Posted in: Movies, Universal | Tagged: film, jurassic world: fallen kingdom, Universal Pictures

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – The Volcano, the Island, and the Brachiosaur [Spoilers]

There are a bunch of hidden secrets in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, some of which are world-building or references to other movies in the series. Director J.A. Bayona and writer Colin Trevorrow gave Empire some neat bits of information when it comes to this series. However, to get into them will require a spoiler warning for anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet.

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When they announced that the story of the second movie would revolve around the volcano destroying the entire island, it turns out that didn't come out of nowhere. On the map, in the first movie, you can see the volcano was put there deliberately.

"[The volcano] was actually something we put on the map in the first movie, to establish that there was the potential for an extinction-level event that could happen and create a moral question, an ethical dilemma around the world," notes Trevorrow.

When it came to destroying the island, Trevorrow said that it was something they didn't take lightly. Not only were they destroying the island, but they were destroying most of the dinosaurs as well.

"We treated it with great reverence, we take it very seriously," says Trevorrow. "We looked at it almost like, if our characters are watching that happen, it's like they're witnessing the burning down of a church or a temple. I honestly think it's like killing off a character in a way, and if you're going to do that, as long as you approach it with the proper respect and acknowledgement that you understand how indelible and permanent what you're doing is, then hopefully people will have an emotional response but they won't hate you for it."

There is a scene that has been in a lot of the marketing of the characters walking up and seeing a brachiosaurus walking through the abandoned park. Bayona confirmed that that is the same brachiosaurus from the first movie.

"That's the brachiosaurus that Alan Grant saw for the first time in Jurassic Park," Bayona confirms, adding that it uses the exact same animation from the 1993 original. "I think it's a beautiful moment – it's sad but it's beautiful, and it's so relevant."

That brachiosaurus did not get a happy ending. While the boat filled with the dinosaurs is pulling away, we see the brachiosaurus on the pier as the smoke, fire, and lava approach. The first dinosaur we saw in the original movie, the symbol of Jurassic Park, is slowly dying before our eyes.

"For that to be the last dinosaur we see on the island, I found to be emotionally effective," Trevorrow explains. "But then the way that J.A. executed it – the colours, the very spiritual way that he shot it and finished it… It was actually the last shot that we finished on the whole movie, everyone had been up all night. He's so meticulous, especially with his color and his composition. He worked on that shot until he had seconds left."

That shot has been divisive among fans, with some loving it and others finding it at best tasteless and at worst enraging. It'll be interesting to see how the third movie deals with the absence of something that's been part of this series from the beginning.

Summary: When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, directed by J.A. Bayona, stars Jeff Goldblum, Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Toby Jones, James Cromwell, Ted Levine, Geraldine Chaplin, Rafe Spall, B.D. Wong, and Justice Smith. It's out now.

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