I've been noticing an encouraging trend in a lot of Hollywood movies lately. Lately, a lot of Hollywood producers have been making movies--and by movies I mean big-budget action-adventure extravaganzas as opposed to quiet little Woody-Allenesque art house affairs--knowing fully well that their content might not necessarily be appealing to mainstream American audiences.
A good example is the third installment of The Chronicles of Narnia, namely The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which was shot and released despite disappointing box-office take of the second installment, Prince Caspian, in the United States. The global haul of Caspian, however, was significantly bigger than the U.S. grosses, so putting two and two together it seems that whatever they might lose in the U.S., the Narnia producers were confident they could make it back in the rest of the world. Sure the original studio of the film, Disney, dropped it, but Fox picked it up and managed to make a little money in the bargain.
Another example is Tintin, which for years has been one of the world's most beloved comic-book properties but remains relatively obscure to American readers. That fact that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson gambling over a Hundred and Thirty Million dollars (about fifty million more if one includes marketing costs) to see if Tintin will take off tells me they aren't just after American audiences, who have been largely indifferent to the character for years; they're eyeing the wallets of everyone else around the world who has been devouring Tintin's adventures for nearly six decades.
They're looking at the people who paid $1.9 billion to watch James Cameron's Avatar, and who paid three-quarters of a billion dollars to see the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie which, if one goes strictly by its earnings in the United States and Canada alone, was actually a box-office failure. In short, they're looking at the rest of the world.
So are the people who made the recent Captain America, judging by the addition of the phrase "The First Avenger" to the title. It makes good business sense, too; these days most blockbusters make the majority of their worldwide grosses outside the United States, and in fact all three of the latest movies bearing the Marvel logo, Thor, X-Men: First Class and Captain America: The First Avenger, made most of their total grosses outside of the United States.
The nice thing about this trend, and the reason I find it worth writing about, is that down the line it could open the door for more cultural diversity in Hollywood products. The thought that Hollywood execs may one day make movies while bearing in mind how well they may sell in Asia, or Latin America could mean we could see less of the blatant white-washing painfully evident in recent movies like The Last Airbender and 21. Heck, considering how many Asian films are being plundered by Hollywood for remakes, it's not too far-fetched to imagine Hollywood using actual Asian stars for Asian-themed movies down the line, who knows? Sure, it seems fanciful now, but I'm sure there was a time when idea of an African-American actor like Will Smith being the biggest box-office star in the world was unthinkable too.
The world is getting smaller and smaller, even to Hollywood's accountants...
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
10 Film Franchises That Should End
There's been talk lately of reviving the Ghostbusters franchise. Personally, I think it's a bad idea; after the second movie killed any momentum the first one generated, they're really just better off letting sleeping dogs lie.
Ghostbusters, however, isn't the only film franchise that, in my opinion, should be made to give up the ghost, as it were. I have my own list of film franchises that have been around too long for their own good, and the collective good of the viewing public as well. Here they are, in the order of what I feel to be least obvious candidates to the most obvious:
10. The Toy Story series - financially there is no argument to be made for closing this series down, but creatively, it strikes me that they really don't have any place else left to go. The third film was actually a reiteration of the metaphor for fear of one's own demise that was explored in the second film, and fortunately for John Lasseter and his cohorts they were able to get lightning to strike twice. This series stands as the perfect trilogy and can stand the test of time along with such other films as the Lord of the Rings movies and the original Star Wars trilogy. Besides, the debacle that Cars 2 turned out to be should teach them what can happen by tacking on unnecessary sequels. If they want to create more sequels, they should make one for The Incredibles.
9. The Hulk series - It actually pains me to say this because I think that with the right budget, director, writer(s) and cast, a truly incredible Hulk movie is possible, but the reality of the matter is that this franchise has had its shot in the spotlight, first with a huge budget for an angsty, introspective movie by a then-Academy-Award-nominated director, then later with another huge budget for a flat-out action film starring Edward Norton, arguably the best possible actor as Hulk's alter-ego, Bruce Banner, with an overcaffeinated Frenchman at the reins this time who was not shy about pouring on the violence. Both times, and despite both approaches, the movie failed to earn a whole lot more than a quarter of a billion dollars at the worldwide box-office, not such a bad figure for a teeny tiny little art house movie, but not good news for a would be tentpole franchise. It's good to know he'll have a prominent role in next year's Avengers movie but it's just as well that Marvel spends Disney's money on launching some of its other characters. Besides, Marvel appears to have finally figured out that the Hulk, outside of the comics, has achieved the most success on the small screen, and it is there that he's headed, under the eye of no less than Guillermo del Toro.
8. The Indiana Jones series - It's bad enough that George Lucas had to piss away an unconscionable amount of goodwill from the original Star Wars trilogy with his generally piss-poor prequels, something he continues to do by altering the actual dialogue of the original films as he puts them on new home video formats (with Darth Vader now uttering a superfluous 'nooooo' as he hurls Emperor Palpatine to his death in Return of the Jedi), but he had to add insult to injury by tacking on a wholly unnecessary film to the Indiana Jones series despite the fact that the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had a perfect ending for the entire series. The last movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, left such a foul taste in people's mouths that even one of its stars, Shia LaBeouf reportedly badmouthed the film years after its release. Given that Harrison Ford will be 70 years old next year (though Sean Connery starred in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at 73), and given further that I'm pretty sure nobody wants to see Shia LaBeouf (or anyone else for that matter) wearing that old fedora, I think they should really just let the franchise keep whatever respectability it has left and let it be. Of course, given that the last film still managed to eke out three quarters of a billion dollars at the worldwide box office there might be other concerns at work, but to my mind, neither Lucas nor Spielberg really needs the money so really, they should just move on to newer, better things.
7. The Mummy series - while I doubt the first Mummy movie in 1999 will ever be regarded as a classic, it arguably had its own charm as an unpretentious, throwaway action movie. The second movie, with its guffaw-inducing CGI punctuated by a hideously awful "Scorpion King" creature should have sounded the death knells of the franchise but with an increase in the movie's global box-office no one was about to worry themselves over such piddling concerns as quality filmmaking. After all, the series was making money. Considering that the third film in the series, released three years ago, made less than half of what 2001's The Mummy Returns made in the United States, even less when one factors in inflation, the writing should be on the wall for the makers of this franchise, even though they clearly left the door open for more films. Knowing when to quit never was one of Hollywood's virtues. Speaking of which...
6. The Bourne series - like the Toy Story films, the Jason Bourne films were a perfect trilogy. For all their flaws they were all very well tied together from a narrative perspective, and each film, even upon a second or third viewing, can stand very well on its own. The best thing is that the third film, while it could arguably lead to some sort of sequel, ends on a pitch-perfect note, with the lead character's arc ending in a highly satisfying, conclusive way. I have heard that there is currently a movie being filmed which will continue the franchise, using the "Bourne" name, without the Bourne character of Matt Damon, and to my mind that cheapens the entire franchise, exposing it as nothing more than a moneymaking venture rather than an actual storytelling endeavor. I could actually live with the continuation of the story of the shadowy CIA blackops unit and its strangely conditioned uber-assassins, but the fact that the producers, to make money, feel the need to tack "Bourne" onto a movie that doesn't even have Jason Bourne in it goes to show that they're not interested in creating compelling narrative but in filling their coffers. It's almost as bad as if someone called a movie The Karate Kid even though the film itself was about Kung Fu...oh wait...
5. The Ice Age series - As awful as the last two Shrek movies were, I'll give the makers credit for knowing when to quit (although there's a Puss in Boots spinoff on the way). Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the folks who make the Ice Age films. This series, about a mammoth who hangs out with a sloth and a saber-toothed tiger, lost its charm about halfway through the second film. The fact that these three animals get along is basically a joke that was good for one movie but which has been stretched out across three, and the fact that the third film, through some ridiculous plot contrivance, managed to feature dinosaurs, really goes to show that the makers of this series are pretty much running on empty...or, to use a pun related to the films, on thin ice.
4. The Terminator series - this series should have ended when James Cameron's involvement did. The second Terminator film was a virtually perfect film; just the right amount of action and character development, and proper, judicious use of CGI before it became all the rage. Granted, the acting wasn't great, but sometimes, as in movies like the first Matrix movie (another franchise that should be left alone), sure-handed direction can transcend shoddy acting. Most importantly of all, T2, like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, had the perfect ending, which conclusively wrapped all story threads up with some real emotional resonance. The third and fourth movies in the series, as well as the TV spinoff served no purpose other than to line the pockets of the people who made them, and the fact that both these films suffered visibly diminishing returns should tell these suits that it's time to finally leave John Connor to his blissfully uncertain future.
3. The Final Destination series - the first Final Destination movie had an interesting premise about cheating death and what consequences this would have, and as with all good things, Hollywood milked it for all it was worth, with the latest film in the series of five films grossing significantly less than the last one. The makers of the Saw movies appear to have finally called it a day, so maybe it's time these people took a hint too and started thinking of some other scary thing with which to terrify audiences.
2. The Spy Kids series - I hate these movies; they all look the same to me. Not only that, but Robert Rodriguez pioneered this new 3-D craze back in 2003. These movies made money for a while, but considering that the original "spy kids" of the first film, Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega, are now adults, and that the latest installment has tanked at the box office, maybe it's time Rodriguez started looking at making that long-delayed sequel to Sin City instead, if not something altogether different.
1. The Punisher series - at the outset I want it clear that this movie is not on the top (or bottom) of this list because there have been three Punisher films, all of them bombs. I don't count the 1989 dog turd starring Dolph Lundgren because it was made at a more desperate time for Marvel and means about as much to their filmed canon as Roger Corman's 1994 Fantastic Four movie or Albert Pyun's 1990 Captain America movie. The films made in 2004 and 2008, particularly the latter, are not quite as forgivable, considering they were made around the same time, respectively, as Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man. By then, Marvel had the resources and respectability to get the best possible filmmakers on this project, but ended up getting the scriptwriter for a Die Hard sequel to direct the first one and a woman whose previous claim to fame was apparently a film glorifying thuggish British football players to direct the second one. The painful irony of this, and in fact the main reason why this series is foremost among the series I feel should end, is that the second film, which I watched on a bus, actually hewed very closely to Punisher writer Garth Ennis's brand of storytelling, with its hyper violence and black humor. Irish actor Ray Stevenson even looked the part, managing to resemble both the Punisher who appeared on Tim Bradstreet's painted covers and artist Steve Dillon's almost permanently scowling vigilante. The makers of Punisher War Zone, in short, can actually claim to have made a movie quite faithful to the source material, but what they came up with was something almost unpalatable if morbidly funny in some sequences. Perhaps this just goes to show that the Punisher simply doesn't translate to the big screen very well at all, and that he's probably better off slaughtering mobsters in the comic books, where he can continue to do so without having to worry about squeamish movie audiences or review boards.
There are a lot of other franchises out there that deserve to be nipped in the bud (with films like The Last Airbender making a darned good argument for keeping the original series on which the film was based animated, and on the small screen) or discontinued (why on earth should there be a prequel to 300 that doesn't actually involve the 300 Spartans?), but to me these are the films that make a particularly compelling case for the conclusion of their story for the reasons already discussed.
Ghostbusters, however, isn't the only film franchise that, in my opinion, should be made to give up the ghost, as it were. I have my own list of film franchises that have been around too long for their own good, and the collective good of the viewing public as well. Here they are, in the order of what I feel to be least obvious candidates to the most obvious:
10. The Toy Story series - financially there is no argument to be made for closing this series down, but creatively, it strikes me that they really don't have any place else left to go. The third film was actually a reiteration of the metaphor for fear of one's own demise that was explored in the second film, and fortunately for John Lasseter and his cohorts they were able to get lightning to strike twice. This series stands as the perfect trilogy and can stand the test of time along with such other films as the Lord of the Rings movies and the original Star Wars trilogy. Besides, the debacle that Cars 2 turned out to be should teach them what can happen by tacking on unnecessary sequels. If they want to create more sequels, they should make one for The Incredibles.
9. The Hulk series - It actually pains me to say this because I think that with the right budget, director, writer(s) and cast, a truly incredible Hulk movie is possible, but the reality of the matter is that this franchise has had its shot in the spotlight, first with a huge budget for an angsty, introspective movie by a then-Academy-Award-nominated director, then later with another huge budget for a flat-out action film starring Edward Norton, arguably the best possible actor as Hulk's alter-ego, Bruce Banner, with an overcaffeinated Frenchman at the reins this time who was not shy about pouring on the violence. Both times, and despite both approaches, the movie failed to earn a whole lot more than a quarter of a billion dollars at the worldwide box-office, not such a bad figure for a teeny tiny little art house movie, but not good news for a would be tentpole franchise. It's good to know he'll have a prominent role in next year's Avengers movie but it's just as well that Marvel spends Disney's money on launching some of its other characters. Besides, Marvel appears to have finally figured out that the Hulk, outside of the comics, has achieved the most success on the small screen, and it is there that he's headed, under the eye of no less than Guillermo del Toro.
8. The Indiana Jones series - It's bad enough that George Lucas had to piss away an unconscionable amount of goodwill from the original Star Wars trilogy with his generally piss-poor prequels, something he continues to do by altering the actual dialogue of the original films as he puts them on new home video formats (with Darth Vader now uttering a superfluous 'nooooo' as he hurls Emperor Palpatine to his death in Return of the Jedi), but he had to add insult to injury by tacking on a wholly unnecessary film to the Indiana Jones series despite the fact that the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had a perfect ending for the entire series. The last movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, left such a foul taste in people's mouths that even one of its stars, Shia LaBeouf reportedly badmouthed the film years after its release. Given that Harrison Ford will be 70 years old next year (though Sean Connery starred in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at 73), and given further that I'm pretty sure nobody wants to see Shia LaBeouf (or anyone else for that matter) wearing that old fedora, I think they should really just let the franchise keep whatever respectability it has left and let it be. Of course, given that the last film still managed to eke out three quarters of a billion dollars at the worldwide box office there might be other concerns at work, but to my mind, neither Lucas nor Spielberg really needs the money so really, they should just move on to newer, better things.
7. The Mummy series - while I doubt the first Mummy movie in 1999 will ever be regarded as a classic, it arguably had its own charm as an unpretentious, throwaway action movie. The second movie, with its guffaw-inducing CGI punctuated by a hideously awful "Scorpion King" creature should have sounded the death knells of the franchise but with an increase in the movie's global box-office no one was about to worry themselves over such piddling concerns as quality filmmaking. After all, the series was making money. Considering that the third film in the series, released three years ago, made less than half of what 2001's The Mummy Returns made in the United States, even less when one factors in inflation, the writing should be on the wall for the makers of this franchise, even though they clearly left the door open for more films. Knowing when to quit never was one of Hollywood's virtues. Speaking of which...
6. The Bourne series - like the Toy Story films, the Jason Bourne films were a perfect trilogy. For all their flaws they were all very well tied together from a narrative perspective, and each film, even upon a second or third viewing, can stand very well on its own. The best thing is that the third film, while it could arguably lead to some sort of sequel, ends on a pitch-perfect note, with the lead character's arc ending in a highly satisfying, conclusive way. I have heard that there is currently a movie being filmed which will continue the franchise, using the "Bourne" name, without the Bourne character of Matt Damon, and to my mind that cheapens the entire franchise, exposing it as nothing more than a moneymaking venture rather than an actual storytelling endeavor. I could actually live with the continuation of the story of the shadowy CIA blackops unit and its strangely conditioned uber-assassins, but the fact that the producers, to make money, feel the need to tack "Bourne" onto a movie that doesn't even have Jason Bourne in it goes to show that they're not interested in creating compelling narrative but in filling their coffers. It's almost as bad as if someone called a movie The Karate Kid even though the film itself was about Kung Fu...oh wait...
5. The Ice Age series - As awful as the last two Shrek movies were, I'll give the makers credit for knowing when to quit (although there's a Puss in Boots spinoff on the way). Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the folks who make the Ice Age films. This series, about a mammoth who hangs out with a sloth and a saber-toothed tiger, lost its charm about halfway through the second film. The fact that these three animals get along is basically a joke that was good for one movie but which has been stretched out across three, and the fact that the third film, through some ridiculous plot contrivance, managed to feature dinosaurs, really goes to show that the makers of this series are pretty much running on empty...or, to use a pun related to the films, on thin ice.
4. The Terminator series - this series should have ended when James Cameron's involvement did. The second Terminator film was a virtually perfect film; just the right amount of action and character development, and proper, judicious use of CGI before it became all the rage. Granted, the acting wasn't great, but sometimes, as in movies like the first Matrix movie (another franchise that should be left alone), sure-handed direction can transcend shoddy acting. Most importantly of all, T2, like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, had the perfect ending, which conclusively wrapped all story threads up with some real emotional resonance. The third and fourth movies in the series, as well as the TV spinoff served no purpose other than to line the pockets of the people who made them, and the fact that both these films suffered visibly diminishing returns should tell these suits that it's time to finally leave John Connor to his blissfully uncertain future.
3. The Final Destination series - the first Final Destination movie had an interesting premise about cheating death and what consequences this would have, and as with all good things, Hollywood milked it for all it was worth, with the latest film in the series of five films grossing significantly less than the last one. The makers of the Saw movies appear to have finally called it a day, so maybe it's time these people took a hint too and started thinking of some other scary thing with which to terrify audiences.
2. The Spy Kids series - I hate these movies; they all look the same to me. Not only that, but Robert Rodriguez pioneered this new 3-D craze back in 2003. These movies made money for a while, but considering that the original "spy kids" of the first film, Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega, are now adults, and that the latest installment has tanked at the box office, maybe it's time Rodriguez started looking at making that long-delayed sequel to Sin City instead, if not something altogether different.
1. The Punisher series - at the outset I want it clear that this movie is not on the top (or bottom) of this list because there have been three Punisher films, all of them bombs. I don't count the 1989 dog turd starring Dolph Lundgren because it was made at a more desperate time for Marvel and means about as much to their filmed canon as Roger Corman's 1994 Fantastic Four movie or Albert Pyun's 1990 Captain America movie. The films made in 2004 and 2008, particularly the latter, are not quite as forgivable, considering they were made around the same time, respectively, as Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man. By then, Marvel had the resources and respectability to get the best possible filmmakers on this project, but ended up getting the scriptwriter for a Die Hard sequel to direct the first one and a woman whose previous claim to fame was apparently a film glorifying thuggish British football players to direct the second one. The painful irony of this, and in fact the main reason why this series is foremost among the series I feel should end, is that the second film, which I watched on a bus, actually hewed very closely to Punisher writer Garth Ennis's brand of storytelling, with its hyper violence and black humor. Irish actor Ray Stevenson even looked the part, managing to resemble both the Punisher who appeared on Tim Bradstreet's painted covers and artist Steve Dillon's almost permanently scowling vigilante. The makers of Punisher War Zone, in short, can actually claim to have made a movie quite faithful to the source material, but what they came up with was something almost unpalatable if morbidly funny in some sequences. Perhaps this just goes to show that the Punisher simply doesn't translate to the big screen very well at all, and that he's probably better off slaughtering mobsters in the comic books, where he can continue to do so without having to worry about squeamish movie audiences or review boards.
There are a lot of other franchises out there that deserve to be nipped in the bud (with films like The Last Airbender making a darned good argument for keeping the original series on which the film was based animated, and on the small screen) or discontinued (why on earth should there be a prequel to 300 that doesn't actually involve the 300 Spartans?), but to me these are the films that make a particularly compelling case for the conclusion of their story for the reasons already discussed.
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