The Jurassic Park franchise is known for its innovative use of dinosaurs and for being one of the highest-grossing franchises of all time. Although Jurassic World: Rebirth had the worst opening day of all the Jurassic World films, it is still one of the biggest opening days for any film released in 2025. The reception of the film has been mixed at best, with critics not loving the film’s script and audiences giving the film a lukewarm “B” CinemaScore. Although the film has many commendable aspects, including strong direction from Gareth Edwards and breathtaking visual effects, Jurassic World: Rebirth perhaps commits the worst crime of all the recent Jurassic Park films: being a cash grab.
Whether it’s a blatant use of product placement or dinosaurs solely existing to sell toys, the film feels more motivated by profit margins than any other major release in years.
The Product Placement in Jurassic World: Rebirth is Egregious
Many films can hide their product placement in a skillful manner, but Jurassic World: Rebirth joins the likes of 2017’s Power Rangers as one of the worst examples of blatant product placement in recent memory. There are many instances, but the worst one is easily in the beginning scene, where a Snickers wrapper somehow manages to shut down an entire research facility of dinosaurs. Not only is this a lazy use of product placement, but the fact that a candy wrapper was able to do so much damage to a high-tech research facility is one of the worst storytelling moves seen in a modern blockbuster.
Another egregious example of bad product placement is during a tense gas station sequence. This scene harkens back to the famous kitchen sequence in the first Jurassic Park film, with a dinosaur quietly searching for the main characters around a small room. What should have been a tense sequence is instead bombarded with blatant product placement. Whether the camera pans by multiple bags of Lays chips or pauses on a big sign with Dr. Pepper and its tagline, it is a shame that a beloved franchise like this has become this lazy with its filmmaking.
Outside of the product placement, another way the film is a blatant cash grab is that it uses dinosaurs as a means to sell toys. In the film, a baby Aquilops follows the younger character, Isabella (Audrina Miranda). The dinosaur adds nothing to the overall plot; instead, it is used to show how dinosaurs can be cute and cuddly. This is an obvious move to sell toys, as a Lego set of the Aquilops was recently released to promote the movie. Although it is cool to see different sizes of dinosaurs portrayed in movies, they shouldn’t be used as a means to make money off toys.
Jurassic World: Rebirth Does Nothing New With the Franchise
The heist elements of Jurassic World: Rebirth add a slight levity to the series, but the film is mostly a stale excuse to keep the franchise going. The film has no intention of bringing anything new to the table; instead, it remakes scenes from better films in the franchise. From reusing the classic John Williams score to repeated themes of humanity and survival, the film ironically enough lacks the very originality it purports to have, in order to be a standout film in the series.
The character work is nearly non-existent. Although Scarlett Johansson and Johnathan Bailey are committed to the film, their characters lack intrigue and nuance to make them anything worth remembering. Johansson’s Zora is given the most backstory out of all the characters, but it is just a rehashed version of her Black Widow character. Mahershala Ali is also given a decent amount of backstory regarding his family, but he doesn’t have any kind of arc that would make his character satisfying.
The film has a heavy focus on mutated dinosaurs, believing that it is doing something completely new with the franchise. While the design of the D-rex is one of the best and scariest this franchise has seen, the idea of mutated dinosaurs has already been done. The first Jurassic World had a solid premise for why mutated dinosaurs would be a good idea, as a world that is familiar with dinosaurs would grow bored of seeing the same thing. Jurassic World: Rebirth steals that idea beat by beat, but the way it is executed makes it seem like it is something different, which it isn’t.
Production-wise, Jurassic World: Rebirth may be a step-up in quality compared to the last couple of films in the franchise, but it is also the film that most feels like the studio is running out of ideas. Rebirth seems to exist simply because Universal didn’t have a big summer release for 2025, and that is felt throughout the entire runtime. Gareth Edwards does his best to elevate the material, but the film is overall devoid of nuance and gravitas. It may not be the worst film of the year, but it’s the film that is the most desperate for your money.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is now playing in theaters.
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