With all the criticism of the sixth sequel to the groundbreaking original 1993 Jurassic Park, I wasn’t expecting too much when I caught it on Wednesday’s opening night. But though the movie was long, it was surprisingly satisfying, and also surprisingly close to the original in spirit.

Taking place after the first Jurassic Park trilogy movies, which focus on the carnivorous breakdown of a zoo of living fossil monsters…and then, after the second Jurassic World trilogy of carnivorous escaped living fossil super-monsters…”Rebirth” takes on a new crew, but a with similar mission to retrieve samples from three carnivorous uber-monsters – of course, in an attempt to top the previous Jurassic movies.

Scarlett Johansson is the lead star, in a gender-swap of a military woman protecting a geeky scientist man. But it’s not as simple as critics have said, complaining about the tired and mostly unrealistic “boss girl” trope.

And though she is irritating shiny in the teasers, Johansson’s appearance is not too bad throughout the movie (though she needs to dress more sensibly if she’s going after resurrected dinosaurs larger than horses and elephants). In a change-up to most movies of this genre, all three of her tasks are easily accomplished…aside from all the monster battles evenly spread throughout the movie.

Speaking of which, the rendering of the dinosaurs is flawless, except for one small recurring weakness – which is mitigated by its cuteness quotient. As a child of the ’80s and ’90s, I kept looking for flaws, but couldn’t see any – especially when the CGI creations stared back at me impassionately / malevolently.

The other secondary stars may or may not be dispatched quickly in this tropical foray into forbidden territory with genetic beasties, which is a decent realistic touch, and heightens the tension of who will survive…to meet the final hideous hybrid. And be patient with the family that creates the B-plot of the movie – they may seem to be the typical monster prey, but they redeem themselves.

I almost didn’t notice how long the movie was, but appreciated the good character-building and fight sequences with twists. Gareth Edwards’s direction (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Godzilla (2014), The Creator) reminded me of Steven Spielberg’s skill in the original “Jurassic” and other movies.

The introductory onscreen narration is unnecessary and clearly tacked on, so like in “Dark City” (1998), ignore it.

I also like the unspoken reference by the name of one of the target creatures, Quetzalcoatlus, to an Incan monster-god…and the subject of a 1980s movie that I still need to see that involves a nest in the Chrysler Building, “Q.”

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” is billed as one of the 2025 summer blockbusters, along with the Brad Pitt-starring “F1” race car movie (Brad is catching up with Tom Cruise in immortal youth) and “M3gan 2.0” (find my review of that, also pleasantly satisfying). “Ballerina” was a satisfying “John Wick” flick, though it should have been better.

James Gunn’s “Superman” releases July 11th, and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” July 24th. I’m not happy with the idea of a live-action version of “How to Train Your Dragon” since I enjoyed the original CGI cartoon so much and haven’t decided to watch it yet, like the mediocre live-action “Lilo and Stitch.” I also recommend “Sinners,” now off the big screen, if you’re into an excellent retelling of a vampire movie.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10 resurrected and increasingly monstrous dinosaurs.

Also be sure to find trivia and everything else about the movie, like I enjoy after a viewing, in the movie’s entry in the Internet Movie Database.

Find the article on the Scioto Post.

Kevin Coleman covers local government and culture for the Scioto Post and iHeart Media Southern Ohio. For stories or questions, contact Kevin Coleman or the iHeart Southern Ohio Newsroom.

Jeff Stevens