Jurassic World Rebirth is packed with so many cool and terrifying dinosaurs, but which were the best dinosaurs? It’s the most outright scary movie in the franchise, and it uses its many ancient creatures to excellent effect, setting up and carrying out the tone and stakes of the movie. These are the best dinosaurs that appear in Jurassic World: Rebirth because that’s what we go to the movie for.
10. Velociraptor
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Velociraptors may have been the star of several Jurassic movies in the past, but in Jurassic World Rebirth, they’re practically a cameo. When they show up, hunting in pairs, longtime fans of the franchise, or dinosaur obsessives, will understand exactly what’s happening. Fortunately, the moment is never lampshaded with a bad line, like “Oh no, it’s a Velociraptor,” or “There’s two of them?” which is a blessing considering how stilted most of the movie’s dialogue is. Unfortunately, the moment ends on an anticlimactic and mediocre joke of a different kind, deflating the tension of the moment.
9. Titanosaurus
It’s hard to believe that this creature ever roamed the Earth. It’s not just because of its unbelievable size, though. It’s mostly because of the creative liberties the Jurassic World Rebirth team took in bringing the largest land creature ever to life. Its massive tails feel like they defy gravity, while a pair of these creatures awkwardly entangle with one another in an overly anthropomorphized gesture. The Jurassic Park theme that plays over the scene feels like it’s begging you to recall the way the brachiosaurus made you feel in 1993, but it can’t without forcing you.
8. Quetzalcoatlus
The Quetzalcoatlus was the largest known avian dinosaur. Far larger and more terrifying than its more popular Pterodactyl cousin, the Quetzalcoatlus is one of Jurassic World Rebirth’s three dinosaur McGuffins. It’s the least memorable of the three, mostly because its scene comes after several more effective setpieces. It also might include the least footage of the actual dinosaur. All it really does is swoop in at the last minute, do some biting, and climb a rockface. Its flying nature affects the unique habitat it inhabits, but it doesn’t really come into play during its scene, unfortunately.
7. Distortus-Rex (D-Rex)
The Distortus-Rex (D-Rex) is the pièce de résistance of the whole movie. The flashback opening introduces the monstrosity and teases its eventual return once the plot arrives at its domicile. But when it finally appears, it is far, far too brief an appearance. The D-Rex needed to have an entire additional scene to maximize its effect. By the time it shows up, the Mutadons have already taken up most of the energy from the scene.
The D-Rex’s introductory shot is perfect, but it disappears back into the smoke and black of the night too quickly and is only seen in full force quite sparingly and briefly in the minutes thereafter. The way it’s dispatched is a bit forced, and the true horrifying nature of its appearance, let alone its very existence, is never allowed to sink in entirely before it’s already over with. At least when it does get to be seen, it is a terrifyingly cool design.
6. Mosasaurus
While the Mosasaurus is only glimpsed briefly, its presence is unmistakable both times it appears. The massive creature wreaks havoc on the high seas, contributing to both a terrifying scene and an action one. For how little of the monster is seen at any given time, the amount of screen time it gets is why it’s so disappointing how little the D-Rex actually gets to appear.
5. Aquilops (Dolores)
Every modern blockbuster needs its cute little guy. Jurassic World Rebirth has the little Aquilops that Isabella (Audrina Miranda) names Dolores. Dolores, unfortunately, doesn’t get too much to do in the movie. She provides an early warning once, but more than anything, she is Isabella’s emotional support dinosaur. Knowing there was a practical Dolores animatronic also helps raise her standing significantly. And for all of that, we must stan Dolores the Aquilops.
4. Mutadon
The genetically engineered and modified dinosaurs of the Jurassic World movies may be getting old, but yet, the Mutadon is pretty well-used in Jurassic World Rebirth. Their appearance harkens back to Jurassic Park’s Velociraptor scene pretty closely, down to the kids being chased and hiding in odd places. However, due to the different context of the scene, it’s also part of a larger action setpiece, not just a pure horror moment. It helps distinguish the scene from the original while making the Mutadon a persistent threat beyond just the initial pastiche.
3. Brachiosaurus
The most iconic moment in the original Jurassic Park is probably the moment the transcendent theme plays as the crew encounters a massive Brachiosaurus. In Jurassic World Rebirth, the majestic leaf-eater is used to show how far the modern dino era has fallen.
Early in the movie, an unfortunate Brachiosaurus, suffering from the inhospitable climate of the modern Earth, is stuck in the middle of a New York City street. A massive crew is trying to remove the fallen being while Jonathan Bailey’s Dr. Henry Loomis is just around the corner, packing up his once-booming museum exhibit on the megafauna of prehistoric Earth.
2. T-Rex
The T-Rex has been and always will be the sovereign supreme among dinosaurs. Iconic since the very first Jurassic Park movie, the T-Rex has the absolute best scene in Jurassic World Rebirth. Its appearance is unexpected, and its presence is terrifying. From the moment it starts chasing the Delgado family, the entire sequence is riveting without feeling like it exists only for the sake of escalating drama or invoking nostalgia like so many other dinosaurs do.
1. Spinosaurus
The Spinosaurus is Jurassic World Rebirth’s most successful piece of horror. When the Delgado family first spots these terrifying hunters, all they see are two unusual protrusions from the water. Obviously, the family has sailed into the wrong waters, but the sea of troubles ahead of them is murky at best. The mosasaurus the audience was warned about is whale-like and has no protrusions, so the spinosaurous offers the movie’s greatest unknown threat. Every new piece of information Dr. Loomis explains about them is horrible.
They help the mosasaurus hunt, they aren’t affected by the weapons Martin Krebs’ (Rupert Friend) crew brought, and when it turns out they’re also amphibious? A brief calm is spoiled once again by their terror. Were it not for the way the Spinosaurus is used in Jurassic World Rebirth, it’s possible the rest of the movie would fail to feel as consistently tense and dangerous as it does. Especially given the way the velociraptors are wasted shortly thereafter.
Jurassic World Rebirth is packed with one great, thrilling scene of dinosaurs after the next, but these are the ones that round out the best dinosaurs bar none. It’s the most explicitly tense movie in the franchise, and while not all of its dinosaurs are as effective as others, the best moments absolutely pop.
Jurassic World: Rebirth is now in theaters everywhere.
