Can a Sequel Equal or Surpass the Original?
May 31st 2008
Can a sequel equal or surpass the original?
That's a strong question that's been on my mind lately, not just because of the forthcoming Star Trek movie. This spring, I've spent a lot of time with the kids. We've seen a lot of new movies at the theaters (despite the $7 popcorn), including IRON MAN, PRINCE CASPIAN, SPEED RACER, INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL. We also watched NATIONAL TREASURE 2 on DVD and ALIEN VS PREDATOR: REQUIEM.
When watching IRON MAN and SPEED RACER, there's no real comparison. One's based on a comic book (and I suppose you could argue the animated series), and the other is clearly based on the animated series I loved as a child. And both of them were very entertaining. IRON MAN was better than SPEED RACER, but I thought both were excellent adaptations of the original.
PRINCE CASPIAN was a continuation of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, and to me, it was far better than THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. It wasn't so much of a sequel as much as the next chapter in the saga, much as the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy was.
Which brings me to INDY 4. *sigh* Folks, I loved RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. It's one of those movies I rate as PERFECT. Long-time contributor and friend Linda McInnis and I first saw the movie in Atlanta. It's PERFECT. Few, and I mean VERY few, movies rate a PERFECT from me. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK does. So does the first STAR WARS.
The second INDY movie, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, was a major disappointment to me. It was a very annoying movie, simply because of the weaknesses of the script and the characters. INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE was an absolute mess and a total disappointment to me. It was with much trepidation that I waited to see what they did with INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL, and I was again disappointed with the script and the characters. The dialogue looked totally forced, and the damn Roswell alien ship nonsense (that's a spoiler -- highlight it with your mouse, and it'll show, but don't do it unless you want to know the secret of the movie) just killed the movie for me. Ryan, our middle child, turned to us and said, "This is what the Hollywood Wackos really believe."
Funny thing was when we watched NATIONAL TREASURE 2, we realized it was basically the same story as INDY 4 but better acted, with more interesting characters and without the God-damned aliens to ruin it for us. So the idea of the sequel doesn't seem to be that bad. Unless of course, you watch AVP:REQUIEM. Ryan, always the most honest and outspoken, summed it up best: "Uh, Dad, this movie has no story or plot." He's right. Just aliens killing people you don't like or care about. *SIGH*
Which brings me to Star Trek. What I've seen has not been very encouraging. I know, I know, I keep saying to other fans, "Give it a chance." I'm trying, I really am. But I can't help but think this reboot (and that's what it is, let's be honest) has a lot to live up to.
Why they didn't just do a new series with a new crew and ship, I'll never know...
Randy
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