The franchise rules.... long-term money-making ventures are the priority. Art is secondary. Quality, good taste, and good judgement are of less importance.
While I may still enjoy the first instalments of slasher horror classics like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street, I've never been very keen on the many sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots. That sub-genre always felt weak within the world of horror cinema. Yet there was - and is - money to be made. There's an audience out there.
These days there are precious few movie franchises that I will loyally follow through to the end. I'm rather worn out on even the ones that I've long adored, Star Wars being the most notable. I never even saw Rogue One on its theatrical run. I was underwhelmed when I finally rented a digital version online. I will, to the day I croak, swear by the original trilogy - those classics are untouchable. The three prequels are a serious low point, though even among those, there are moments that stand out. The Force Awakens was a cool ride, very clearly a revamp of Episode IV: A New Hope, yet it was an indication that we must soon bid farewell to many of the familiar faces of the Star Wars universe. Now we're looking at a Star Wars movie every year until gawd-knows-when. Can they sustain this momentum for long? What does the future hold for this now-Disney-run franchise?
Star Trek.... I loved the 60's show as a kid and I still admire the imagination and intelligence behind it. The "original crew" movies of the 70's and 80's were okay at best, but never (for me) captured the essence of 60's Trek. And that was really the end of it for me. I'll forever be a fan of the Shatner/Nimoy lineup on TV, but just can't get behind the reboot movies with Chris Pine in the captain's chair. They have their moments, but sadly, the more cerebral approach of creator Roddenberry's 60's Trek was tossed in favour of a more Star Wars-y action-and-explosions approach. Which has won over younger viewers the world over, but oldsters like me prefer the more dialogue-driven stories enhanced by shaky studio sets and old-school phasor beams.
And the superhero movies.... I've lost all interest in them. When I was a kid, like most boys my age, I loved the action fantasy in the comic books. The earlier adaptations to film were eye-candy to my young eyes. Even as an adult, the advances in special effects have made superheroic displays more seamlessly possible, and I did enjoy some of those films. But as time wore on, I realized I just didn't care for this assembly line of lacklustre blockbusters. The obsession with quantity over quality became more and more obvious as year after year, the movie industry churned out the bad and the ugly... and not so much of the good. Still, tickets are sold and seats are filled. There's no accounting for taste.
I was on board for the first few Spider-Man films, and even the Andrew Garfield reboot, but that was it for me. Same deal with Ironman... I enjoyed the first one, the second one considerably less, then I dropped out of the fan club entirely. All of the cross-over Avengers flicks are so overblown and undernourished that I can't get my head around them. The first one was vaguely interesting, but man, it's always that last half hour or so (after already wading through two hours of ho-hum) of endless superhuman battles that bores me to tears. So I avoided the sequels and other related movies. I never got into X-Men, though I did endure the first movie. I think that was it for the Marvel universe. Oh wait, Thor was mildly entertaining, but again, one was enough for me. Ant Man was a very fun exception... I loved it.
I gave the Batman V Superman flick a miss... I'd heard so many disappointing reviews that I didn't care to invest (waste) the time on it. When it comes to Superman, give me the Christopher Reeve pictures any day of the week. And as for Batman, I enjoyed the '89 Michael Keaton film and its sequel, and even the George Clooney realization. But after that, well, the Kilmer one was a disappointment, and believe it or not, the Dark Knight reboot series with Christian Bale simply was not my cup of tea. Way too dark and violent... and un-fun, too far away from what I knew in the comic books I read as a kid. If I had to choose a Batman to watch this very moment, I'd pull that old 1966 Adam West gem off my DVD shelf. That colourful, tongue-in-cheek approach truly defined Batman for me.
I love Jurassic Park and still get a kick out of its inferior, but still fun, two follow-ups. I skipped Jurassic World at the cinema, though maybe I'll find it on Netflix one day. Even the holiest of the holy, the Tolkien-inspired films by Peter Jackson took their toll on me. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is indeed a masterpiece, deserving of its nine-hour-plus treatment and its accolades. But The Hobbit, in my opinion, was a master class in how to ruin a classic tale. I disliked the first movie so much that I intentionally avoided parts two and three. How sad that director Jackson mishandled the Tolkien book so terribly. I mean... three massive movies to tell a story that first appeared in so slim a novel? One would have sufficed, for I still believe in the art of adapting literature to film through judicious artistic licence and editing. Few of the movie-going population want to sit for three to four hours just to see part one of a three part story... and to wait a year or more for the next instalment. Well, maybe the masses have been conditioned to accept whatever Hollywood throws at them. Not this guy.
The James Bond film series is one of the few that I will faithfully fork over for at the cineplex every few years. I've followed the 007 spy movies ever since I was a young teen. Daniel Craig as the latest Bond has given the franchise a serious boost as one of the most successful reboots in history. Though I'm not the biggest Craig fan, I do find the stories presented in most of his movies exceptional, showing cinematic artistry and a knack for high entertainment, a delicate balance few can match.
The Ip Man martial arts movies are so beautifully filmed, written and acted, capturing the time period and Asian culture, that I do look forward to more of star Donnie Yen in the role of Ip Man (the real-life Ip was Bruce Lee's teacher, in case you didn't know). Let's hope there are further adventures of Ip Man down the road.
The Alien film franchise has captured my imagination for decades, even though the last "true" Alien movie appeared in '97. But we all know that Prometheus, which I loved despite sneers and criticisms from other quarters, has a tie to the Alien universe, don't we? The upcoming Alien: Covenant promises to further explain that connection. Can't wait!
Some other movie franchises that I've loved (and still do, for the most part) are Back to the Future (not sure if that'll get a reboot some day), The Matrix (love the first one, while the rest were forgettable), The Terminator series (though they aren't what they used to be, the newer entries are still cool and fun, if in a dopey way), Mad Max (the latest was the greatest, but can this carry on with an aging director?), Planet of the Apes (I love the oldies, especially the original, and while the new reboots are cool, I'm not a huge fan), and for a more real-world example, the Dirty Harry films of the 70's and 80's, starring Clint Eastwood... they stand the test of time and I see no reason to ever reboot that "franchise"... gritty and lean and steeped in that era... perfection.
Then there are the remakes of King Kong over the decades. First there was the 1933 Kong, then a jokey spin-off Son of Kong, the Toho version of Kong who battled Godzilla in '62, a remake of the original in '76, then Peter Jackson's modern retelling of the big ape story from 2005. And Kong: Skull Island has done the rounds with mixed reactions. I'm in no hurry to see it, but will check it out eventually.
Speaking of giant monsters, there is of course the venerable Godzilla with a record-breaking twenty-eight freakin' motion pictures from Toho Studios alone! I enjoyed the 2014 reboot and I believe we are in for more, including a remake of the Kong rumble flick.
It must sound as though I'm tearing a new one in the Hollywood movie-making machine, and yes, I do have issues with it, but happily, the odd film of quality slips out. Something of nuance and originality, artistically and technically exceptional, and doesn't demand a follow-up Part II... or more. Those attributes don't have to cost an arm and a leg, so that is why it is often independent studios, both domestic and foreign, that are responsible for modern cinematic success stories. Think Pulp Fiction, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Juno, Slumdog Millionaire, Primer, Little Miss Sunshine, and Lost in Translation.... just to name a few.
So c'mon Hollywood, let's see some good movies... and fewer of these Fast and Furious (eight movies - really?) vehicles.
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