Jurassic World Rebirth first reactions are seriously mixed, with fans praising the film's "practical magic" and criticizing its "shallow and unnecessary" storyline

The first reactions for Jurassic World Rebirth have arrived, and audience reaction seems to be split directly down the middle.

The new installment sees Zora (Scarlett Johansson), paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Bailey), and ship captain Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) embark on a dangerous journey to the remote island outpost that was the site of the original Jurassic Park lab post.

What they encounter, however, are dinosaurs that were too dangerous for the original park – and have been alone on the island all these years and are seriously mutated as a result. Hype is pretty big for the film as David Koepp, who adapted the original Jurassic Park for the big screen, returned to write the script. Rogue One helmer Gareth Edwards serves as director.

Though we're a couple of weeks away from the film's release, first reactions are here, and it seems to be a love-hate situation.

"#JurassicWorldRebirth is a winner! Gareth Edwards knew just how to bring a Jurassic story to screen. I adore the practical movie magic of the original film. Over the years, the franchise has embraced more CGI," Perri Nemiroff of Collider wrote. "Rebirth is indeed loaded with effects-heavy set pieces, but those digital elements work especially well here because Edwards knew exactly how to ensure the film still had that reach-out-and-touch-it texture – particularly by choosing to film in real locations and shoot the movie on film."

"#JurassicWorldRebirth is everything you want," one fan said. "The plot can be silly, but who cares. The film is gorgeous, the dinosaurs are AWESOME, and Jonathan Bailey may be one of my new favorite actors. My heart was racing, and there was a moment where I was so happy, I wanted to cheer.

"Hugely impressed by #JurassicWorldRebirth, a film that understands dinosaurs are both incredibly majestic and utterly terrifying. The ensemble is fun, and Dolores is the GOAT (iykyk)," another wrote.

However, other fans of the franchise weren't as impressed.

"Welp...#JurassicWorldRebirth is a movie," Variety editor Clayton Davis tweeted. "It has that going for it."

"#JurassicWorldRebirth had a solid concept – mutated dinosaurs on a new island. I was intrigued. But the movie just feels blah. It's a string of forgettable scenes that go nowhere," one fan wrote. "One river sequence stood out, but the rest blurs together. The characters are dull, there's zero chemistry, and I found myself rooting for the dinosaurs just to feel something."

"#JurassicWorldRebirth is a shallow and an unnecessary entry in the Jurassic Park universe," someone else said. "The action and the cool cinematic shots doesn’t help the film overcome the GLARING flaws within its characters and the bland narrative that will leave audiences feeling empty in the end."

Jurassic World Rebirth hits theaters on July 2. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond, or, check out our complete list of movie release dates.