleted scenes. One more thing: This movie wins the award for tagline of the year: “Men Shouldn’t Have Friends.”

Special Features:

• Commentary with Writer-Director Andrew DeYoung, Director of Photography Andy Rydzewski, and Conner O’Malley
• Deleted Scenes
• “Men Talking in the Dark” Extended Q&A with Eric Rahill, Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson, and Andrew DeYoung
• Conner O’Malley Extended Garage Scene
• Six Collectible Postcards with Behind the Scenes Photography

“The Good, The Bad, The Weird” (Arrow)

This might be my favorite Arrow release of the year, and that’s a high bar to clear. 2008’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Weird” is a wonderfully gonzo Korean Western from the brilliant Kim Jee-woon, who also directed “A Tale of Two Sisters” and “I Saw the Devil,” two modern horror masterpieces that I’d love to see get the Arrow treatment too.

“GBW” is a gorgeously shot film that centers on two of the best Korean actors of their generation: Song Kang-ho, of “Parasite” fame stateside, and Lee Byung-hun, of “Squid Game” and the upcoming “No Other Choice,” in which he may do his best work to date. They are just two parts of this creative, funny, thrilling film. Arrow pulls out all the stops, offering multiple versions of the movie, multiple audio commentaries, new interviews, and stunning artwork. Get this one.

Special Features:

• DISC ONE – 4K BLU-RAY
• 4K MASTER approved by director Kim Jee-woon
• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• Includes both the International and Korean versions of the film presented via seamless branching
• DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio on both cuts of the film
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio commentary by film critic James Marsh and film critic and producer Pierce Conran
• Archival audio commentary of the International Cut by director Kim Jee-woon and actors Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung
• Archival audio commentary of the Korean Version by director Kim Jee-woon, cinematographer Lee Mogae, lighting director Oh Seung-chul, and art director Cho Hwa-sung (Korean Version)
• Introduction to the film by Kim Jee-woon
• DISC TWO – BLU-RAY
• Corralling Chaos in the Desert, an interview with director Kim Jee-woon
• Dusty Dust-ups and Sweaty Saddles, an interview with martial arts coordinator Jung Doo-hong
• Archival making-of films and featurettes
• Trailer gallery
• Image gallery
• ADDITIONAL CONTENT
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
• Perfect bound collector’s book featuring writing by Darcy Paquet, Kyu Hyun Kim, Cho Jae-whee and Ariel Schudson
• Three postcard-sized artcards
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh

“Hellbender” (Arrow)

The Adams Family becomes a more essential part of the genre landscape every year. Their truly excellent “Mother of Flies” is currently making the fest circuit after lauded screenings at Fantasia and Fantastic Fest. Be sure to check it out when it drops early next year.

Before then, pick up the latest Arrow edition of one of their works, 2021’s twisted “Hellbender.” Arrow turns this one into a study of the family that acts, writes, and directs together, not only allowing all four of them to do a new commentary but including a 2021 short film by Zelda called “Fort Worden,” and four music videos made for the band within the film (who also handle the music in the new one, by the way, because of course they do).

Special Features:

• Brand new audio commentary with filmmakers Toby Poser, John Adams, Zelda Adams and Lulu Adams
• From the Forest She Rises, a brand new video essay by filmmaker Jen Handorf
• Black Magic Tricks, a featurette on the visual effects by VFX artist Trey Lindsay
• Behind-the-scenes compilation footage
• Fort Worden (2021), a short film by Zelda Adams
• Four music videos: Hit and Run (2024), Drive (2021), Lovely (2021) and Black Sky (2020)
• Original trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Beth Morris and original artwork by Sister Hyde
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Natasha Ball and Kat Hughes

“High & Low” (Criterion)

One of Akira Kurosawa’s best films (and that’s truly saying something) was remade this year in Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” which takes the basic premise of the 1963 original and then truly turns it into a Lee film in the second half. It’s a great example of how to do a remake, blending both the original voice and your own.

But this isn’t about Spike, as we’ll sadly probably never get a Blu-ray of that Apple TV+ original. This is about Akira, who shot this thriller about a man (Toshiro Mifune) who struggles when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped after being mistaken for his own. Criterion has released this before, but has gone back and given it the 4K treatment, including archival material such as an interview with Mifune and a Toho Masterworks documentary about the making of this masterpiece.

Special Features:

• New 4K digital restoration, with 4.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
• Documentary on the making of High and Low, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
• Interviews with actors Toshiro Mifune and Tsutomu Yamazaki
• Trailers and teaser
• PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and an on-set account by Japanese-film scholar Donald Richie

“Jurassic World Rebirth“

It’s hard to believe we’ve now had more “World” movies than “Park” movies, as this is the fourth flick since the relaunch of the franchise based on the hit novel by Michael Crichton about people who resurrect dinosaurs. “Jurassic” feels like it becomes bigger every year with theme park rides, video games, Netflix cartoons, and more. But how about the movies? This is another bland CGI blockbuster, a story of a team that travels to a former dinosaur facility to extract some samples and gets caught up in dinosaur chaos again.

While I appreciate the simplicity of the plot (it’s essentially the first movie in which scientists go in and need to get out), the overabundance of CGI strikes me as lifeless. None of it creates the same sense of wonder that we experienced from Spielberg’s original over three decades ago. You should know that this is an impressive Blu-ray, complete with alternate opening, deleted scenes, featurettes, and two commentaries. At a time when studios seem to be pulling away from physical media, kudos to Universal for producing this one so well.

Special Features:

• ALTERNATE OPENING
• DELETED SCENES
• RAPTORS – Featuring Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda
• MUTADON ATTACK – Featuring Scarlett Johansson, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Rupert Friend, Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda
• JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH: HATCHING A NEW ERA
• THE WORLD EVOLVES – Journey into a reimagined Jurassic World with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and the rest of the cast and filmmakers.
• OFF THE DEEP END – Dive into the thrilling ocean sequence and learn about the challenges of shooting on open water, the one-of-a-kind gimbal used to toss around the Essex and Mariposa, and the VFX wizardry that brought the Mosasaurus and Spinosaurs to life.
• TREKKING THROUGH THAILAND – Follow the cast and crew’s footsteps as they navigate the challenges of shooting in exotic jungles, beaches, and tall grass fields that become home to the Titanosaurs.
• REX IN THE RAPIDS – Brace for a T. rex encounter that’s different than anything experienced before with a nail-biting river chase recreated from Michael Crichton’s original Jurassic Park novel.
• DON’T LOOK DOWN – Soar into the Quetzalcoatlus sequence with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Bechir Sylvain as they train for and shoot their cliff rappelling scenes.
• MINI-MART MAYHEM – Go inside the heart-stopping third act of Jurassic World Rebirth and witness the process of crafting sets that allow the movie’s mutant dinosaurs to step out of nightmare-inspired designs and stop on an exhilarating rampage.
• GAG REEL
• MEET DOLORES – Meet the animatronic Aquilops with an extraordinarily lifelike personality.
• MUNCHED: BECOMING DINO FOOD – Get a victim’s firsthand view inside the frightening jaws of deadly dinosaurs that munch, chomp, and chew their way into creating unforgettable death sequences.
• A DAY AT SKYWALKER SOUND – Actress Audrina Miranda guides a personal tour of Skywalker Sound in California to meet the audio editors, foley artists, and mixers who design the movie’s wide array of sounds.
• HUNTING FOR EASTER EGGS – Find out where to look for cleverly hidden Easter eggs that pay homage to everything from the first Jurassic Park film to other Steven Spielberg classics.
• FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR GARETH EDWARDS, PRODUCTION DESIGNER JAMES CLYNE, AND FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR JACK RAVENSCROFT
• FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR GARETH EDWARDS, EDITOR JABEZ OLSSEN, AND VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR DAVID VICKERY

“Lilo & Stitch“

I don’t know what to say anymore about the live-action remakes of Disney and now DreamWorks titles that haven’t been said repeatedly by critics all over the world. Most of them are soulless echoes of the original, and it feels like people I talk to agree with their artistic vacuity, and yet they make a FORTUNE. This one made more than its source did in its entire run on its first weekend, ending up with over $1 billion worldwide. They’re already working on the sequel. Can we ensure that one doesn’t resemble a Disney+ original? Please? I’m begging.

Special Features:

• Deleted Scenes
• ‘Ohana Means Family: Making Lilo & Stitch – Learn how an animated classic becomes an instant live-action favorite. Explore the challenges of bringing Stitch into the real world, how the familiar images of the original were recreated, and join returning cast members on a set that embodies ‘ohana.
• Drawn to Life – Check out scenes from the animated original film alongside their live-action counterparts to see how these beloved key moments were faithfully recreated. And uncover some easter eggs along the way!
• Bloopers – Take a look at some of the fun mishaps on set with the cast and crew of Lilo & Stitch.
• Scenes with Stitch – Hear Stitch talk about some of his favorite scenes as he watches the movie play.

“Materialists“

Celine Song’s follow-up to her Oscar-nominated “Past Lives” is a smart movie that knows it’s smart. Sometimes, that intelligence is a drawback in scenes where characters played by Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal sometimes sound more like screenwriters’ creations than real people. As a matchmaker and the millionaire she personally matches with, both performers are engaging; however, the real MVP of the movie is Chris Evans, who delivers his most relaxed and genuine performance in years. He’s a bit miscast in that it’s hard to believe he’d struggle as much as he does into his mid-30s (he’s kind of a “unicorn” in a different way), but it’s so great to see him in something this naturally charismatic.

As much as I love “Past Lives,” this is a bit of a step down, but it’s not the sophomore slump you may have heard. And, even with its flaws, I wish we saw more films like it.

Special Features:

• Director Commentary with Celine Song
• “The Math of Modern Dating: Making Materialists” featurette
• Composer Deep Dive with Japanese Breakfast
• Six Collectible Postcards with Behind the Scenes Photography

“The Phoenician Scheme“

Wes Anderson is the king of physical media this month with a fantastic box set from Criterion of his first 10 movies that I’ll cover separately later this week. Also recently released? His 12th film is this clever 2025 comedy about a man who reconciles with what matters in life after several attempts to kill him. While that might sound more melodramatic than Anderson typically attempts, this movie smartly weaves issues of religion and business into another Anderson diorama film, one of precise compositions and quirky characters.

After how much I adored “Asteroid City,” I think this mid-life crisis Wes may make for one of the more interesting stretches of his career. Note: This is a bare-bones edition with an awful cover. Safe bet it’s a placeholder for an inevitable Criterion release in the next couple of years.

Special Features:

• Behind THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
• The Cast
• The Airplane
• Marseille Bob’s
• Zsa-zsa’s World

“Superman“

The highest-grossing superhero flick of the year is James Gunn’s launch for his vision of the DCU, a complete dismantling and restart for some of the most famous heroes in world history (with the possible exception of Matt Reeves’ “Batman” films, which appear to be progressing). Gunn does a few smart things with his take on the Man of Steel. One, he eschews the origin story everyone knows by heart and drops us into a Metropolis already reckoning with their alien hero. Two, and this is even more important, he discards the cynicism that has drowned so many recent DC films for a story of kindness.

I think “Superman” is a tick overrated and not my favorite Gunn, but I like what it promises for the future of all the heroes now under the Gunn empire. The Blu-ray? It’s pretty slight for one of the biggest films of the year, failing to include a commentary or deleted scenes. However, it does have that rocking WB 4K video quality, which is the best of the major studios.

Special Features:

• Krypto Saves the Day!: School Bus Scuffle – (5:32)
• Adventures in Making Superman Featurette (60:00)
• Icons Forever: Superman’s Enduring Legacy – Featurette (6:05)
• Lex Luthor: The Mind of a Master Villain – Featurette (5:18)
• Kryptunes: The Music of Superman – Featurette (6:31)
• Paws to Pixels: Krypto is Born – Featurette (5:54)
• Breaking News: The Daily Planet Returns – Featurette (5:23)
• The Ultimate Villain – Featurette (5:30)
• The Justice Gang – Featurette (10:37)
• A New Era: DC Takes Off – Featurette (4:53)

“This is Spinal Tap” (Criterion)

“Spinal Tap II” just hit theaters and was greeted largely with a shoulder shrug. The real news about everyone’s favorite ’80s rock stars is that they have joined the Criterion Collection with a new 4K special edition approved by Reiner himself and STUFFED with special features. There are three audio commentaries, including one that features the band members in character. Not enough? How about 89 minutes of deleted scenes? Does anyone remember the special “Spinal Tap: The Final Tour”? You can have that now, too. There are even interviews about the largely forgotten Back from the Dead, the band’s reunion album from 2009. It’s everything a Tap fan could ever want in one Blu-ray release.

Special Features:

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Rob Reiner, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Alternate 2.0 uncompressed stereo soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
• Three audio commentaries, featuring Reiner; actors Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer; producer Karen Murphy; editors Robert Leighton and Kent Beyda; and band members Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls
• Conversation between Reiner and actor Patton Oswalt
• The Cutting Room Floor, featuring ninety-eight minutes of outtakes
• Spinal Tap: The Final Tour (1982)
• Excerpts from The Return of Spinal Tap (1992)
• Interviews with the band for its 2009 Back from the Dead album
• Trailers, media appearances, and music videos
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Alex Pappademas

There are many eternal questions of the universe that we have still yet to figure out. Who was D.B. Cooper? What’s inside Area 51? Is there such a thing as a good boxed wine? And most recently: how the f*ck is it so hard to make a good sequel to Jurassic Park. I refuse to believe that a movie about dinosaurs running amok is such a lightning in a bottle idea that it is simply impossible to even come close to the magic of that first film.  But Lord, has Hollywood tried, first with a spiraling trilogy that started strong but soon spiraled out, followed by another trilogy that started off decently only to nosedive to the center of the Earth. 

I didn’t think things could get worse after Jurassic World: Dominion unless you were actively trying to torch this franchise. That bloated nostalgia-fest pretty much sealed the deal for me that this franchise was eternally stuck in the past, cursed to spin its wheels in place until the next warranted meteor hurtled our way. But like a fool, I had hope. Gareth Edwards is a director that understands scope and grandeur. Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali are phenomenal actors. Maybe, surely, this time will be different, right? 

Alright, bring on the meteor.

Jurassic World Rebirth is the farthest thing from a rebirth. It’s less of a rising from the ashes a bright and proud phoenix and more of a regurgitation of those leftovers you knew you should have thrown out, but curiosity got the best of you. The story is painfully flat, while the characters are devoid of any worthwhile personality or character traits that makes them worth caring about. Sure, the dinosaurs and environments look great, but the magic and wonder of the original is artificially recreated in a way that elicits no real emotion. Everything about it is so redundant and pointless, bringing nothing new to the table except new strains of mutant dinos, which isn’t even a new concept for the series. Nothing about this movie warrants its creation, so, well, you know the Jeff Goldblum line.

Ten years after the events of the last film, a pharmaceutical exec, a paleontologist and a few mercenaries travel to a restricted island to retrieve blood samples from three dinosaurs that may hold the key to curing heart disease. Their voyage inadvertently coincides with a sailing family, and the group shipwrecks on the island, now at the mercy of the dinosaurs that inhabit it. But there’s far more than regular dinos to deal with, as the island is actually a testing facility that was used to create new, nightmarish monsters the world has never seen. Because, you know, science.

For a series called Jurassic World, they sure do love returning to the same old kind of locals. At the end of the last film, dinosaurs inhabited nearly every corner of the world, hinting that man and beast would have to find a way to co-exist. So what does this film do? It kills almost all of them off because of the inhospitable climate and makes our main characters go to another Jurassic Park. Why are they so afraid of making a movie that doesn’t take place mostly in a jungle setting? For all of its flaws, Dominion at least toyed with the idea of dinosaurs being in different areas of the world, but this film quickly walks that back. Do we really need another movie about researchers wading through tall grass and tall trees while avoiding dinos? Where is the world part of Jurassic World? This franchise should have been in full-on apocalypse dominated by dinosaurs by now, but whoever is calling the shots seems so afraid of pushing the envelope even the tiniest bit. 

Maybe this would be a bit more forgivable if the characters were memorable, but these have to be some of the most nothing characters the series has seen yet. Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Johnathan Bailey are great talents, but this movie does absolutely nothing with them. Johansson and Ali are mercs with shoehorned tragic backstories and squeaky clean moral compasses for guys who break the law for money often. There’s no real character arc to them, their tragic past is never really expanded upon, and overall, they’re just planks of wood repeating lines. Jonathan Bailey’s character doesn’t even feel needed. He’s just there to tell us what a dinosaur is and why it’s doing things. There’s no emotional stake to his decision to go; he just needs to be the guy to explain everything because all of these movies have that. There’s a family that gets entangled in their mission, and honestly, the movie should have just been about them. The overprotective dad and the slacker boyfriend are the best characters in the film, and they could have benefited from more of the film’s focus. Honestly, just swap the groups from side characters to main characters and vice versa, and you’ve got a much more interesting movie.

The film also has a really weird pacing problem. The setup for the main characters is painfully rushed, breezing past any semblance of personality or reason to get behind the characters. Once they arrive at the island, however, everything slows down and the film really begins to drag. There’s just too much downtime between each dinosaur encounter, which wouldn’t be an issue if it was padded with some half-decent writing. But every attempt at humor or earnestness is so painfully dull and unoriginal. It’s time to move beyond the environmental and nature subtext of the series, because there truly seems to be nothing left to say about it. The film vomits word salads about humanity’s place in the world, but can’t manage to say one thing that felt original to the series or even somewhat thought provoking. But while it’s trying to call upon the past, it fails to nail what made the original so endearing. The dinosaur encounters are a mixed bag, ranging from retreads to reheated nachos from the first film. That terror and suspense just doesn’t come through despite some admirable attempts, while the more adventure-y moments don’t really surprise you or blow you away despite the ever-consistent special effects. The rancor/Cloverfield-esque mutant dino is cool, but it’s hardly used in a way that makes it memorable or scary, appearing near the tail end of the film to do a whole lot of nothing.

In an attempt to simplify and go back to basics, Jurassic World Rebirth has consequently forgotten to present anything new that warrants you wanting to watch this over the original or any of the others in the franchise. Devoid of any human identity and coasting off admittedly beautiful visuals, Rebirth is the kind of safe, nothing movie that will no doubt succeed at the box office off of name recognition alone, but will struggle to find a space in any corner of your mind. I just cannot understand how these aren’t better. It shouldn’t be that hard, and yet here we are. This is less of a rebirth and more of an afterbirth; the discarded waste left behind by an actual miracle that you should probably pay more attention to instead.

RATING

SPINOSAURUS

Everyone’s got their favorite dinosaur, from the t-rex to Barney. For me, I’ve always been partial to the Spinosaurus. It’s incredibly intimidating, but knows how to stunt on the other dinos with it’s cool back frill. Spinosaurus’s actually have a pretty fun sequence in this film, so I decide to base the cocktail around their appearance. The drink itself is a bit of a mai tai riff, containing the flavors of coconut, pineapple and a healthy does of rum. Don’t forget your half of a cocktail umbrella to give the drink the signature spine, and get ready to turn any shipwreck into an island adeventure.

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5oz pineapple rum
• 3/4oz orange curacao
• 3/4oz lime juice
• 1/2oz cream of coconut
• Float: 1/2oz dark rum
• Garnish: Half of a cocktail umbrella

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add ingredients to a shaker and shake with ice.
2. Strain into cocktail glass over ice.
3. Slowly pour the dark rum over the back of a spoon over the drink to create the layer effect.
4. Use scissors to cut off the bottom half of a cocktail umbrella, then garnish the drink with it.

★★★★

The ingredients for a dynamite entry into the Jurassic Park canon are no great secret. They’ve been in the public domain since 1993, after all. Quite why it’s taken thirty years and six attempts to remix them into a genuinely thrilling, and legitimately original is less clear. To be clear, 2015’s Jurassic World was good fun but a legacy remake if ever one were. No matter. Not content with gifting LucasFilm the best Star Wars film of the twenty-first century, Gareth Edwards has done it again for the Steven Spielberg’s Franchisousaurus Rex. Putting a new tranche of stars through hell, Jurassic World: Rebirth is nothing short of a hoot.

Credit where due, Colin Trevorrow’s 2015–22 sequel trilogy, in which “Park” became “World,”must have been doing something right to keep the flame so well alight. Dominion was a dino-bore but still topped a billion at the post-Covid global box office. And yet, bar a retention of the   “World” moniker in its title, Rebirth bears far closer resemblance to Park era in scope and ambition. The notion that dinosaurs now rub shoulders with rush hour on the streets of New York, an inheritance of 2018’s Fallen Kingdom, remains a fun one but a return to the playpen of deadly jungle tropics is more fun still. In the thrash of leaves and rising mist, where your visibility is a pithy three metres ahead, anything could be – and absolutely is – hiding.

The influence of Spielberg himself is flush in Rebirth. It’s in the lightness of touch, the familial core, and the scene that finds a young girl trapped in an abandoned convenience store fridge, cuddling the dino-puppy hidden in her backpack, as a mutant raptor breathes on the all-too-thin glass between them. The script is that of David Koepp, coaxed into return to the series with a Spielberg treaty, having penned the original with the late Michael Crichton himself. It would be madness for any root-able character to head back into the fray six films in but capitalism throws the ball every time. This time around, it’s caught by big pharma.

Specifically, it’s Rupert Friend who dons the film’s serpentine skins as suitably slimy ParkerGenix representative Martin Krebs. It is he who dangles zeros before the jaded eyes of covert operative cum mercenary Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) and the opportunity of a lifetime for doe-eyed palaeontologist De. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) – a student of Alan Grant no less. The pitch is as contrived as it is conveniently straightforward. Infiltrate the forbidden and foreboding Ile Saint-Hubert, locate the three largest remaining prehistoric species from land, sea, and air, collect their DNA and cash the cheque. 

To keep things playful, the Ile Saint-Hubert is home also to an array of grim, mutated and blood-thirsty dinosaur experiments, the failed remnants of InGen’s time on the island some seventeen years prior. These include winged raptors, ring-tailed diplodoci and a blob-headed, six-limbed and ruddy enormous Distortus rex for the grand finale. Each enjoys thunderously weighty realisation across the screen, bolstered by a pleasingly callous attitude to picking off the excesses of Koepp’s early character count, which depends initially on a certain economising of character. When the climax comes, the whittling process is sufficient to ensure you care for the final band…mostly.

A score by the mighty Alexandre Desplat finds fluidity enough in the original John Williams melodies to allow the necessary swells room to feel earned, without ever taking away from the urgency of his more dynamic additions. For his part, Edwards is in no rush to land his punches. Pitch perfect pacing blends breathing room with a half dozen breathtaking sequences, never losing sight of the tenderness required to make the latter count. An emotional encounter that places Loomis in the heart of the world he has so long studied from afar is gently done and all the stronger for it. 

While it is true that much of Rebirth does have a certain ring of familiarity, Edwards want is to find the future in the pre-history. A director well acquainted with maximising the limitations of his toolbox, he proves a smart pick, even with a much inflated budget on the likes of Monsters and The Creator. Of course, his characters lean heavily on those pre-established but it matters not a jot when those cast prove so well deployed. To similar ends, watch for the film’s mandatory T-Rex encounter. It’s blisteringly shot and edge-of-the-seat exciting. It can be done.

T.S.