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The new trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth has arrived, but no amount of Scarlett Johansson-led star power can save it from the divisive criticism of some diehard dino fans.
The teaser for the film — which marks the seventh entry into the Jurassic franchise and arrives three years after the latest installment, Jurassic World: Dominion — dropped today, and sees ScarJo encounter (spoiler alert!) some terrifying dinosaurs. The actress features in the clip alongside co-stars Jonathan Bailey (swoon!) and Mahershala Ali (double swoon!), with the trio coming face to face with t-rexes and stegosauruses and pterodactyls, oh my!
I salute any paleontologists among us, since spelling those words felt like mastering astrophysics. In any case, while the trailer — which comes ahead of Rebirth’s premiere in later this year — delivered blockbuster magic with its grand set design, starry cast and prehistoric CGI (ironic, but I digress), some onlookers have taken umbridge on social media, with the general consensus forming that perhaps Rebirth shouldn’t have been, well, rebirthed in the first place. “Why does it feel like every Jurassic Park movie is the exact same story,” one user questioned on X, with another declaring that “they need to leave this series alone.”
Sharing similar sentiments about the film’s seeming unoriginality, other fans wrote that it feels like “Jurassic Park III with a bloated budget and no characters we care about,” or lamented how there’s “no originality anymore” since “there’s nothing NEW here.” Digging a little deeper, some dinophiles expressed concern that the script feels “written by AI,” while others questioned the film’s place in the broader Jurassic franchise. “Does this take place before Jurassic World or did all of the dinosaurs that were unleashed upon the world decide to conveniently migrate to one island?” they wrote.
For all the critics, however, the trailer did find some supporters. “Jurassic World Rebirth looks INSANE,” one fan wrote, with another agreeing that it “actually looks good and a lot of fun.” Others chimed in with praise, saying Rebirth “may be the most interesting and best looking sequel” they’ve seen. “The dinos are scary and look great, the plot is interesting, and the roots of it tie neatly into the lore,” they added. Elsewhere, some fans simply couldn’t satiate their thirst for both Bailey — who was dubbed a “hot nerd” — and… the dinosaurs themselves? Yep, one fan said they hoped the plot of Rebirth will be “as thick as the dinosaurs’ thighs,” proving that the internet knows no chill.
Despite all the commentary, we won’t know for sure the quality of Rebirth until it arrives in cinemas on July 2. What we do know is that it will follow Zora Bennett (Johansson), Dr. Henry Loomis aka hot nerd (Bailey) and Duncan Kincaid on a mission to retrieve prehistoric DNA on a remote tropical island. Naturally, there’ll probably be a dinosaur or two. Here’s hoping Rebirth outperforms its predecessor, which might be an easy feat given the widespread criticism of Dominion.
Not to worry, though, since the star of that installment, Chris Pratt, took the time to coach Johansson for the role, but not without copping some mansplaining accusations. Whatever the case, best believe I’ll be first in line at the theaters when Rebirth drops — not for the dinosaurs or even for Johansson, but for the star of the show that is hot nerd.