Saturday, May 24, 2008

The Law of Diminishing Returns

With the summer season of movies now well underway, it is perhaps of no surprise to anyone (unless they've been living under a rock for years) that the vast majority of so-called 'tentpole' movies happen to be either a) sequels; b) remakes of old films; c) films based on previous material. Okay, so at the moment, i'm struggling to think of a remake of an old film that's out this summer (although i would put money on there being at least one) but as for the rest, wel that's definitely the case. It's at times like this that one wonders if there actually are any original ideas left in Hollywood. Actually, there seem to be - but given that the result is such high class calibre as "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" (Adam Sandler needs to just go away) or "Hollywood Chiahuahua" (I saw the trailer for this in disbelief that someone, somewhere thought this was a good idea or a movie), i guess we're going to have to make-do with what we have. But then you can only go to the same well a certain number of times without quality dipping, right?

What is perhaps even more unsurprising is that this trend is showing no signs of abating. Thus, in the future, we are going to be treated to a trilogy of new Terminator films (the first of which is shooting right now under the watchful eye of McG - the director of the 'Charlie's Angels films - kill me now!), as well as potentially a Spider-man 4 and 5 (to be shot simultaneously it seems). With the continuing Chronicles of Narnia, and Harry Potter series, as well as The Hobbit and it's subsequent film to bridge the narratives between it and the Lord of the Rings trilogy (in all fairness i am looking forward to this one). On top of all this, it appears that a sequel to Donnie Darko (a refreshingly original film) is to be made with no involvement from the original writer-director at all. I ask but one word: Why??? Okay, so the answer is pretty obvious - money. But creativity is either sacrificed or just non-existent to begin with. It's virtually guaranteed these days that if a film makes a lot at the box office, a sequel will follow. And then the writers will say that 'a trilogy was always planned' (rapidly becoming a cliche). Thank God, then, for Pixar who at least are trying to push the boundaries of their storytelling. And i salute them for actually coming up with stories to tell, rather than just letting the animation do the talking. Long live "WALL-E"!!!

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