Plus 莽a change and playing it safe
By Lynne Bell
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听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淧lus 莽a change鈥� is a French phrase that simply means the more things change, the more they stay the same. It's often uttered with world-weary resignation and mostly implies that the change in question is merely a superficial one. And this judgement certainly applies to many of Hollywood's recent- and decidedly non-risky- filmmaking efforts.
听听听听听听听听听听听 When Kelly came to me with the idea of discussing original versus revamped and/or rebooted听 content, we quickly came to the conclusion that reviewing and revisiting the idea of originals versus remakes is really a matter of personal opinion and is best done on a case by case basis. That is, not all originals are the best version of a film and not all remakes are a pale imitation of the original.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Although original content-and remakes of existing material- is currently created with great success by Netflix, Hulu and other streaming services; Hollywood has been slow to catch up and studios are often accused of playing it safe. Calling films 鈥渇ranchises鈥� and/or having a number attached to the end of a movie's title does little-if anything- to dispel this notion.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Studios often rely on their back catalogues in order to create a seemingly endless stream of sequels that run that gamut from horror films to kids' movies. And of course, movies are also made by听 adapting content gleaned from books-fiction and non-fiction, stories, comics, TV shows, and even video games.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Aside from the ingrained assumption that working with the tried-and-true is a safer box office bet than taking a flyer on an unknown idea, are remakes-or films sourced from existing material automatically viewed as inferior by audiences and critics? Are Hollywood's conservative investments in filmmaking producing entertainment that both critics and audiences love to hate?
听听听听听听听听听听听 Well, that depends.
听听听听听听听听听听听 There's really no way to quantify this question, but a few years ago, the website Metacritic.com gave it a pretty good shot. The website analyzed five years of data for wide-release, mainstream films that debuted during the first part of this decade, statistically measuring both audience and critical responses. The survey measured responses to movies based on entirely original material versus films that were created with existing works in mind. (And of course, I'm simplifying a lot of the data for the sake of space...)
听听听听听听听听听听听 In spite of complaints by moviegoers about watered-down sequels and bad remakes, both the majority of film fans-and surprise, surprise-most of the critics surveyed preferred movies made with recycled material in mind. The race was close, but still...
听听听听听听听听听听听 However, we all know that our individual responses to anything-but especially to an art form such as film-are as unique as we are. Your clunker might be my classic, and vice-versa.
听听听听听听听听听听听 And statistics or not, that's another thing that proves plus 莽a change.
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What happened to original?
By Kelly Running
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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It鈥檚 something that seems to plague me when I go to watch a new movie or a new television show: remakes. I say plague because although the film or show can still be good, you sit there wondering if Hollywood has any original ideas left or if remakes and reboots are all that鈥檚 left for them. I sit there watching and feel as though I鈥檝e seen it before somewhere.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The other weekend I went and watched the new Ghostbusters movie. Back in the day we had the cassette tape of the soundtrack and my sister and I had the theme song memorized. So, of course I was excited that they played the original theme song in the new version of the movie; but, despite liking the new one, it was pretty funny, it didn鈥檛 compare to the original.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Why couldn鈥檛 it though? Because there鈥檚 a certain amount of nostalgia when you watch or do something from your childhood that just simply makes it better. When I was little I was a huge Power Rangers fan and they put out a movie when I was probably about six-years-old, I loved it. We got it on VHS and I鈥檇 watch it as much as I could. Last year I came across the movie on DVD and was stoked, so of course I purchased it and watched it immediately. The special effects were terrible鈥� and yet I loved it. I loved it when I was a kid and that nostalgia meant that as an adult, as 鈥�90s as the special effects were, I still loved it.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 They鈥檙e making a new movie based on the original Power Rangers TV show coming out in the next year or so and although I鈥檒l watch it, I already know it won鈥檛 compare to my six-year-old excitement for the original.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Looking at movie lineups, however, I鈥檓 convinced original ideas no longer exist in the film industry. We鈥檝e got prequels being made for movies from the 鈥�80s, we鈥檝e got remakes like Jumanji coming out, and then a bunch of superhero movies which have been remade, rebooted, and rebooted again 鈥� think Spiderman.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The only time I鈥檝e been happy with any of these was when they decided to put out Scream 4. Scream was the first scary movie I watched and I would have been fairly young, but I really liked it. Not for all the killing, but for the humour that was in it for the way they made fun of scary movies in a scary movie. The scary movie rules applied and the main protagonist was a young girl who kicked butt. I watched all three that were made prior to 2000 and after they were all out on VHS, we watched them every summer in a Scream marathon.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So, of course we were excited for the fourth installation to come out a few years ago. It wasn鈥檛 a remake, nor was it a reboot, it was a continuation of these characters that we had followed, just 10 years later. Whoever wrote and directed Scream 4 did a fantastic job though because it brought that nostalgia of when we first watched them together and the following summer marathons up. They had so many little things mirrored in the new film which were straight out of the originals, but warped in a fun house mirror because although familiar, it was different. It was really very well done.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Ultimately though, I just want some original content. I can only watch so many reboots of things, like Spiderman: Toby Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and now Tom Holland. Do something that hasn鈥檛 been done before Hollywood!
