Did you hear? There might be another Indiana Jones (no there won’t be). There might be another Cloverfield (probably). There might be another Aliens vs. Predator (Lord help us). They are working on a Jeepers Creepers 3 (Huh?). Will there be a true Underworld 3 (no)? Pixar is making Cars 2 (yup) and Toy Story 3 (you knew that). Saw V comes out this year (oooh goody) and Saw VI is sure to follow (more, more, more torture please). We’ve got Ice Age 3, The Dark Knight, The Mummy 3, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Hellboy 2 and even when the stories suck we can still make another Star Wars in crappy animation!
Man alive, originality say bye, bye!
What is going on people? Movies have become a disposable commodity and even though they say box-office numbers are down, between theater tickets, DVDs, Blu-ray, PSP UMDs, iTunes and however else you steal, buy, rent, beg or bargain your way into watching a feature film we are spending an inordinate amount of money on what essentially equals to crap!
This is not to say that this year’s blockbuster sequels aren’t going to be good. I am dying to see The Dark Knight and curious about Hellboy 2 and Indy 4. I love movies as much as all of you, which should be obvious considering I own and operate a movie news website, but all this sequel talk and the constant search for sequel news is irksome.
Is Cloverfield 2 really that big of a story? Let me guess… there will be a monster attacking a city? Great, can’t wait. Is it called Aladygma and are the crazy labels on the Cloverfield DVD package a secret sign? Good God I hope so because that just gives me one more thing to Digg.
Basically, the reason I bring this up is because it took 19 years to get a fourth film in the Indiana Jones franchise made and now the following quote has sparked online frenzy over an Indiana Jones 5:
[Harrison Ford] also might consider a fifth installment of Indiana Jones, though he hopes it wouldn’t take 20 years to pull together.
Are you serious? Of course he wouldn’t rule out a fifth film. I could have written that article yesterday and used the exact same words without even talking to Harrison Ford (notice no quotes in the comment). Hey, guess what, Christian Bale and Chris Nolan will consider a third Batman film! Yeah, that’s breaking and it’s an exclusive. Link it up!
Sequels are not helping the quality of films being released.
Last year my Summer 2007 Preview included 14 sequels. FOURTEEN! How many of them were good? Spider-Man 3? Nope. 28 Weeks Later? Nope. Shrek the Third? Nope. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End? I liked it but most didn’t so nope. Day Watch? Huh? Hostel Part II? Ha! Ocean’s Thirteen? Not really. Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer? Nope. Evan Almighty? Hell Heck no! Live Free or Die Hard? Yeah. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? Yup. The Bourne Ultimatum? Definitely good. Rush Hour 3? Come on… No!
Look at that! I liked four of them and I would venture to say the majority of you felt you got your money’s worth out of maybe three of them. Three… out of THIRTEEN! And for the most part all those films were made for a very similar audience.
Summer 2008 has eight sequels (counting the animated Star Wars), but the real kicker is how far the studios had to go to get those sequels.
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (19 years)
- Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (4 years and a different studio)
- The X-Files 2 (10 years)
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (7 years)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (3 years and it’s freakin’ animated!)
Has originality left Hollywood to the point that there just aren’t any good ideas left, or is the sick need to fill each summer weekend with a rehash of prior years simply dominating?
Of the five films listed above I am at least happy that Hellboy kept its director and cast, as did X-Files and Indiana Jones. Obviously the latter two films are well revered franchises and I think we can trust Guillermo del Toro is gonna give us the best he’s got. However, The Mummy 3 couldn’t even manage to bring back hack director Stephen Sommers and Rachel Weisz didn’t return as Evelyn. Then there is Star Wars which almost seems to be a parody of itself now days.
I guess I could even count Mike Myers’ Love Guru and Adam Sandler’s Zohan since those two rarely bring anything “new” to their films.
I will say that last year’s sequel debacle may have been a good thing. This year the majority of the sequels seem to at least be thought out. We don’t have the mindless superhero flick that was rushed together just to fill the seats.
I personally credit this to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, which obviously had a major effect on Paramount’s Iron Man which went against the grain and hired real filmmakers and actors to star, as did Universal’s Hulk by bringing on Ed Norton. This year it seems the desire is not only to make a comic book movie, but to make a well made comic book movie that can actually be respected by general audiences as well as the target audiences.
This is not an article asking for the death of the sequel (well some we don’t need such as AVP3 or anymore Saw movies). As a matter of fact I am not really asking for anything. I just think some folks need to realize when it is time to put a franchise out to pasture. Indiana Jones is close, but I think we are all interested in seeing if the magic is still there and with Spielberg and Ford aboard we have faith. However, when you can’t get the original cast back and Rachel Weisz is replaced by Maria Bello and the original director is replaced by Rob Cohen you need to take a step back and wonder if it is all worth it.
Integrity in Hollywood seems to be at a minimum the majority of the time as they are often forced to shill films they know are no good or have no confidence in. 2008 has so far given us virtually nothing to cheer about outside of In Bruges (the small film that no one saw) and the rest of the films that too many saw.
I understand there are going to be bad movies, but if Hollywood took better care of their films I think we could diminish the number of them greatly. My last seven movie reviews were all “C+” or below (D, C, C+, C, D, D, D) and I can tell you right now 88 Minutes and Forbidden Kingdom aren’t going to buck the trend while Where in the World is Osama bin Laden? (haven’t decided yet) and Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which I see tonight) might.
How about you? Are you all aboard the sequel/remake train or would you much rather see originality creep its way back into Hollywood?
