Welcome to the latest edition of Movie Reviews 2025, where you join me in… *checks calendar* …July! Ah, this means we are now in peak summer blockbuster season, where some of the most anticipated movies of the year are to be found.
And one of those movies features amongst this week’s collection of reviews. The film is the big budget action-adventure movie, Jurassic World: Rebirth.
Conceived as a new ‘jumping-on’ point for audiences, the film promises plenty of thrills, along with some dangerous dinos. Expect snarls, toothy grins, and a fair bit of chomping.
Incidentally, you may come across similar scenes in Netflix’s new docu-film, Shark Whisperer, which is also featured this week. Plus, comic book movie, The Old Guard 2 makes its long-awaited debut, and action-comedy, Heads of State arrives on Amazon.
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Now streaming…
Shark Whisperer (2025)
First up this week is the documentary film, Shark Whisperer. Directed by J.P. Stiles, Harrison Macks, and James Reed, the film follows the story of marine conservationist and social media activist, Ocean Ramsey, as she swims with sharks in the waters around Hawaii.
Photographing the often misunderstood sea creatures, with help from her partner, Juan Oliphant, Ocean’s main aim is to change the world’s perception of sharks. She wants everyone to see they are not the vicious animals Hollywood makes them out to be, and believes that swimming with sharks, capturing the footage, and sharing it online, will make a difference.
But not everyone agrees, because of course, this is a dangerous pursuit. However, Ocean has devoted her life to sharks, believing they are her calling, and makes it clear she will continue to swim with the big fishes no matter the risk.
Featuring some beautiful underwater imagery, and plenty of conversations about protecting wildlife, it’s fair to say Shark Whisperer is nice to look at and at times it carries a decent message. If you’re a shark enthusiast, or you have a passing interest in animal documentaries, then you may wish to take a look.
You may also want to dip into Shark Whisperer to witness Ocean’s stance on swimming with the toothy creatures first hand. Ocean’s knowledge of sharks is extensive, and there’s no doubt she has studied them relentlessly, but is she playing with fire spending all that time splashing around next to them?
Ultimately, this seems to be the main talking point of the documentary, and arguably the film’s most interesting angle. Outside of this, Shark Whisperer is a fairly standard docu-film and not much more.
Sure, it’s perfectly fine, and will plug a 90-minute gap in your day, but at times it’s quite plodding, and the temptation to watch on fast-forward is difficult to ignore.
A cynical reviewer might suggest Netflix has bunged this docu-film out this summer to coincide with the sizeable interest in the 50th anniversary of Jaws (1975). On the flip-side, a less cynical reviewer might say it’s purely a coincidence and this is just another documentary to add to Netflix’s bulging collection.
Either way, if you are in the mood for some underwater action, and you’ve already watched Ocean with David Attenborough on Disney+, then feel free to dive into Shark Whisperer. It lacks bite, but it’s fine for what it is.
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In cinemas…
Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)
Over to the cinema now for one of the biggest releases of the year. It’s big because it’s filled with ruddy enormous dinosaurs!
The film is Jurassic World: Rebirth, the seventh and latest entry in the ever-expanding ‘Jurassic’ movie series. Directed by Gareth Edwards, the film stars Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, and Rupert Friend, and follows the story of a special ops team sent to an island to obtain dino DNA.
In the movie, a few years have passed since the events of Jurassic World: Dominion (2022), and within this time many of the dinosaurs have died out, while those that remain live in remote areas. One such area is Ile Saint-Hubert – a forbidden island located in the Atlantic Ocean, and once used as a dinosaur research facility by InGen.
Three species of dinosaur on this island are of particular interest to a pharmaceutical company, who believe the dinos could be used to create a life-saving drug. Enlisting the services of special operative, Zora Bennett, the company send a team to the island to locate the dinosaurs (one on land, one in the sea, and one in the air).
However, what starts off as a seemingly straightforward mission soon descends into chaos. Not only do Zora and her team encounter a shipwrecked family, they also cross paths with a whole heap of dinosaurs, including the six-armed Distortus Rex!
Now, if you’re wondering why there is yet another ‘Jurassic’ movie playing in cinemas, following on from 2022’s bloody awful Jurassic World: Dominion, it’s because that movie made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, so Universal Pictures would be mad not to make another one. The studio likes money, audiences like dinosaurs, so it’s not too difficult to see how these two things connect.
The good news is, this latest offering is a stand-alone sequel to Dominion, so if you skipped the previous film (you lucky dawg), then you can easily jump on board this new one. The director is new, the cast are new, and there are even some new dinosaurs.
For the most part, the only old hand is the film’s writer, David Koepp. He previously penned the script for The Lost World (1997), and co-wrote Jurassic Park (1993), so if you’re a fan of those two films you may welcome his involvement here.
In fact, Jurassic World: Rebirth feels more akin to the Park films of the past than it does the two recent World offerings, which works in its favour. Likewise if you’re a fan of Jurassic Park III (2001), you’ll no doubt dig aspects of Rebirth as it has a very similar vibe.
Outside of this, it’s generally business as usual. You know the drill by now: People who should know better cross paths with dinosaurs and come to regret it.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is largely a retread of what came before and not much more, but it is fun. Yes, it’s mostly more of the same (with a few more teeth), but it’s fairly enjoyable stuff if this is what you’re in the mood for.
Where Rebirth is at its strongest is in the dino attack scenes. Out of all the ‘Jurassic’ movies, this film has some of the scariest and best executed set pieces.
The opening scene, which introduces the Distortus Rex is very creepy, and is likely to scare young audiences into their popcorn. A sequence involving an open water mosasaurus attack is also delivered with suitable ferocity, as is one with a quetzalcoatlus, and almost all the other scenes where the dinosaurs appear (and they appear a lot) are handled well.
What’s good about Rebirth is the way in which director Gareth Edwards draws on his experiences with past projects, Monsters (2010) and Godzilla (2014), to give the audience what it wants: Big freakin’ beasts! He then takes various influences and ideas from the horror and fantasy genres, blends them together and chucks everything at the screen.
If you’re a movie buff, you’ll spot references to a whole bunch of films in Rebirth, ranging from Jaws (1975), and Return of the Jedi (1983), to Predator (1987), and Alien: Resurrection (1997). Heck, even composer Alexandre Desplat manages to get a few nods to Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho score in here, so Rebirth is nothing if not a film fan’s film.
Rebirth is also very much a big summer blockbuster, and knowingly so. The film’s main aim appears to be delivering pure escapism and spectacle, and if that’s all you want, then fair enough.
Where the film struggles is in the plot, which is a bit wishy-washy; in the run time which at over two-hours is too long; and in the character development and/or character decisions. Too many characters in Rebirth seem to do silly things because it says so in the script, and barely anyone in this picture feels fully formed.
Scarlett Johansson’s Zora is arguably the best character in the movie, although there are times where it’s difficult to believe she is the ace special operative she is supposed to be. And if her team are worth a multi-million dollar contract to secure dino DNA then the Chuckle Brothers were brain surgeons.
And then on top of this there are a couple of elements of the story that either should be streamlined or eliminated altogether. At one point, the shipwrecked family are separated from Zora’s team, which feels unnecessary, while the introduction of a ‘cute’ baby aquilops named Delores is a terrible inclusion that’s best just ignored.
For the most part, Jurassic World: Rebirth is enjoyable stuff. Yes, it has been done been before, and this franchise is showing considerable signs of fatigue, but there’s more to like in this entry than there is to dislike, plus it is better than the last two Jurassic World films hands down.
Gareth Edwards knows that vicious monsters are what the audience seems to care about, and he leans into the creatures and the terror accordingly. Rebirth doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it delivers scares and screams aplenty, and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The director appears to be working from the basis that yes, this IP has been done to death, but if we are back for more then we might as well have the biggest, meanest version yet. Well, meanest if we disregard that stupid baby aquilops… that we’re still ignoring, right?
Either way, it’s entertaining at times and young audiences will no doubt find it enjoyable. As for the rest of us, let’s just be thankful Jurassic World: Rebirth doesn’t contain clone girls, locusts, or scenes where Chris Pratt puts a dinosaur in a headlock.
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Now streaming…
The Old Guard 2 (2025)
Back to streaming now for the comic book movie, The Old Guard 2. And in this sequel to the 2020 hit, former immortal being, Andy and her team are faced with new problems when an old evil threatens the world.
In the film, Andy is getting used to her mortality as best as she can, when she suddenly becomes aware of a dark force. The world’s first immortal, Discord is on the scene and this is bad news for everyone.
Directed by Victoria Mahoney, The Old Guard 2 stars Charlize Theron, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Henry Golding, and Uma Thurman. The movie is now streaming on Netflix and if you’ve waited patiently for the past five years for this sequel to arrive, I’m sorry, I have some bad news: The Old Guard 2 is a complete and utter snooze-fest.
The story is dull, the pacing is dreadful, and whatever magic circled the first film has long since evaporated. Despite the best efforts of Theron, Thurman, et al, the whole thing feels completely devoid of energy and excitement, and is nothing more than a waste of time and money.
And to make matters worse, this second offering ends with the promise of more. Five years ago this would have been an exciting prospect, but after this two-hour slog it just seems like punishment from the Netflix gods.
The best thing about The Old Guard 2? The realisation that the ever-flawless Uma Thurman might actually be a real-life immortal.
The worst thing? Pretty much everything else.
If you need a movie to send you to sleep, The Old Guard 2 is for you. It’s really quite boring, and the five-year wait has done nothing to help it along.
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Now streaming…
Heads of State (2025)
And finally, in Heads of State, US President Will Derringer, and UK Prime Minister Sam Clarke are struggling to see eye-to-eye. They both have different viewpoints, different ways of dealing with key policies, and different backgrounds.
However, when a secret operation in Spain goes wrong, and suddenly becomes not-so secret, the pair are forced to unite. However, while both are aboard Air Force One, on their way to fix this latest crisis, the plane is hijacked.
Parachuting to safety, Derringer and Clarke are the only survivors. But can they work together long enough to find out what is really going on?
Directed by Ilya Naishuller, Heads of State is an action comedy which stars John Cena, Idris Elba, Priyanka Chopra, and Paddy Considine. The movie is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and is a so-so actioner, which attempts to mine the cultural and personal differences between American and British leaders for the purpose of laughs.
Unfortunately those laughs are few and far between. Almost none of the jokes land, leaving Cena and Elba to make the most of what’s left.
Sadly what’s left isn’t much and Heads of State quickly becomes yet another by the numbers, direct-to-streaming affair. Once again, it will pass the time, but this film will be forgotten about by the end of next week.
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Movie of the Week
Time for movie of the week now, which is pretty hard going as nothing is amazing (sorry). However, the best of the bunch is Jurassic World: Rebirth.
Following the disaster that was 2022’s Jurassic World: Dominion no one was expecting big things from another entry (least of all me), yet this latest ‘Jurassic’ movie delivers enough action and frights to make it entertaining. Some may be disappointed, but for the most part it is a daft but enjoyable summer blockbuster.
And if you like Jurassic World: Rebirth, you may also like:
- Jurassic Park III (2001) – Sam Neill reprises the role of Dr. Alan Grant for this third Jurassic Park adventure set on the dangerous island of Isla Sorna where dinos roam large.
- Monsters (2010) – Jurassic World: Rebirth director Gareth Edwards writes and directs this sci-fi picture about a journalist who escorts a young woman through an infected area of Mexico, six years after an alien invasion.
- Godzilla (2014) – Gareth Edwards (him again) directs this big budget reboot of the Godzilla franchise starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen.
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Forthcoming attractions
And that’s your lot for another week, but there are plenty more movies on the horizon. Coming soon, David Corenswet takes to the skies in Superman; Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. return to their horror roots for the legacy sequel I Know What You Did Last Summer; and Papa Smurf and Co. find themselves up against the evil wizard Gargamel and his brother Razamel in Smurfs.
All this, plus so much more. And of course, you can read all about it in Movie Reviews 2025.
Oh, and if you’re a horror fan, be sure to check out Movie Reviews 2025: Horror on the Horizon. It doesn’t contain any reviews (sorry), but you will be met with a preview of all the big horror movies being released during the back-half of this year.
Until next time, happy viewing!
Alex
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