The Jurassic Park franchise has never shied away from deep philosophical questions. That's one of the reasons it has endured for so long. With the newly rebooted Jurassic World series, that tradition appears to be alive and well. Although we still have quite some time before J.A Bayona's Jurassic World 2 hits theaters, we now know the overarching theme of the movie. According to Jurassic World director, Colin Trevorrow, it's all about the rights of the dinosaurs. He explained:
The dinosaurs will be a parable of the treatment animals receive today: the abuse, medical experimentation, pets, having wild animals in zoos like prisons, the use the military has made of them, animals as weapons.
According to El Mundo, Colin Trevorrow spoke at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain this weekend and laid out the overall creative direction of the next Jurassic World film. He explained that Jurassic World 2's story will provide some truly insightful commentary into the real-world issues of animal testing, animal abuse, and animal rights. The dinosaurs won't simply be a tourist attraction anymore; the humans of the Jurassic universe will find ways to utilize them that fundamentally challenge basic morals and ethics.
We saw hints of this narrative thread during the events of Jurassic World, as Chris Pratt's Owen fought tooth and nail to keep Vincent D'Onofrio's Hoskins from taking the raptors and weaponizing them for military use. Although Hoskins failed in his endeavors to tame nature, the escape of BD Wong's Henry Wu from the island means that the highly-coveted dino DNA may have fallen into the wrong hands after all.
This creative choice shouldn't surprise anyone who has kept up with the Jurassic Park franchise over the years. Although the dinosaurs have always represented a major physical threat for our heroes throughout the last four films, that never really made them villains. The Jurassic films have consistently framed the prehistoric creatures as forces of nature that man has unwisely attempted to control. We cannot blame carnivorous dinosaurs for acting like carnivorous dinosaurs, but we can most certainly blame misguided humans for attempting to play god. If Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm shows up at any point, then he is going to be very, very upset.
It's also worth noting that this theme very much lines up with the rumored tone of the movie. Unlike Jurassic World, which maintained a relatively lighthearted sensibility, Jurassic World 2 will feature far more terrifying horror elements, and a somewhat smaller scale. With that in mind, this could every easily become the darkest Jurassic film to date.
We will keep you up to date with more Jurassic World 2 information as new details become available. With the theme of animal rights driving the narrative, it looks like the Jurassic franchise remains as relevant as ever. Jurassic World 2 will debut on June 22, 2018.
