Think to yourself for a moment. Think back to the last film trailer you saw on television or on the internet, or even in the theater itself. Was the film a remake? A reboot? Based on a novel or video game? A sequel? Based on a film from another country? Chances are the film was at least one of those. The sad proof of the current state of the film industry.
Not to take people back in time for a history lesson, considering the fact that my history only stretches back to a mere 1991, but I don't ever seem to recall such a blatantly obvious lack of ideas from film studios and filmmakers as I have recently. Lack of creativity falls into two categories: the remake and the reboot.
Remake.
My most dreaded of film practices...the remake. The complete void of ideas. The black-hole where creativity goes, and is never heard from again. If it were up to me, remakes would be illegal. Well, let me rethink that. I can probably count on one hand all the remakes ever made that were greater than or equal to their predecessor. You've got The Crazies(2010), The Thing (1982), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Dawn of the Dead (2004)...? That's just from the top of my head. Now, if we were to name films where the original was better than its remake, we'd be here for days. Halloween (1978), Carrie (1976), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Shining (1980), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Lolita (1962), Out of the Past (1947), Psycho (1960)...the list goes on. And that's also from the top of my head. I think the reason that remakes anger me so much is because there are two types of remakes: 1.) The film was great during its time, but let's modernize it, and introduce it to a new audience, and 2.) The film was pretty okay, but I know that I can make it better than the people who made it originally...not only that, but a shitload of cash awaits us! Sadly, the kind of remakes made these days fall into the latter category. And don't even get me started on this ridiculous trend of American filmmakers and studios to take films made in other countries and remake them. This trend needs to die. It's so painfully absurd in some instances, considering the films that are being remade aren't even five years old. I don't know if it's the hope of making heavy bank off of another person's idea, or if it's just a cocky American attitude and belief that everything we make will be better than anything anyone else does, which is so far from the truth. In the Americanization of many Japanese horror films, the American filmmaker completely missed the point and subtlety of the horror, and completely ruins the film in an attempt to dumb it down for an American audience. And the remake trend shows no sign of stopping. Films soon to be remade include The Thing, Hellraiser, Poltergeist, Rosemary's Baby, Flash Gordon (are you fucking serious?), Last Tango in Paris, My Fair Lady, and Footloose just to name a few. I won't begin to tell you how blasphemous it is that Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Birds are also about to get the Hollywood remake treatment. But who can blame these saps? Why show any imagination or creativity when someone has already done all the work for us?
Reboot.
A reboot is when you look at a piece of fiction that has run its course, and you decide to discard all of it's previous continuity, and start it all over from the beginning. Brand new. New actors, new director, writers, the works. The reboot is not the void of all creativity, as a remake is. The reboot can be used to take a franchise in a different direction, either stylistically or otherwise. I'll talk straight with all of you: I hated reboots, I used to look down on them, deeming them as some sort of a ploy just to attract new fans to an old idea, as well as attempt to gain revenue on an overused idea. Typically, my critique is right on the money. I mean, just look at Friday the 13th (2009)...do I need to say any more? But, one director completely changed my mind on reboots. Some of you might be thinking, though Halloween (1978) was so much better than Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007), Zombie actually did quite well with the material...but, no. Rob Zombie isn't the director I'm thinking of. I'm thinking of Christopher Nolan, and what he's done with the Batman franchise. By injecting it with some realism, and masterful storytelling, Christopher Nolan has transformed the Batman franchise from an old and tired idea into a quite interesting and lucrative franchise. Nolan has proven that reboots can be done correctly, but that doesn't mean that we need dozens of reboots going on. Not all directors are visionary directors like Nolan. A franchise should never be rebooted unless there's something new, different, or exciting to do with it. Why reboot a franchise just to remake something old? I mean, what's with the A-Team? And The Karate Kid? Totally unnecessary films that were made simply for profit...no message to send, nothing new to say, just a rehash of an old idea that should have been left alone. Those are the kinds of reboots that just have no reason for release. More on the A-Team, I don't understand the logic of turning a television show into a film, when the cast of the show is too old to be involved or reprise their roles. I can completely understand a television series going off the air, but the fan-base still craving more. I mean, I've never seen them, but I can understand the Sex and the City films. And personally, I'm never giving up hope on an Arrested Development film. Those at least make sense. The characters are being played by their original actors, and original directors and writers are involved. It's the television show, just on a grander scale. But, when you turn an old television series that a lot of people never saw into a film with an all new cast playing characters that people somewhat remember, it just seems like the fountain of ideas is running dry. I mean, I know for a fact that I've never seen one episode of the A-Team. So, why do studios allow it? One word can sum it up, at least from the mind of the studio bosses: familiarity. People know these characters; they remember them. Maybe they even connected with them. So, studios think that if they reboot old franchises, possibly the people who loved it to begin with will still love it enough to see it again. Maybe even films they saw as kids, they'll bring their kids to see the reboot. And then that kid will bring their kid to the next reboot of the same franchise in twenty years, because trust me, the trend shows no sign of stopping, so it will happen. The studios know exactly what they're doing. Asses in the seats = money in their pockets.
Films based on novels, graphic novels, video games, etc. are usually hit and miss. It's a hit if the source material's integrity and story are kept intact, and not sacrificed for any reason. And it's a miss if Uwe Boll is at all involved. Now, some people are against many of those things being turned into films...I know for example, Alan Moore, very adverse to film versions of his graphic novels once said that if he wanted his material turned into films, he would have written screenplays instead of graphic novels. But, in my opinion, many of his graphic novels have been turned into pretty decent films: V for Vendetta, From Hell, Watchmen. I personally can't off the top of my head think of a film that was unbearable or horrible, while the source material it was based on stands head and shoulders above it. But, I do know that every single film I've seen that was based on a novel, as I'm leaving the theater, there is always at least one person audibly stating that the novel was better than the film before angrily making his way to the cinema parking lot.
I'd love to continue to complain over the current predicament filmmakers and studios find themselves in. But, considering the fact that seven out of the top ten box office draws this weekend were one of the aforementioned creativity lacking genres, I guess in actuality, the studios know what they're doing. People will still see these films. They can continue on this path sans imagination and ingenuity, and people will still line up to see the film in fucking droves. The sad fact is that the film industry is motivated by money over quality. They'd rather have the number one film at the box office than an Academy Award Best Picture nominee. Yet, for some reason the lack of creativity coming from these studios has been rewarded with our money.
So, in reality...
The problem isn't the film industry.
The problem is us.
And until we change, they sure as hell will not.
