Topic of the Week - Remakes, Sequels & Reboots

I think this topic is more relevant now than ever in today's film industry as well as our society. In the present day movie landscape, superhero movies currently reign supreme as well as creating franchises, resulting in a combonation of the two at times. Of course sooner or later that trend will slow down to a stop, though, saying that sounds sacrilegious at the moment but it's true. Theres a trend for every decade and a trend in the film industry is no different. Take fashion for example, which shares the same ideology with the film industry of rehashing the same idea over and over again. For a moment, let's take a sidetrack into the fashion industry which shares a lot of similarities with the film industry of how it operates. Right now in the late 2010's, we're not wearing space suits or an all white one piece outfit like countless futuristic 80's movies or novels predicted but instead we're rehashing ideas from the flashy and poppy 80's or the grungy 90's and even the roaring 20's. Why are we doing this? Well there's more than one answer to that question. Some say its nostalgia, others say that whatever generation is trendy at the moment, but what I think is that that not only is it a blend of the two, but at the moment we're quite voided of original ideas. So instead of creating something new we we go back to what worked and do it all over again.

This is the same with movies of course only that movies have many avenues of doing this. Let's use the Godzilla movie franchise as a prefect example. The Godzilla franchise of course took off in japan and soon reached over seas becoming a major hit in the US (like seriously who doesn't want to see two monsters fighting in a major city). Well, Hollywood decided to make their own Godzilla movie, a remake/reimagining of course of the Japanese classics. So they took the Godzilla idea and made it into their own which really meant just putting english speaking actors and cheesy CGI effects in their retread of the Godzilla. The movie became a hit and Hollywood decided to make sequels to the first movie, creating a franchise. Basically what they did was simply doing the same idea of the first film of Godzilla fighting a monster and eventually wining in a happy ever after button up ending which they did for multiple sequels. However, sequel after sequel, the general public got tired of the same plot point so what does Hollywood do? Do they make another sequel? Do they change the story or idea? or do they simply make a movie based on a original idea not involving Godzilla? Of course they could take any or all of those avenues, but what Hollywood simply does is hit that beautiful oh so sweet, reboot button.

They promise new characters, new stories, or a new take on a old idea. However, what they do is just put the same old engine in a brand new shell of a car and sell it as something revolutionary and brand new when really its the same crap with a different paint job. Now this points to Hollywood's biggest problem, the vacancy of original ideas. Every movie nowadays have become copies mostly of other movies, sequels to others, or reboots of old ideas. The worst culprits of this is Disney ,at the moment, pumping out remakes of animated classics every couple of months. Remember Lion King? Well heres a subpar version of it but it's live action. Liked Aladdin? Well forget about the iconic Robin Williams, and move aside for Will Smith as Genie! (Though Aladdin, I must say wasn't bad compared to Lion King though still subpar at times) Of course, Disney isn't going to stop this trend since their remakes make billions of dollars of world wide for them every time without fail. Why risk money on a original idea when you can bank on the nostalgia of the old ones and simply make a reboot/revamp version of it? Not only are they making numerous live action versions of their animated movie but there also pumping out sequels upon sequels for both the MCU and the Star Wars franchise.

So far, Phase 4 of the MCU is already planned out and ready to go with numerous movies as well as tv shows planned for global release and on Disney Plus. Star Wars for example, is set for one movie to close out the current trilogy and two other trilogies set to be made, helmed by Rian Johnson and D&D from Game of Thrones. Not to forget two tv shows for Star Wars set to premiere on Disney Plus. Disney is basically milking both the MCU and Star Wars franchise, as well as their own, for every cent they can get. It's so bad that it's coming to the point of their films being vacant of any heart at all. It's quite rare to find a movie or tv show nowadays, where instead of making the film for profit or for a building a franchise, they make it because they love the idea and want to create and share their idea on the silver screen. The line is now blurred and soon were just going to be spoon fed on remakes, sequels, and reboots. Though I must point out not all remakes, sequels, or reboots are bad, there are exceptions to the rule. Take the Mission Impossible franchise, or the John Wick franchise as well to name a few. The difference between those and Disney's franchises is that they work hard to make a fresh and new product with every movie instead of reusing old ideas from the established franchises. In the end, try to take time and go watch the less heard movies or ones that don't involve a high budget or superheros. Go out and watch and appreciate the film makers who still make film to create and inspire instead of corporations who make films to line their pockets. This is the topic of the week. Thanks for reading.