The extended preview for Jurassic World: Dominion features a memorable T-Rex scene set at a drive-in, which is a direct rejection of the original core message of Jurassic Park. Based on all the available information, Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World 3 will be an epic conclusion to his trilogy, setting a new bar for special effects — and general excitement — within the dinosaur-based movie series. In some ways, Trevorrow also looks to be returning to the past, as the extended preview features a look at the prehistoric origins of these massive creatures; yet, one sequence in particular directly contradicts the main theme in Steven Spielberg's original masterpiece, Jurassic Park.
The Jurassic World 3 extended preview was included with IMAX showings of F9. The sequence shows various dinosaurs in the past, before transitioning to the 21st century, directly following the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. A helicopter is shown pursuing a T-Rex, which rampages through a drive-in theater — all while much of the audience is (at least initially) unaware of the destruction behind them.
It's a fun climax in the preview, and it connects Jurassic World 3 to classic a horror trope — but this is the very problem. Already, Jurassic World has shifted the franchise's perception of dinosaurs to characterize them more as villains or monsters. This is a dramatic shift from Jurassic Park, which was always careful to characterize its dinosaurs as awe-inspiring and tragic figures: both through dialogue as well as the movie's direction. In so blatantly characterizing the franchise's most iconic dinosaur as a monster, the Jurassic World 3 preview outright rejects the nuanced approach in the original movie.
The drive-in moment in the Jurassic World 3 preview is referencing a classic horror and sci-fi trope in which an audience is watching a horror movie, only for a real-life monster to burst through the screen. Thankfully, the preview isn't quite so on-the-nose with the reference, instead, paying homage by having the T-Rex approach viewers from behind. Still, the trope is typically associated with "B-movie" monsters and/or aliens, which are fun but also (by their nature) cheap. Thus, the parody in the Jurassic World 3 preview may be fun, but it also cheapens the franchise's signature dinosaur.
Spielberg's Jurassic Park took the opposite approach to its subject matter. Great pains were taken to make every dinosaur in Jurassic Park as believable as possible. The T-Rex and the Velociraptors were terrifying — partially because they were so realistic — but they were also regarded with a level of respect. The underlying message of the movie wasn't that these creatures were monsters, but that they didn't belong in the present era. This is best exemplified by the iconic shot of the T-Rex in the ruined rotunda, roaring powerfully and majestically as the film's score swells in the background. The true villains were the greedy, corporate goons who wanted to exploit these living creatures for financial gain, regardless of what kind of suffering that might cause. The victory at the end of Jurassic Park was more the triumph of nature over man than man over nature — the heroes escape (barely), having learned the folly of trying to control the uncontrollable.
Already, the Jurassic World trilogy has gone in a different direction with the property, creating a world in which the dinosaurs were controlled within a successful theme park. The movie's conflict results from the introduction of a new, dangerous, man-made dinosaur that escapes and wreaks havoc, killing many and destroying the park. Its sequel changed the franchise further, ending with dinosaurs from Isla Nublar roaming the mainland. The ending of Jurassic World 2 sets up Dominion: as the preview confirms, the crux of the plot will be humans learning to coexist with dinosaurs. It's unfortunate that the T-Rex has been cheapened within the franchise — but hopefully, the story in Jurassic World: Dominion will find a way to honor this great and powerful creature.