PHOTO BY JASIN BOLAND / UNIVERSAL PICTURES

The best part of “Jurassic World Rebirth” comes early. A crew of mercenaries and unlucky civilians are on a high-tech boat, searching for a massive aquatic dinosaur. Quickly, the roles are reversed; they aren’t searching for the mosasaurus, it’s hunting them.

In one sense, it’s fairly stock stuff — peril at sea, an underwater beast. But those scenes are familiar because of one film: “Jaws,” which shares its director and visionary with the original “Jurassic Park.” “Rebirth” director Gareth Edwards isn’t merely paying tribute to Steven Spielberg’s original blockbuster in these scenes; he’s acknowledging that the older director knew better than anyone how to create tension, suspense and action when big monsters are around.

This is in sharp contrast to the recent “Jurassic World” trilogy, a series of new adventures at a modern dino park. In those films, the dinosaurs were known quantities in the modern world, having escaped containment and existing among modern humans, albeit in mostly isolated areas. “Jurassic World Rebirth,” which shares nothing but a world and some scant references to the other films in the series, comments on that creative decision with its own world-building: In this film, the public has grown bored with dinosaurs. Museum exhibits are closing, and a sick sauropod in Manhattan is little more than a traffic jam.

Enter the film’s smarmy corporate type — the expected villain in all of these films — Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend). Krebs represents a pharmaceutical industry that has discovered a potential cure for heart disease lurking in the cardiovascular system of dinosaurs; they need samples from living creatures to break through and make trillions. He hires a mercenary team led by Zora (Scarlett Johansson) and Duncan (Mahershala Ali) to extract the samples, then ropes in paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) for some expertise.

On arrival, a group of unfortunate vacationers, including a young child (Audrina Miranda), ends up along for the ride, having been capsized by the mosasaurus. It’s another savvy move — as in the original film, nothing evokes the audience’s sympathies like a child who’s being menaced by a tyrannosaurus rex.

Less successful is the film’s character building, as the script — by David Koepp, who co-wrote the original film — is good at putting its humans in danger but not in making us care about them. Zora and Duncan weep over recently fallen colleagues but barely blink when their coworkers on this mission are devoured. Krebs can’t dodge a single rich-guy cliche. Even the poor child is made to adopt a pint-sized dinosaur despite being terrified of everything bigger than a mosquito in earlier scenes.

Those flaws, and a distinct lack of the original film’s humor, will likely hold “Rebirth” back from becoming a particularly memorable entry in the series; when the urge for prehistoric home viewing hits, the first film will always be the only solid choice. But there’s more than enough suspense, action and wonder in “Rebirth” to warrant a trip to the cinema — particularly if a large-format screen is involved.

Fittingly, if you do see “Rebirth” this weekend, you’ll likely see a trailer for the forthcoming 50th anniversary re-release of “Jaws.” It’s not just advertising; in this case, a bit of “Jaws” correctly calibrates your expectations for “Jurassic World.”

My Rating: 7/10

“Jurassic World Rebirth” is now playing in theaters.