The summer blockbuster season is almost upon us (though I suppose it's technically always blockbuster season now) and one of the movies that will be competing for box office supremacy is Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The sequel to 2015's smash hit, Fallen Kingdom will be supplying even more dino madness coupled with questions about whether these creatures should even exist. This age-old franchise question will be getting a bit of a twist in Fallen Kingdom, as now the issue becomes whether or not dinosaurs should be protected now that they are here. Here's how Colin Trevorrow explains the ethical dilemma.
You have this extinction-level event on that island, and the world is looking at these creatures that we created and asking, 'Well, what is our right? Do we let them die because we created them and they shouldn't be here in the first place, or do we have a responsibility to save them?'
The Jurassic Park franchise has essentially always been about the problems that arise when people get all their science mixed in with their nature. Dinosaurs are basically the Reese's peanut butter cups of ethical quandaries. While several of the movies have tackled whether or not humanity should have brought back the dinosaurs, the question in Fallen Kingdom now becomes, do we owe these creatures anything? It's an interesting spin on the usual theme of Jurassic Park movies and Fallen Kingdom will tackle it head-on with a giant volcano.
In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, an active volcano is on the verge of sending the dinosaurs to extinction once again, but this time humanity has a means of preventing this. As Colin Trevorrow told Entertainment Weekly, dinosaurs have only returned because of the actions of people, so is it people's duty to preserve these creatures or to let the problem solve itself?
Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire is firmly on the side of life. Whereas she only saw dinosaurs as a means of profit in the first Jurassic World, her character has switched opinions and now works to ensure that dinosaurs have the same rights as other species, founding an activist organization called the Dinosaur Protection Group. As Howard tells it:
Basically, her sense of purpose now is to ensure that these animals have the same protections as any other endangered species.
Hopefully, this change in theme will help Fallen Kingdom stand out in the franchise. Jurassic Park does not have a good history with sequels, as many of them tread the same ground as the original classic, but not as well. Jurassic Park sequels are tough nuts to crack, but here's hoping that Trevorrow and director J.A. Bayona are able to deliver a fun summer smash.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom releases in theaters on June 22, 2018. To learn more about the film, here's everything we know so far.
