Is Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Just Another Jurassic Park in Steroids?

Sunday, July 2, 2017

 Jurassic Park

After the blockbuster destruction of an entirely new dinosaur theme park in Jurassic World, could the recently titled sequel be taking us back to more familiar ground? A set photo shared by Slashfilm from Jurassic Park Motor Pool, a Facebook group dedicated to the numerous vehicles from the world of Jurassic Park, seems to hint that Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will take place on the very same island as the first blockbuster installment–and may well explore the original dinosaur death trap, Jurassic Park.

Not only does the car in question have that iconic paint job but it’s also a Ford Explorer, the very make of the electronic Jeeps which were meant to show guests around in the first film. Even more intriguing than that is the fact that the car is numbered with a four. Our more eagle eyed readers may have already realized that’s the very same number as the car that John Hammond’s precocious grandchildren were unlucky enough to be in when Dennis Nedry’s nefarious plan failed. That left them scrambling in the mud as the T. rex, excited by its newfound freedom, tried to say an over enthusiastic hello by putting its entire face through the roof. It’s the very same car that almost crushed Sam Neill and Joseph Mazzello’s Tim after they tried to escape through the T. rex’s abandoned enclosure.

This could hint that the film will actually follow the tried and true route of returning to the scene of the first movie–both Jurassic Park and Jurassic World were set on Isla Nublar–on some kind of reconnaissance mission like The Lost World. Though in that movie Jeff Goldblum was very reluctant, so how on Earth would they get him back there this time? If this is the case, could Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom explore the ruins of the John Hammond’s original passion project? There’s something unbelievably exciting about the possibility of returning to Isla Nublar now that it’s once again overrun with dinosaurs. The juxtaposition of the two parks, old and new, has the potential for some epic set pieces. It also ties into Fallen Kingdom‘s recently released tagline “life finds a way.” We know the T. rex from the original movie survived and was rehoused in Jurassic World, but the big question now is what else survived?

Jurassic World hinted at the original park as Ty Simpkins and his on screen kid brother Nick Robinson discovered the old visitors center and recommissioned an extinct staff Jeep from the park to escape the rampaging Indominus rex. This established that the skeleton of the old park still exists, but with this new set photo from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom we might get to discover just how much was left, and maybe even why the island’s new owners decided to leave certain parts of the park untouched. Maybe there were some prehistoric inhabitants who couldn’t or wouldn’t be moved?

Or could this point to something much bigger going on out there? Could the huge dinosaur museum we’ve seen in a recent set photo belong to a wealthy collector who’s obsessed with the legacy of the parks? Could this collector be rounding up the most iconic pieces of the parks’ troubled history for some kind of twisted memorial museum that may even include the most famous living relic of all, the T. rex from the first movie who we saw return in the end of Jurassic World?

With almost a year until the film’s released, we’ll have to wait and see if any of this comes to pass. But what do you think? Would you want to return to the wreckage of Jurassic World? Were you hoping for some real world dinosaur carnage? Or is it just a car that means nothing? Swerve into our comments and let us know!

Images: Universal