In 'Jurassic World Rebirth,' even the humans are sick of dinosaurs

By Stephen Thompson,

Ronald Young Jr., Kristen Meinzer, Liz Metzger, Mike Katzif, Jessica Reedy

Published July 3, 2025 at 9:14 AM EDT

Scarlett Johansson in Jurassic World Rebirth. — Scarlett Johansson in *Jurassic World Rebirth*.

Jurassic World Rebirth is the latest reboot of the beloved franchise. This time around Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey head to a fresh island of mutant dinosaurs, where they experience a familiar mix of splashy kills and not-so-subtle morality tales. But can the film live up to the magic of the original Jurassic Park?

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Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)

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