THE SEMINOLE TIMES

THE SEMINOLE TIMES

THE SEMINOLE TIMES

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PLEASE: NO MORE SEQUELS!

The summer movie season is in full swing, but it seems that most of the films in theaters are less than original. They are the dreaded sequels. Anytime a movie makes a decent amount of money, filmmakers feel the need to create a continuation that is usually worse than the original.

Occasionally, there’s a sequel that is just as innovative and exciting as the movie that preceded it. For example, The Dark Knight reached even higher acclaim than the preceding Batman Begins. Usually, these movies were planned as a series from the beginning, so the writers created the movie with the intention of another film following it in the future. However, sequels are usually the result of a film studio scrambling to create a continuation of a movie that was successful in the past in order to make some more cash.

This year, unfortunately, is no exception to the sequel curse. Some of the sequels that came out or will come out in 2011 are Cars 2, The Hangover Part 2, Paranormal Activity 3, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Final Destination 5 and Saw 6 will also be coming out soon, showing just how far overextensions of horror franchises can go.

Sequels are likely to earn more money because fans of the original film will want to see the next one regardless of bad reviews. It seems that Hollywood would rather continue an already successful movie which is likely to earn a fair amount of money than produce original screenplays. Screenplay writers are now reduced to rehashing already existing plots and characters rather than creating something of their own. By creating a sequel, there is already a guaranteed fan base, so film studios can capitalize on the success of a movie by continuing the series until they are not making enough money.

The truth is that sequels are rarely as entertaining as the original. The audience already has an understanding of the characters and their interactions, and in certain cases, such as The Hangover 2, the sequel will just be the exact same plot in a different location. Sadly, film studios will continue to create these sequels as long as people are watching them. I would much rather prefer to see a well-written original movie with new characters and storylines rather than another Transformers, but we will most likely be stuck with sequels for a while.