It’s been over 30 years since I first sat in a Cornish cinema as a kid and Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park enveloped every part of my being. I can still sense the rain fall as the claw of a T-Rex brushed the powerless safety wire of the paddock before the supremacy of the great beast stomps into the scene and roared – thanks to the movement bait of a terrified lawyer.

I don’t think I’d envisaged the Jurassic franchise still going all these years later and despite some peculiar but not unexpected missteps, Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic Park III being the strangest, I’ve always enjoyed the escapism and world I’m taken into, even if that original sets such a high bar that can never be reached. For me, Jurassic World Rebirth is certainly a step in the right direction, and after a big screen experience – onto this Home Entertainment release, it’s already far up the charts after the two originals, and the beautifully enjoyable Jurassic World.

Set five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, and I genuinely implore folks to check out the Extended Cut – which is something I don’t always fall for – but it’s so much better than the theatrical, which left humans and dinosaurs on the planet together, we return to see how that’s been getting on. While initially it was a messy time, it’s come to reality that the dinos have struggled to stay alive in a modern climate and only found their own world in and around the equator, due to its higher temperatures and more welcoming dino ecosystems.

While people have grown bored of them, fringe science – of the richest kind – may have discovered that their blood and DNA could provide the secrets and results to create a drug with life-saving cardiovascular benefits but the downside is, they need to get the samples from three of the biggest creatures out there, and also that the area where the dinosaurs lived is illegal to travel to. The animals in question are the aquatic Mosasaurus, the land-dwelling Titanosaurus, and avian Quetzalcoatlus – colossal beasts that won’t give up their samples without some life-risking (and taking) activities.

Directed by Gareth Edwards, the man behind the likes of Monsters, Godzilla (2014 – another huge favourite of mine), Rogue One (Oh yes!), and The Creator (also well worth investigating), Jurassic World Rebirth is written by David Koepp, the screenwriter from the first two films, and so you’ve already got a creative pair involved who know this world, and are invested. Add a super cast, led by Scarlett Johansson, alongside Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Luna Blaise, Rupert Friend, David Iacono, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ed Skrein, and Bechir Sylvain, and all the right ingredients are here for a good adventure, and for me – they definitely achieve the right spirit and excitement of the better of the franchise, with huge set pieces, plenty of dino-human deaths and some fun along the way.

While there is a lot going on, they smartly split up two key experiences for its ensemble cast, with the everyday humans clan – the Delgado family – accidentally on their own survival trip when they escape to safety on the island of Île Saint-Hubert, as the experts try to collect their samples are on another side – all going through the motions of trying to stay alive, whilst also aiming for an escape rendezvous that’s been planned on their way there. Now, of course, suspending the disbelief is vital but these are ‘Jurassic’ films so if you can’t do that, I’m not sure what you’re expecting  but along the journey, we get some super fun scenarios involving a new test facility ‘Distortus rex’, a Spinosaurus troop grabbing some brunch, a Quetzalcoatlus coming home too early but for its afternoon tea and then even a T-Rex river raft chase – something that’s in the original novel from Michael Crichton.

What’s fun about Jurassic World Rebirth is that it’s less of a homage, and more of a celebration of the original pleasure of the world created. It’s helped by a strong cast – although I think they could have killed off a few more major players – and avoids too much nostalgia, which supposedly arose via Spielberg saying ‘no’ to some callbacks, and so focuses on these new characters and endeavours to develop them as much as it possibly can, in turn helped by breaking up their survival journeys.

Without giving too much away, especially if you haven’t seen it yet, I’d recommend going into this with an openness to be entertained and, let’s face it, if you love dinosaurs and the classic vibe of what these films are intended for, you’ll have a roarsome (sorry not sorry) time. In the overall franchise, this comfortably positions itself in the middle and might just be a little underrated from its initial release. Go forth and…. Run!

Jurassic World Rebirth is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD – Order here: https://amzn.to/47ybuTi