As I opened up the newspaper one morning last week and saw an A4 page dedicated to the promotion of ‘Iron Man 2’ it reminded me once again of just where we are in a Hollywood world that can hardly even keep its own sign from being torn down.
We all know that Hollywood has lead the way in film making for the past 100 years and that the majority of aspiring writers and film makers see the star studded location as the place that will launch their careers and make dreams come true. Whilst this is probably true, in the last 10 years we seem now to be overrun with sequels and comic book adaptations.
Are we now so lacking in new and fresh ideas that the last place we can go is constant repetition and the adaptation of material that was redundant years ago? The staggering amount of sequels and comic book films due to be released in the last and next few years says’ yes. To list but a few names over the next couple of years Transformers 3, Spiderman, Scream 4,5,6, Captain America, Green Lantern, The Avengers, Saw 7 and 8, Indian Jones 5, Die Hard 5, Men In Black 3. The list goes on and on.
I for one have always loved new ideas, new directions. It is far more exciting for me to pay money to see a well thought out and original plot with interesting characters, something that nobody else has thought of, something unique. As a kid I admittedly used to be impressed by the special effects that the big studios could throw at us, Spielberg, Scott, Cameron and Lucas in the earlier days of their careers brought us some of the greatest moments on screen. I still remember being an excited 10 year old counting the days until Jurassic Park was released.
But if you go back to look at the early Indiana Jones or better yet, Jaws, there is something there which in today’s world has completely vanished, depth. Jaws worked well because you got involved with the characters, the shark was just a catalyst for the events in the movie, the driving force, it is in the characters where the real interest lies. The real fans of the Harry Potter series will tell you that it isn’t the special effects set pieces that they love it is the development of Harry, Ron and Hernione over the 7 years that keeps them going back for more.
Returning to the sequel part of my rant, they are now making another Friday 13th film, this will be the 13th film in the franchise, 13th!!!! Surely we can create something bold and new? There are a million writers out there with fresh ideas that never see the light of day because the money men sit around thinking “Damn!! We haven’t let Michael Bay blow the shit out of something for a least 6 months, Hey Steve, you still got that spare $100m lying around? You have!! Ok let’s make Transformers 26 and cash in then”
I have, however enjoyed some of the sequels out there over the last few years, case in point –The Dark Knight, still to me the greatest comic book movie of all time only without the comic book feel to it. It was dark, gritty and extremely well done with Heath Ledger delivering that performance. I , much like everyone else will still mope along to the cinema to watch these movies without any real interest and let out the bonfire-nightesque “oooh” and “Aaaaah” when its appropriate but I still would rather watch 100 Shawshank Redemption, Vertigo and American Beauty types of film than one of these huge blockbusters.
The sequel discussion....to be continued....
