“Jurassic World doesn’t need a sequel.”

That’s what many fans, me included, thought upon leaving the theater in 2015 after watching the hit blockbuster film. Did I enjoy my time in the movie? Absolutely. While Jurassic World was by no means a perfect flick, it managed to give me a sense of wonder I hadn’t had in a good while. For the first half of the movie, they made me imagine how amazing it would have been if there were a theme park full of dinosaurs, and in the second half, they reiterated why that’d probably be a bad idea.

It was dumb, shallow fun. But as the original Jurassic Park trilogy proved, there really doesn’t seem to be many places to go after the Park. The Lost World: Jurassic Park didn’t really live up to expectations, and Jurassic Park III was dismissed as the most inferior of the three films. All in all, the second two movies didn’t have that special spark of the first one. Once you’d left the park, it’s as though you’ve lost the wonder.

That, of course, didn’t stop Jurassic World from setting up a sequel. In the latter half of the film, we see B.D. Wong’s Dr. Henry Wu escape the movie unscathed, carrying off dinosaur embryos, no doubt planting the seeds for the sequel. But what can we get in the sequel? How can it manage to be another fun thrill ride without simply retreading the structure of the original?

While we don’t have any real plot details, we now have a confirmation of a theme that’s being utilized in the sequel. In a report from El Mundo (via Time), it’s reiterated that the big message the first Jurassic World is trying to get across is the downside of capitalism — how are greed can lead to mankind doing stupid things. For the second film, however, the filmmakers are striving to deliver a new message. 

Speaking with the outlet, Jurassic World 2 producer and co-writer Colin Trevorrow revealed that message:

“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. The second part will be a very different movie that will explore new paths. For that reason, it was clear that it needed to be [J.A.] Bayona who would direct it, in order to have it grow and evolve with his very personal vision.”

We definitely saw bits and pieces of that in the first Jurassic World. The titular theme park was something of a zoo, and Vincent D’Onofrio’s character had his mind set on weaponizing the dinosaurs and using them for the military. 

All in all, it’s not a complete shift in message, but sort of an evolution. While I’m not usually a fan of pushing for a message in storytelling, I will say that this particular approach does go hand-in-hand with the concept, and it will give the filmmakers an opportunity to do something different from the first film.

What do you think of this approach? Do you like that they’re using Jurassic World 2 as a parable, or do you like your blockbusters to be preach-free popcorn flicks? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: El Mundo (via Time)