Missing presumed dead: have you seen this man?
Answers to the name of Freddy Krueger. Recognisable by his scarred face, stripy jumper and blade encrusted glove. In 1984 was considered a scary serial killer but has since mysteriously disappeared and been replaced with a desperately poor imitation.
Horror fans across the globe would be grateful for Freddy’s immediate return.
Sadly, poor Freddy Krueger is one of the many victims of a deadly plague sweeping the world of cinema. Death by sequel is a nasty way to go.
From Spider Man to The Matrix, from Men in Black to Halloween, the rise of the sequel is a trend which is getting scarily out of control. One only needs to take a look at the key cinematic releases for the next three years to see the mindboggling number of sequels which are lurking in the wings, waiting to be unleashed on a not always willing film going public. There seems to be a distinct lack of understanding when it comes to knowing what cinema viewers want, with studio bosses under the delusion that we want yet another stale installment of Friday the 13th.
Of course, no one is claiming that a sequel is always a bad thing. Some of the greatest cinematic achievements of all time have been a series of films like Star Wars, The Godfather and Alien. These films were all so brilliant that they cried out for a another film to continue the story. But somehow the sequel has become an expectation rather than a rarity bestowed on only the most worthy films. Seeing terrible and completely unnecessary sequels is becoming an all too familiar event.
The fundamental problem facing a sequel is the need to up the ante on the original. A sequel needs to be bigger, better and more spectacular. There needs to be more violence, more action, a higher body count and even more outlandish set pieces. The sequels of the past work so perfectly because they were working on films which in retrospect were surprisingly low key. Apart from the famous ‘chest bursting’ sequence, Alien is actually not the action packed film many believe it to be. So when all hell broke loose in the thrilling Aliens, the audience was amazed and excited as the series had attained a new height of enjoyment. The sight of Ripley battling the alien with ludicrously huge weapons was effective as it did not happen in the first film.
However, when it comes to the modern day sequel, there often isn’t an ante to be upped as the whole bag of tricks was used up in film one. The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is an unfortunate testimony to this. The first film was a swashbuckling romp of fun and enjoyment, where Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Jack Sparrow was nothing short of genius. Fast-forward to two dull films later, and the action has been cranked up to the point of lunacy, with Sparrow now an irritating caricature who makes the audience want to slap him rather than adore him, and yet still the ghost of Sparrow lives on with a forth film due out next summer. Any film where an actor of Orlando Bloom’s calibre has jumped ship warrants deep caution indeed.
It is perhaps for this reason that the horror genre has become the biggest victim of ‘death by sequel’. Who cares about a good script or decent acting when all that is required is monumental amounts of blood and a body count running into double figures? Well, anyone who has sat through Freddy vs. Jason can attest to the fact that it is a problem. The horror film can be revved up to extraordinary levels as the very nature of the genre requires a certain suspension of disbelief, but the real shame is that as Freddy, Michael and Jason continue to charge through cinema on their eternal rampage of bloody death, any effectiveness they once possessed has long since died alongside their many victims. It’s hard to believe that back in 1978, Michael Myers was the epitome of evil who terrified cinema goers throughout the land. After countless tired sequels you cannot help but wish he had actually died the first time Dr. Loomis shot him.
If so many sequels are both bad and unnecessary, why do studios keep churning them out at a relentless rate? It seems that the worthiness of a sequel is now determined by money rather than whether the film actually warrants further viewing. Any film that makes a significant amount of money is now green-lighted a sequel, whether the audience wants it or not. Two of this summer’s blockbusters, Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia, already have sequels in pre-production, despite extremely lacklustre reviews from critics. But the release of a sequel means yet another slew of lunchboxes, figurines, t-shirts and anything that can be branded will hit the shops. It is money rather than quality which determines the sequel; the creation of a franchise, however poor, is big business.
Of course it is far too cut and dry to declare that all sequels are bad news. We only need to look at the quality of this year’s highest grossing film to date, Toy Story 3, to see that a sequel can be brilliant. But this sequel worked because there was still life in the characters and a genuine desire from the audience to see what happened next to Woody and Buzz. Is there honestly anyone left on earth that cares as to what Jack Sparrow will do next? Swagger a bit, slur his words, get slapped by the girls in Tortuga – basically exactly what he’s already done three times already.
The sequel, prequel, franchise and series is not always cause for alarm, but it is rapidly spiralling out of control and resulting in increasingly lazy and lacklustre films. For every Godfather Part II there is a Spider-Man 3, and more beyond. It is with a mixture of fear and trepidation that we await the sequels to Kick Ass and The Hangover, great films that run the risk of being the next victims of the cinematic parasite that long ago killed Jason, Freddy and Michael. Let us hope that the producers are thinking along the lines of Toy Story 3 and aiming for quality rather than quantity; in 10 years time none of us want to be reviewing Avatar Part 12: The 3rd Generation.
Written by Natalie Holmes
