2011 has been an abysmal summer for movies. We could call it the summer of the remakes, or maybe the summer of the sequels. Better yet, how about the summer of the remake sequels? After all, the number two movie in America last week (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”) is just that: a remake of a sequel. While that movie’s box office numbers are tapering off, a top new release “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” is a remake of the 1973 film of the same title. The number three movie from last week is the fourth installment in the “Spy Kids” series, number four is a remake of the 1982 movie “Conan the Barbarian,” and coming in at number five is, you guessed it, a remake of the 1985 horror movie “Fright Night.”
I’m beginning to wonder how we will keep track of movie titles in the coming years. We will have no choice but to add the year the film was released “Assault on Precinct 13” will suddenly become “Assault on Precinct 13, 2005 release” or “2001, 1968 release.”
Why are well-regarded, classic movies remade? Why is “Straw Dogs” soon to be released when the original was successful in part because it was shocking at the time of its release and critically acclaimed. No offense to James Marsden, but I don’t imagine he’s in the same league as Dustin Hoffman. Also, I don’t think the movie will be all that shocking today. We hear elected officials compare rape to having a flat tire today.
I’m okay with sequels. One of the greatest movies ever made, “The Godfather II,” is a sequel. It features three of the greatest actors of the 1970s together in one film: Robert Duvall, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.
In a trilogy, the second movie is often the best because the story has already been set up and the ending doesn’t seem a foregone conclusion yet. “Empire Strikes Back” had less “Flash Gordon” cheesiness than “Star Wars” and as many disapproving critics have pointed out, no so-called “Muppets” as “The Return of the Jedi” supposedly did. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is far and away the best in the Indiana Jones series. Again, “Temple of Doom” had too many moments of cheesiness and “The Last Crusade” wasn’t as interesting on the whole.
“The Dark Knight” was an improvement on “Batman Begins” because the action took off from the first frame. We didn’t spend half an hour having to learn the story behind Batman and watch him finding a towering Liam Neeson as a ninja. God love Liam Neeson, he’s found a surprisingly good niche as an action star, but come on, a ninja?
I humbly admit I did not see the final chapter in the “Harry Potter” series, but from all I’ve read and heard it was one of the best movies of this summer. It wasn’t exactly a sequel, but part of a series.
Not all remakes are bad, but I can’t think of many good ones either. Furthermore, an audience knows what they’re getting into with a sequel. The story template is already laid out and clear. Usually, new supporting characters and villains are what make sequels interesting. Most of the time with remakes, the differences are purely cosmetic. I take comfort in the fact that while “Fright Night” and “Conan the Barbarian” have done okay comparatively, they haven’t made much money overall. That at least tells me that audiences are getting more selective with which remakes they will or won’t see. Hopefully, Hollywood studios will take note and give audiences something better.
