This July, three years after the Jurassic World trilogy concluded with each film surpassing $1 billion at the global box office, the enduring Jurassic series evolves in an ingenious new direction with Jurassic World Rebirth.

Anchored by iconic action superstar Scarlett Johansson, Emmy and SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey and two-time Oscar® winner Mahershala Ali, this action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind.

Also starring acclaimed international stars Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, the film is directed by dynamic visualist Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.

Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

Academy Award® nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.

Ali is Duncan Kincaid, Zora’s most trusted team member; Critics Choice and Olivier Award winner Jonathan Bailey (Wicked, Bridgerton) plays paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis; Emmy nominee Rupert Friend (Homeland, Obi-Wan Kenobi) appears as Big Pharma representative Martin Krebs and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer, Murder on the Orient Express) plays Reuben Delgado, the father of the shipwrecked civilian family.

The cast includes Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs. Lopez) as Reuben’s family. The film also features, as members of Zora and Krebs’ crews, Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF) and Ed Skrein (Deadpool).

Jurassic World Rebirth is directed by BAFTA winner Edwards from a script by Koepp (War of the Worlds), based on characters created by Michael Crichton. The film is produced by Oscar® nominee Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, both longtime Jurassic franchise producers and of last summer’s blockbuster, Twisters. The film is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Denis L. Stewart and Jim Spencer.
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The story is almost entirely built around the strange life of Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro) and he features in nearly every scene. He is a rich and powerful industrialist with a bent moral compass. Through a lifetime of questionable dealings with friends and foes alike, he has acquired a large number of enemies whose attempts to assassinate him drive the film’s comic overview.

Most of these attempts happen while in flight so it’s a given you wouldn’t want to find yourself in an aeroplane with him. After so many attempts on his life, he considers his mortality and seeks an heir. He ignores his nine sons and names his only daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton), who happens to be a nun to be his sole heir. After spending most of their lives completely apart, their reunion underlines most of the plot points. Michael Cera as the mysterious Bjørn Lund also features prominently.

With Anderson’s ever-growing filmography, most fans develop favourites and rate any new work against them. In that respect, The Phoenician Scheme fits solidly in the middle. In the Wes World, it’s a comforting addition and while it offers few outright surprises, it still takes a unique look at family dynamics and the acceptance of the quirks that underline almost every clan. It’s a worthy addition to an eclectic canon.
Rob Hudson
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Anchored by iconic action superstar Scarlett Johansson, Emmy and SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey and two-time Oscar® winner Mahershala Ali, this action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind.

Also starring acclaimed international stars Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, the film is directed by dynamic visualist Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.

Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

Academy Award® nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.

Ali is Duncan Kincaid, Zora’s most trusted team member; Critics Choice and Olivier Award winner Jonathan Bailey (Wicked, Bridgerton) plays paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis; Emmy nominee Rupert Friend (Homeland, Obi-Wan Kenobi) appears as Big Pharma representative Martin Krebs and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer, Murder on the Orient Express) plays Reuben Delgado, the father of the shipwrecked civilian family.

The cast includes Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs. Lopez) as Reuben’s family. The film also features, as members of Zora and Krebs’ crews, Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF) and Ed Skrein (Deadpool).

Jurassic World Rebirth is directed by BAFTA winner Edwards from a script by Koepp (War of the Worlds), based on characters created by Michael Crichton. The film is produced by Oscar® nominee Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, both longtime Jurassic franchise producers and of last summer’s blockbuster, Twisters. The film is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Denis L. Stewart and Jim Spencer.
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

Next summer, three years after the Jurassic World trilogy concluded with each film surpassing $1 billion at the global box office, the enduring Jurassic series evolves in an ingenious new direction with Jurassic World Rebirth.

Anchored by iconic action superstar Scarlett Johansson, breakthrough talent Jonathan Bailey and two-time Oscar® winner Mahershala Ali, this action-packed new chapter sees an intrepid team racing to secure DNA samples from the three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air. Also starring acclaimed international stars Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, the film is directed by dynamic visualist Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.

Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

Academy Award® nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.
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Starring Benicio del Toro as Zsa-zsa Korda, one of the richest men in Europe; Mia Threapleton as Liesl, his daughter/a nun; Michael Cera as Bjorn, their tutor.

With Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis.
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Anchored by iconic action superstar Scarlett Johansson, Emmy and SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey and two-time Oscar® winner Mahershala Ali, this action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind.

Also starring acclaimed international stars Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, the film is directed by dynamic visualist Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.

Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

Academy Award® nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.

Ali is Duncan Kincaid, Zora’s most trusted team member; Critics Choice and Olivier Award winner Jonathan Bailey (Wicked, Bridgerton) plays paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis; Emmy nominee Rupert Friend (Homeland, Obi-Wan Kenobi) appears as Big Pharma representative Martin Krebs and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer, Murder on the Orient Express) plays Reuben Delgado, the father of the shipwrecked civilian family.

The cast includes Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs. Lopez) as Reuben’s family. The film also features, as members of Zora and Krebs’ crews, Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF) and Ed Skrein (Deadpool).

Jurassic World Rebirth is directed by BAFTA winner Edwards from a script by Koepp (War of the Worlds), based on characters created by Michael Crichton. The film is produced by Oscar® nominee Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, both longtime Jurassic franchise producers and of last summer’s blockbuster, Twisters. The film is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Denis L. Stewart and Jim Spencer.
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One can also safely discuss its cast, one that includes Jack Quaid of The Boys fame, whose ability to effectively play someone clueless is used to full effect here but not in the way you would think. Equally, Sophie Thatcher whose character in the hit TV show Yellowjackets is known for her resourcefulness gets to play opposite traits until…

The structure of the film is one of its strong points as well and it introduces you to a case of young love that is quite endearing unit it isn’t. It dips its toes into a predictable scenario to lure you into seeing it as something it really isn’t. This forms an engaging slight of hand but one enhanced by a lack of information.

Hopefully so far so good with this review, you should now still know very little but have your interest piqued. With its ever changing perspective, you will only know if Companion is a modern love story or horror story by film’s end. Regardless of its ultimate destination you will be entertained throughout the journey.
Rob Hudson
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Written and directed by Drew Hancock (“My Dead Ex”, “Suburgatory”), “Companion” stars Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets”, “The Boogeyman”), Jack Quaid (“The Boys”, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”), Lukas Gage (“Smile 2”, “Dead Boy Detectives”), Megan Suri (“Never Have I Ever”, “It Lives Inside”), Harvey Guillén (“What We Do in the Shadows”, “Blue Beetle”) and Rupert Friend (“High Desert”, “Asteroid City”). The film is produced by the filmmakers behind “Barbarian”—Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz, Zach Cregger and Roy Lee. The executive producers are Tracy Rosenblum and Jamie Buckner.

The cinematographer is Eli Born (“The Boogeyman”, “Hellraiser”). The production designer is Scott Kuzio (“Dumb Money”, the “Fear Street” trilogy). The editors are Brett W. Bachman (“The Fall of the House of Usher”, “Pig”) and Josh Ethier (“Don’t Move”, “Orphan: First Kill”). The costume designer is Vanessa Porter (“The Toxic Avenger”, “Archive 81”). The composer is Hrishikesh Hirway (“Song Exploder”, “Everything Sucks!”). The music supervisor is Rob Lowry (“Do Revenge”, “Miracle Workers”). The casting is by Nancy Nayor (“Saw X”, “Barbarian”).

New Line Cinema presents A BoulderLight Pictures Production, In Association With Vertigo Entertainment/Subconscious: “Companion.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, in Australian cinemas January 30 2025.
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Written and directed by Drew Hancock (“My Dead Ex”, “Suburgatory”), “Companion” stars Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets”, “The Boogeyman”), Jack Quaid (“The Boys”, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”), Lukas Gage (“Smile 2”, “Dead Boy Detectives”), Megan Suri (“Never Have I Ever”, “It Lives Inside”), Harvey Guillén (“What We Do in the Shadows”, “Blue Beetle”) and Rupert Friend (“High Desert”, “Asteroid City”). The film is produced by the filmmakers behind “Barbarian”—Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz, Zach Cregger and Roy Lee. The executive producers are Tracy Rosenblum and Jamie Buckner.

The cinematographer is Eli Born (“The Boogeyman”, “Hellraiser”). The production designer is Scott Kuzio (“Dumb Money”, the “Fear Street” trilogy). The editors are Brett W. Bachman (“The Fall of the House of Usher”, “Pig”) and Josh Ethier (“Don’t Move”, “Orphan: First Kill”). The costume designer is Vanessa Porter (“The Toxic Avenger”, “Archive 81”). The composer is Hrishikesh Hirway (“Song Exploder”, “Everything Sucks!”). The music supervisor is Rob Lowry (“Do Revenge”, “Miracle Workers”). The casting is by Nancy Nayor (“Saw X”, “Barbarian”).

New Line Cinema presents A BoulderLight Pictures Production, In Association With Vertigo Entertainment/Subconscious: “Companion.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, in Australian cinemas January 2025.
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That idiosyncratic nature plays out in the look of the sets and costumes, the colour palette and lighting, the dialogue and performance of the actors and the whimsical nature of the stories they tell. Seldom laugh-out-loud funny, the humour is too dexterous for that, this is the kind of mirth that builds most in remembrance.

Trying to reduce Asteroid City to a mere synopsis does it a disservice as it is a work filled with subtext, subversion and subliminal cues that emerge in retrospection. Anderson’s movies almost always grow in stature the more you think about them. They are uniquely memorable.

It’s those memories that power avid fan’s desire to have so many of his works on high rotation at home. Asteroid City will have the power to be either the most or least favourite of his films and that distinction will only come into focus after many visits to his deep well of weirdness.
Rob Hudson
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