Jurassic World Rebirth (2025) is the most terrible sequel in the entire franchise.A mutant dinosaur containment failure caused by a Snickers wrapper? Check. Characters so two-dimensional they couldn’t get any flatter if they were repeatedly stomped on by a sauropod? Check. A contrived plot about acquiring genetic material from three dinosaurs “across land, sea, and air” that all happen to live in the exact same location (a third abandoned InGen island that was never mentioned before, no less)? You guessed it — check.But worst of all is a retcon more offensive to fans than any talking raptor: the de-extinction of dinosaurs all around the world, a premise that the last two films, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022), went to some great lengths to set up.Credit: Universal PicturesBut Rebirth is making an absolute fortune in theaters, having already grossed well over $500 million worldwide. So it must be good, right? Wrong. The latest Jurassic sequel is as much an abomination as the Distortus Rex, and we think we have the answer as to why. Look no further than screenwriter David Koepp, who penned this absolute monstrosity.Koepp, who co-wrote the original Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), must have lucked out back then seeing as they’re the only films in the series with solid source material: the two international best-sellers by the late author Michael Crichton.Credit: Universal PicturesDavid Koepp Appears in One of the Jurassic SequelsWhen it was announced last year that Koepp would be returning to pen the new film, fans were beside themselves with excitement. But, as Dr. Ian Malcolm once so eloquently put it, “Ah, yeah, ‘Ooh, aah’. That’s how it always starts. Then later, there’s running and screaming.”That quote is from The Lost World, a film in which Koepp actually appears onscreen, in a small cameo you probably wouldn’t even be aware of unless you’re a diehard Jurassic fan.Credit: Universal PicturesRelated: Three New ‘Jurassic World’ Sequels in Development as ‘Rebirth’ Roars at the Box OfficeHis T.rex Kill Is Played for JokesKoepp plays a random civilian during the scene in which a Tyrannosaurus is rampaging through the streets of San Diego after being inadvertently released from its cargo hold aboard the S.S. Venture. But the average joe makes the fatal mistake of trying to outsmart the pursuing Rex by attempting to hide in an abandoned store, whose doors are locked. Seconds later, he’s eaten alive. His unnamed character is credited as “Unlucky B*stard”.The Lost World remains one of the strongest sequels in the series, but it’s not without its flaws. In fact, most of the film’s problems are littered throughout the third-act San Diego sequence, which feels a tad too comical, especially in a film that has moments of genuine horror. Don’t get us wrong — Koepp’s death is extremely morbid; the guy can clearly scream.Credit: Universal PicturesIt Seems He Never Took Jurassic SeriouslyBut the fact that he wrote the cameo for himself perhaps speaks volumes about how seriously he took the film, and Jurassic as a whole. Yes, the kill is horrifying, but it’s also strangely comical. In Jurassic Park, when the Rex plucks Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) off that toilet seat, you really feel for him, even though he’s a sniveling lawyer who abandoned Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joe Mazzello) in the jeep just moments before.Koepp’s death in The Lost World is, of course, no less horrifying. But it’s seemingly played for jokes, along with most of the San Diego sequence, where oddball gags range from the Rex performing a subtle “dribbling” motion when it passes a basketball hoop in a backyard, to a Japanese businessman screaming (in his native language), “I left Tokyo to get away from this!” while running from the dinosaur — a blatant reference to Godzilla.Credit: Universal PicturesIs Koepp to Blame for Jurassic World Rebirth?Maybe this is why Jurassic World Rebirth is as bad as it is. Maybe Koepp just doesn’t care about the franchise as much as we thought he did.Last year, when talking about Rebirth in an interview with The Discourse, Koepp said, “Humor is oxygen.” And he wasn’t mincing his words — the initial trailer for the film was full of cringe-worthy one-liners that alienated many fans. While a lot of those jokes didn’t make it into the final film, there are still some awkward gags, with one involving Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) eating mints really loudly on two occasions. Hilarious.Koepp also said in that interview, “I don’t like a retcon.” Yet the first few minutes of the new film are dedicated to retconning past events.As for that Lost World cameo, there’s nothing wrong with a creative having a bit of fun — directors are always inserting themselves into their films.And just because Koepp wrote himself a cameo doesn’t make him a bad screenwriter. It would be tempting for anyone to write themselves a scene in which they’re eaten by a T.rex if they could. But with the latest Jurassic sequel, it’s fair to say that the writing’s on the wall.Credit: Universal PicturesJurassic World Rebirth is out in theaters now.It stars Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Endgame), Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer), Rupert Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Mahershala Ali (The Green Book), Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (Dead Boy Detectives), Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs Lopez), Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF), and Ed Skrein (Deadpool).What did you think of Rebirth? Sound off in the comments!The post This ‘Lost World’ Scene Perfectly Explains Why ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Is So Terrible appeared first on Inside the Magic.