So... Sequels

Alright, I'm getting really tired of this..

Some times, a movie should just remain a movie. Not every plots needs a follow up. Some times, where the last film left off is perfect, and you walk away with just the right feeling

Unfortunately, Hollywood doesn't see it this way.

As far as Hollywood is concerned, whatever made money last time should work just as well when there's a higher number stuck on the end of the title. I feel like the horror genre suffers most greatly from this.

I've already talked about the Saw movies and how those sequels could've been handled much better.

There weren't enough severed limbs in the first movie.

But this is far from being a rare case. Let's take one that's happening right now.

You've all seen Paranormal Activity right? Now, I've got nothing against this movie. I loved it. I'm a fan of Blair Witch inspired, found footage movies. The movie works by showing you so little. You never actually see the demon, it's never even established that what the thing is is, in fact, a demon. All of that mystery makes the movie work really well.

Well, since the first was such a commercial success, they just had to make a sequel. Like any sequel they felt they tried to outdo the previous and for PA that means upping the number of cameras. I'll admit, I did like it. At first I thought it was going to be a completely unrelated incident but it ended up being a prequel to the first movie. I'm glad that it didn't end up being a complete repeat of the first movie, but I'm not so sure if it even needed to be made. Well, I thought at the very least it'd be the end of it but...

Really? A third one? I'll be honest, I never got around to seeing this, but I know enough about it. It's another prequel, as if going forward just makes too much sense.

Of course not.

Well, anyway, it was a trilogy. So, that's fine. It's not like they'll...

Wat

Four? Is that a joke? Four? What could this possibly be about? They already did two prequels! Everyone by the end of the first one is dead! What could this possibly be about? And of course the tagline says, "All the activity has lead to this." That is such a cliche tag-... okay, look. All of these sequels demystify the original. There's too much exposition in these films. I liked it better when it was just a creepy thing. Whatever. As far as over exposition goes, this series isn't that bad.

Not at all like...

This poor series.

This series was just a sad rape. We all know how it goes. It starts out just with an escaped crazy who kills off the babysitters for God knows why. It was so creepy how there was no motive, no rhyme or reason. Just the mute killer known as Michael Myers.

Nope

But there's not enough time to delve into that sad anthology.

Back to what I was saying about sequels, sometimes I feel like it's just way too obviously a ploy to get more money. If something was successful, just do it again. The worst part about movies like this, is that they always make tons of money, so it only further convinces Hollywood that doing this is a good idea.

Really? Taken 2? Couldn't they at least have had the damn decency to call it something better? Taken 2 sounds terrible. Don't get me wrong, I loved the first movie. It was great, but that's no reason to make another one. It's just not the sort of plot that needs a sequel.

After all of this...

You probably think I hate sequels. I don't always hate sequels, sometimes it's fun to see the characters you already know in another film. James Bond movies are awesome and I'll always cough up to see another 007 flick. What I'm against is raping plot out of movies that stand alone.

Good God, all that ranting and I didn't even touch remakes yet. Perhaps that'll be another time.