The Sequels Game
Soon to be released here in the UK will be Saw 3, a film that began with surprise, surprise SAW. But will SAW 3 be one of those film franchises that go just a bit too far, and become ridiculous? SAW broke new ground, in that it was unlike any other film previously released. But it's very success could lead to it becoming a Rotten tomato.
Lets look at a few more sequels and then you tell me what you think...
Perhaps the running of the sequels genre is the "Friday the 13th" group of films. The first was not too bad, and it was a typical teen slasher movie. But did we really have to have another 10 yes that's TEN!! more of them?? Somehow I don't think so, they should have stopped at one in my opinion. Then there was "Nightmare on Elm Street", the first one really made me uncomfortable for some reason, but when it got to 3 I thought it was pushing the boat out a bit, I believe they are now on Number 9.
Friday 13th 11/Elm street 9
It's getting daft. Some films though benefit from becoming sequelised (if there is such a word), look at the Matrix Trilogy for instance. Most people I know didn't really have a clue as to what was going on in the Matrix, until they had seen it 2 or 3 times, and even then they were unhappy that their questions were still left unanswered. Then came the next two films, and it kind of closed the chapter. Hopefully there will be no more films in the Matrix series, otherwise it is just going to make the whole thing seem pointless.
Another one of those that I think falls into the decent sequel category is "The X-men", I haven't yet seen X-men 3, but I think they would be very foolish to go and make a fourth film, a spin-off is OK but a fourth film...Nah it would spoil the others.
To tell the truth though, we are to blame in a way that there are so many sequels out there. I mean if the film wasn't so popular they wouldn't bother making a sequel to it now would they?
I had a look earlier today at the Box office top 10's, in the US the top movie is Jackass 2, a sequel. In the UK we have Clerks 2 at number 10. Not very many really, but then there are more to come such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The Beginning and The Grudge 2 which I am sure will draw in their respective fans. But, why do we crave for a sequel? I think it is because we enjoyed the first movie so much, that we want more. Only trouble is the movie makers think we want more and more and more, eventually giving us too much, and therefore rendering the first movie we saw in the series, as crap too, even though we really enjoyed it.
Take another great series on TV, that became in effect a Movie series and that was the "Star Trek" series. I thought it would end with Star Trek 5 - The Final Frontier, but NO, in 2002 they had Star Trek 10 - Nemisis. I mean what the??
Final Frontier not Final Film
So what are the next films that are going to be ruined by the sequel craze? Well a lot of people didn't like it, but Pirates of the Caribbean have filmed backed to back 2 and 3. So it looks like that is one of the ones that will sadly be ruined.
If you have any others to add, please feel free to comment.
3 comments:
I think it is pretty simple, the horror movies like Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street are easy to make...simple scripts (get a bunch of beautiful young people, put them in a remote area/somewhere where they are isolated(the sleep world), get maniac to kill them). Pretty easy to make cookie cutter style, which gives it a fast turn around time to capitalize of familiarity. Saw (2004), Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006). That is quick in movie making terms. Harry Potter already has six books and they are up to about a year and a half to two years between releases now.
As for series like Star Trek and the Bond films, what makes these good is that the characters are very well established, but you can still have completely independent stories, no one movie depends on you knowing what happened in the movie before. The studios like these because it puts the audience at ease, they know these characters, they like these guys.
That is a very good point Will, you don't have to have seen the film before as it isn't really linked in the case of Star Trek.
But for Harry Potter, it helps, same with Saw.
The Bond films are all individual storylines, which meakes them popular.
But having too many sequels makes things repetative, and boring. It is that what I find a problem.
People should check out your Blog for the Bond films, they can gain a lot from that.
If others want to check it out, click on Will's Link on the sidebar
Thanks for the plug there.
I do agree that as a rule sequels are bad.
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