Reboots: Plaguing the Movie Industry
Nostalgia is a funny thing, isn’t it? That weird feeling, we get when we watch something that we remember from earlier times. Nostalgia isn’t a bad thing; it means that those beloved episodes of Mighty Morphing Power Rangers won’t fade into the blackness of time. A recent trend has been really hitting on that nostalgia, and it’s not necessarily a good thing. It isn’t a secret; Hollywood has been pumping out a steady stream of reboots, like the aforementioned Power Rangers or the Terminator films of the 80s. The film industry is pulling from a vast array of old properties and adapting them for the modern world. The question remains: Is this a something that should be encouraged?
On the one hand reboots are great. A lot of these franchises are loved by millions and to get another addition to it would be much appreciated by many. Some of the best movies are reboots, if you think about it. Take the Dark Knight Trilogy, which is technically a reboot of early Batman movies. It is another take on the “Batman Franchise”, which has been seen in film many times. It took the core qualities of the character of Batman, but creates an entire new and original property. On the other hand, you have reboots like the “Amazing Spiderman”. After the success of the first, and very good, Sam Raimi Spiderman movies, Sony decided to reboot the franchise with Andrew Garfield, and we all know how that went.
The problem with reboots is that they need to be done for the right motivations. It was very obvious that the Dark Knight Trilogy was a passion project for all involved. Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, and Warner Brothers wanted to make the definitive Batman for a generation and they did, but the wrong motivations will kill a franchise. Now we are seeing reboots that are being created, because the studios know that they are a essentially a cash cow. The logic is to take an old and loved franchise. Fans of the franchise will flock to the theatre to see it, and the studio will make hundreds of millions of dollars. In many cases, quality isn’t the top priority, which will lead to obvious problems
My question is: What’s safe? A bad reboot can tarnish the memory of a quality franchise, but there are a lot of classic franchises and films that could be potential targets. Does this mean that no property is safe? is there going to be a reboot of “The Godfather”? Are we going to be seeing another Harry Potter soon? Some movies are just sacred. They are masterpieces that can never be replicated, nor should they be. Reboots for characters like Batman and Spiderman are unavoidable, because they are cultural icons. But they need to be treated with some respect. Don’t tarnish these characters.