Universal Pictures has released “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” the seventh film in the 31-year-old dinosaur franchise and the first entry since 2022’s “Jurassic World: Dominion.” Directed by Gareth Edwards and written by original series scribe David Koepp, the picture introduces Scarlett Johansson as covert-ops specialist Zora Bennett, who leads a mercenary team to an equatorial island where genetically modified dinosaurs could yield breakthrough heart-disease medicine. Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and Rupert Friend co-star. Early reviews are lukewarm. The film debuted with a 54% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. The Boston Globe called the picture “a frustrating franchise entry,” Rolling Stone said it “tries to revive something best left dead,” and the New York Post labeled it “another embarrassing dino retread.” Several critics fault the story for sidelining dinosaurs in favor of thinly sketched human protagonists and for straying from the cautionary themes that defined Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original. Industry analysts will watch whether mixed critical sentiment affects ticket sales for a series that has generated roughly $6 billion worldwide since 1993. Universal has not yet disclosed opening-weekend grosses.