Colin Trevorrow, director of Jurassic World and writer of Jurassic World 2, described the themes underlying his sequel’s plot in terms that bring to mind the new Planet of the Apes series.
Speaking with El Mundo at the Sitges Film Festival, Trevorrow said, “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.”
Trevorrow described the J.A. Bayona-directed sequel as “more complex,” with a second half that takes the series in new directions. “The second part will be a very different movie that will explore new paths,” he said. “It was clear that it needed to be Bayona who would direct it, in order to have it grow and evolve with his very personal vision.”
Who knows what he’s talking about with that “second part” stuff, but the thematic info is new and fairly concrete. Our abusive relationship with animals was an important component of Rise of the Planet of the Apes as well, as our own medical experiments were turned against us as punishment for our poor treatment of them.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes took this theme even further. Its antagonist, Koba, had been horribly mistreated by humans, his scarred body matched by a mind twisted to wrath and revenge. It was our treatment of Koba that damned humanity’s one chance at peace with the apes. The world will be theirs now.
Could Jurassic World 2 be heading toward such an apocalyptic conclusion? It seems unlikely, a step too large for a series trapped in the same island chain for four movies, but it will be interesting to see if the Jurassic World sequel can elevate its dinosaurs above their current creature feature status.
