Boy oh boy do I love movie franchises. Everyone who knows me knows that Star trek, Star Wars, Freddy, Alien, and Bond movies are Big Macs to me. they are comfortable, fillng, bad for me, but I know what to expect.
Sometimes, a movie exceeds expectations.. First Contact, Empire, new nightmare, Aliens, Goldeneye.. and sometimes, a franchise seems to fall flat.. (Arguably) Jedi, Insurrection, Freddy’s Dead, Alien 3, Die Another Day.
Last night i saw Alien vs. predator, and while this is not a review for that film, let me say that in the first half, my wife fell asleep and I checked my watch 5 times. In the second half, I laughed, the audience cheered, and my wife.. well she WAS sleepy.
Why can’t I say I hate this film? Well, I had a feeling and so I checked reviews, adn sure enough, NOBODY seemed to like it. As a franchise fan, I went to see it, and the reason I enjoyed it was it gave me a taste of my Big Mac Movie, even though I never really got the whole meal like I did with, say, Freddy Vs. Jason.
Unfortunately, excluding FvJ, all my faves are seeming troubled. Episode 2, Nemesis, AVP, and Die Another Day all left me happy for getting to see more of the stuff I liked, but nowhere near as happy as previous cinematic Meals had done.
With Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith coming out next summer, I hope for a final good helping of McFun, but I fear I may have to be happy with the Happy Meal version, where I’ve enjoyed the taste, but it was missing the special sauce I remember from Empire.
Lucily, all the francises will probably give me at least one more helping, and maybe.. just maybe.. they can reclaim their former glory.. or at least a side of fries.
Arguably?
Woah, I didn’t realize there was even one person on the planet willing to argue over any positive merits of the more recent Jedi and Alien installments. “Arguably” the Jedi and Alien franchises have fallen flat? These two in particular are bad enough that I’m surprised anyone carries raised expectations for any restoration of former glory.
When “Phantom” was released, people were so geared up that emotions caused them to overlook the omissions of basic filming standards, including:
-acting -compelling story -story-telling through cinematic artistry
Clone Wars was even worse. It was as though the people behind the movie were so into using the latest technology that they forgot what got them to the throne in the first place. I walked out of Clone Wars, it was that bad. Justin, I read you loud and clear: you’re buying a movie ticket for 2 hours of brain-candy. But if anybody out there thinks that the franchises are out to reclaim their former glory, then they are misguided. Studio execs are interested in exploiting popular movie franchises and derivatives for carrying a box-office weekend during the doldrums, in this case late-summer. I’m sure somebody showed up with a AvP screenplay and said, “we can make this for $15MM and it will clear $50MM after 3 weeks at box. Then we can tie-in a video game and go to DVD within 3 months for Holiday.” They probably pushed back production for a couple years and gave the green-light with operating expenses watched closely.
This is exactly what happens in the movie industry. In fact, the studios talk to retail before production starts because they want to gauge enthusiasm. Which means one thing — those great movies that you loved for the characters, raw power, touching moments (Blair Witch!) get transformed into garbage shlock.
It’s like watching your favorite artists from 2 decades ago go out on tour. They need the money. So they put together a bad version of their former selves so that fans can pay high-price concert tickets to relive the memories.
But it’s rarely great.
Agreed on some points..
Strangely, I seem to be the only one who kinda dug clone wars, and at least thought it was better than Phantom Menace. Same thing with Alien:Resurrection.. I thought much of it (especially the characters) was cool, But winona was out of place and the end was terrible. It felt a bit like I had to “excuse” stuff for both, and felt like I shouldn’t have to. That being said, I’m glad I got them, and I own them both, and have rewatched them both more than once.
Agreed, though. Like I said, F vs J was surprisingly better than much of its source material, Shrek 2 and Spider Man 2, X2, And many later bond films have been good.
I guess I kind of gained faith in the “Relaunch” strategy. You know, “Bride Of Chucky”, “Goldeneye”, Freddy/Jason, basically taking the old tired ideas and putting a fresh spin. I had hoped AVP would do this, but it failed.
Maybe I am in stark denial, dude. Could be I don’t want to face it, and embrace new ideas. For a long time I rejected things like Buffy and XFiles because they weren’t franchises I liked. Now I’m realizing what I was missing. COuld be its time to let some crops die (Possibly Alien, and after “Ep. 3”, Star Wars..) and some lie fallow for a few years… (Trek for 5 years, restarted with a new staff could be cool. A 5 year Bond rest like after Dalton) and maybe its time to embrace the new greats (Spider Man, Pirates, and darnit, where is my unnecessary sequel to independence day… oh well.. guess I’m a glutton for punishment.)
Star Wars
For me, it’s the horrendous mismanagement of the new Star Wars movies that have caused me the most amount of sorrow. Phantom Menace was so boring, and Clone Wars so astonishingly bad (saved ONLY by the fight scene between Yoda & Saruman… I mean, you know, that guy), that I find myself not expecting anything remotely good from Episode 3.
What Episodes 1 and 2 illustrate to me is simply how bad of a screenwriter and director George Lucas actually is. He’s an idea man – and an excellent one – but he needs to leave the details to other people. He passably directed the original Star Wars (New Hope), but Irwin Kirschner’s chiaroscuro treatment of Empire was infinitely superior (the final Vader/Luke showdown is a masterpiece of lighting and camera angles). Additionally, while Lucas created the storylines, the actual dialogue was left to Lawrence Kasdan, a master of dialogue who wrote, among other things, The Big Chill. Nothing in Episodes 1 and 2 can match the witty repartee between Han & Leia, reminiscent of a futuristic Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. In particular, the lovey-dovey dialogue between Anakin and Amidala in Episode 2 was some of the worst lines I’ve ever heard spoken on screen.
If George Lucas has a brain inside that giant, bearded head of his, it’s in his best interest to put his ego aside and turn the reins of Episode 3 over to people who actually know how to make films.
— Ben Schuman Mad, Mad Tenor
Hear, Hear!
Yes, this is true. While I liked many of the concepts in Eps 1 and 2, and especially liked the Big battle in Clones and the Lightsaber fight in Phantom, whenever the big action slowed down, it could sometimes be deadly.
You are also right about the Leia Han thing.. its too friendly now, no banter, and the banter that is there is substandard. BUT.. The ideas are still cool, so I still love it.. just.. kinda the way you love an old couch that is no longer pretty or fresh.. just comfy.
Leally Blonde 2
I really enjoyed Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, & Blonde, so I think I’ve ruled myself out of even commenting on this discussion due to incompetence in discerning a good movie from a bad one…
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Whatever happened to….
If I go back and watch Star Wars (the original one), I always seem to get caught up in it again and root for Luke, even though I know what’s gonna happen. Same thing in PCU, I can’t wait for P Funk to tear the roof off and for the frosh to get the girl.
I seriously doubt I’ll ever watch Clone Wars just to get to Yoda breaking bad. It was a great scene in a horrible movie.
I’m just hoping Natalie Portman breaks rank and gets naked in #3 to give me something to look forward to…oops, was that out loud?
Anyway, I can’t think of a movie since Sixth Sense I’ve seen that makes me want to watch it again and again. Maybe the original American Pie, which was hilarious, as was Me, Myself, and Irene. I’ve seen some good movies, but not many classics.
And what garbage was Matrix Revolutions? They take the George Lucas Special Effects Drivel award for that one.
My $.02 Weed