Hollywood’s Reboot Mania
Hollywood has entered a vicious circle. One of reboots and remakes because, apparently, no one can think of anything original anymore. Should Hollywood really be so desperate to try and leech off the success of old shows and movies? Is there something I’m missing here? Because, let’s be honest, the success rate has been less than stellar for the majority of these remakes. Let’s take a little walk-through:
In recent years superheroes have been Hollywood’s big thing, which I’ll admit that I love. The success of the Dark Knight series and Ironman have been welcomed by nerds all over the world, but why so many reboots? Fantastic Four was only launched as a movie in 2005 and had it’s sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer, two years later, but a relaunch is already in the works and set for 2013. Isn’t that kind of soon? Superman Returns was only released in 2006 but the reboot, Man of Steel, is also slated for a 2013 release. You could make a somewhat valid argument for both movies to relaunch, don’t get me wrong. For instance, you can’t have the same guy play both The Human Torch and Captain America (valid point, but hardly a reason for complete reboot), or that Superman Returns was really a continuation of the old Christopher Reeves movies while Man of Steel is supposed to be starting fresh. Again, valid point. But where’s the excuse for Spider-man? It all just seems too soon.
Now what about movies like Star Trek and Transformers? Okay, Star Trek was everything trekkies have been dreaming about for years, no doubt. I had several nerdgasms when I first saw it and approve of everything J.J. Abrams did with Star Trek. Transformers is a similar story, but that’s because J.J. and Michael Bay are nerds themselves and dedicated to making the things they loved as kids into something people of the 21st century can continue to enjoy. But then there are movies like G.I. Joe and The Smurfs, which failed on so many levels. Why? Because they were out to make money rather than keep things interesting for fans.
But enough about movies, let’s look at television. Have you heard that Hollywood is remaking the 80’s drama Beauty and the Beast? You know, the one with Linda Hamilton. Yeah. Why are they doing that now? Of all shows you chose to reboot from the 80’s you pick Beauty and the Beast? Don’t get me wrong, I have a special place in my heart for that show, but seriously. What about shows like Moonlighting or Family Ties? Both great shows that people would love to see again. Hawaii Five-0 and Thundercats are showing quite a bit of success because of good writing, but I shudder to think what will become of Beauty and the Beast because Battlestar Galactica it is not. Especially if they do to it what they did to Strawberry Shortcake (you know, completely destroy and bastardize it). I thank my lucky stars no one has tried to do the same to Rainbow Brite, and we can only be grateful that no one picked up on the reboot of Wonder Woman, which was sure to be a complete disaster based on what was surfing around the internet.
When it comes down to it it makes perfect sense to reboot something for a new generation, or even remaking a successful foreign film with American actors, but at what point does the process become too much? Hollywood seems to be grasping at straws, very thin ones at that, to get any little piece of popularity that once was into modern day TV or film. What’s next? Classics like The Big Lebowski or The Godfather? Maybe Enter the Dragon or Gone With the Wind, or if they’re really feeling frisky then maybe Billy Madison or Tank Girl. Heck, I’ll admit that I’d watch a remake of Murder She Wrote if they did it right. But therein lies the problem: doing it right. We’ve seen the massive failures of some shoddily thrown together movie that someone had a great idea for but then left it in the hands of people who had no idea what the original idea was, or thought that their idea (which had very little to do with the original other than characters) was so much better. It seems Evil Dead will be getting the rebooting experience soon as well. Here’s to hoping they keep it campy and fun and don’t completely destroy a cult classic.
