Should There Be A Sequel?

There have been a lot of sequels lately. This summer alone we have had, or are expecting, The Amazing Spiderman 2, 22 Jump Street, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and much more. Usually I like sequels; it's interesting to see movies expand their stories. But then again, there are sequels that are just unnecessary.

I understand that studios need to make money, and these sequels make more money than original ideas. But the people aren't just going to see any sequel to any movie that they liked. There are some great movies that should not have a sequel.

I think that there is a certain criteria that a movie should have for it to work. Here's a list of all the things that a sequel should have for it to even stand a chance of being good.

1. The movie before it should be recent. Recently there have been a few sequels to movies made decades ago. For example, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the fourth movie in the series was released nineteen years after the third one. In addition to that, we are expecting a sequel to Dumb and Dumber this November, and an Independence Day sequel (without Will Smith) will be released in 2016. There is even a sequel to The Goonies in the works, even though the children in it have grown now. It is not a smart idea to make these so late, because it would seem like these movies are selling out. Also, since these movies have been beloved for some time, audiences would be even more disappointed that it doesn't have the same feeling as the original.

2. The movie before it should open itself to sequels. What I mean by this is that the end of the previous movie shouldn't solve all problems without any chance of them returning. I do not mean that only movies with open endings should have sequels, but the sequel should be able to bring up other conflicts that would be believable. For example, if the bad guy or hero dies at the end of the movie, and he or she needs to be alive for the sequel, there should be a completely believable reason as to why he or she would be alive. Also, movies that were previously supposed to be the last in their franchises should not have another sequel (ex: Indiana Jones and the so-called Last Crusade).

3. It should not be the same story as before. Doing that is just stupid. Making the same movie, but with slight differences in it does not make a sequel (ex: The Hangover Part II). Besides, nobody would believe that the same thing would happen to these people twice.

4. It should have enough characters from the original. Some movie sequels, like the Independence Day sequel mentioned above, could not get some of  their predecessor's greatest actors to return. This may be OK in some cases, but if someone whose performance was the highlight of the movie does not return, then you may want to scrap the sequel idea. Unless you can find something to make up for his or her absence, or you find someone who you are absolutely sure can replace him.

5. It should be something people want to see. This is the most important and obvious one of them all. Realize that just because a film made a lot of money doesn't mean that people liked it and want a sequel.

Of course, even if something passes this criteria, that still does not guarantee that this sequel will be good. However, unless I'm forgetting something, this criteria would make sure that it's not just selling out.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trailer Review

I usually get annoyed when somebody says that a reboot ruins their childhood. Even if your childhood consisted entirely of watching TV, it's not going to change anything about the original shows you watched as a child. With that said, I really don't like the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailer that was released today.

I have never thought that a live action TMNT reboot would be a good idea. I remember when I first heard from a radio show that Michael Bay was making this film, and I thought "This movie is going to suck." This thought was confirmed only seconds later, when the stars said that Bay had already angered fans of the series by saying that the turtles would be aliens instead of mutant turtles (like it says in the damn title). From that point, as more details were revealed, the movie seemed to sink deeper into controversy, including the decision to cast Megan Fox as April O'Neil. This film, which Bay produced but did not direct, seemed doomed to fail.

The first trailer did not help, and neither did its very similar second trailer. Even though Bay said that they would no longer be aliens, movie fans, myself included, thought that this still looked stupid. The turtles' design was kind of disturbing, and Megan Fox was not a good enough actor to take on this role.

This third trailer also failed to make this look good.

I do not like the tone of this trailer. The original live action movies were better, because they were just fun, and didn't take themselves seriously. This one, while it's not gritty, I get the feeling that it's taking itself more seriously than a movie about talking ninja turtles should. Also, these CGI turtles do not look as good as the ones in costumes from the originals.

However, in spite of how much I hated this trailer, I have to admit it was still better than the first trailers. Simply because it appears to be more faithful to the turtles' characters. I also liked how at the end, when they admitted that having them be aliens was stupid. Even if the rest of the dialog in that scene was cheesy.

But honestly, this movie doesn't look like it's going to be very good. It might be better than it looks, but it is unlikely that it is going to be great. In the best case scenario, it'll just be a fun, stupid action movie with little plot. However, I think it will just suck.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Final Trailer Review

Last week, the final trailer for the movie Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was released on the internet. So, I'm going to present my thoughts on it.

First of all, if you want to see the trailer before I start talking about it, then... well here it is.

So, I thought that this trailer was very good, and it got me hyped up for the movie's release on July 11th. 

For those who haven't heard of this movie, it is the sequel to the 2011 surprise hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes. As the trailer implies, it focuses on the conflicts between man and apes, after man is nearly wiped out by the Simian Flu. Ceaser and the rest of the apes are trying to live in peace, but a large group of humans led by Gary Oldman feel so threatened by them, that they launch attacks on them. Of course, a war breaks out, and therefore we have this movie.

I really liked the feel of this trailer. The ape's special effects are as good as they were in the previous movie, and the filmmakers did a great job of presenting a post-apocalyptic San Francisco. There is a feeling of tension throughout the trailer. The trailer made me believe that the humans were the bad guys in this movie, and made me want to root for the apes. I have to give the movie credit for that, because it's not easy for a movie to make you want the human race to lose.

Overall, this trailer made me really want to see the movie and see what happens. Actually, being familiar with the original movie, I think I already know what happens. The apes become fully superior to man. However, I am interested in learning how they get to that point. Rise of the Planet of the Apes went against my plot expectations from the commercials, so this may be more complex than "apes won the war." This trailer also opens up more questions. After the war, what happens to the man who Caesar appears to have befriended? One of the apes tells Ceasar that he sympathizes with humans too much. Does he end up showing them mercy? Will the other apes be angry at him for that? I can't wait to see what happens.

So, in conclusion, this trailer was very good. It made me eager to watch it, and I hope that it's as good as the first one.

I would also like to point out that this is my first blog. I am thinking of making blogs for as long as I can. So if you want to see more you can follow Jay the Movie Guy.