By Molly McCaffrey and Emma Sonneborn

 

Movies in today’s society are one of the most common and widespread forms of storytelling. Almost everyone has that one movie that is their favorite or maybe you can’t choose; you just love a good story. No matter what your stance is on the topic there’s no denying how that movies influence our society. The ever changing stories and worlds created throughout film are endless, however; looking at the past few years movies released you will see a significant increase in remakes, reboots, and sequels.   

 

To clarify when we say remakes we are talking about a tv show or movie, in this case we are talking about movies, that is already existing and creating it into something more modern. When we say reboots related to the original story but with a new story typical associated with series of film or TV  we mean an already existing tv show or movie and that picks up where they left off; a sequel.

Emma: Some sequels are great and sometimes they could be better than the original. But on most cases, they do not live up to the expectations and end up being a big flop.

Reboots could be a good thing, depending on how popular the original piece was. But many reboots don’t have the same effect as they did before. Remakes, like reboots, could be a good thing there is no denying that, but I do not think it is a matter of remakes, sequels, and reboots being good, but instead do they take away from they original film. Once you see the same thing being remade or getting a reboot over and over again, you’ll eventually get tired of it and you won’t want to watch it anymore. For example of how they could end up being a big flop, the new Kim Possible remake caught lots of criticism as some feel the new live action does not live up to the animation of the original.

 

“DCOM Review: ‘Kim Possible’ (Live Action).” LaughingPlace.com, 22 Feb. 2019, http://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2019/02/22/dcom-review-kim-possible-live-action/.

“Kim Possible: So the Drama.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 8 Apr. 2005, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt000000000446724/.

 

Molly: Many people are in support of remakes, reboots, and sequels because it allows stories to be reinterpreted and continued through generations. They also allow fans of the movies to get more of their favorite characters’ story and journey, like in Star Wars for example.

 

Taylor, Chris, and Chris Taylor. “All 11 Star Wars Movies, Ranked – Including ‘Solo’.” Mashable, Mashable, 25 May 2018, mashable.com/2018/05/25/star-wars-solo-ranked/#g1H6eSLgo8q6.

 

I acknowledge that some remakes and reboots are uncalled for and do nothing for us as an audience but that does not mean we need to destroy the reaction of art. When you go to see a play you don’t expect that to be the last production of that play ever or for only those artist to be in it, Do you? Without this method of art we would never know stories like Romeo and Juliet or Oedipus Rex, because theatre allows artist to reinterpret and reimagine stories over and over again and pass those stories down to new generations. Why shouldn’t that be the case with all art forms. Singers and musicians can perform covers of each other’s songs but then you see accounts of them getting criticized that they are unoriginal. Just like this remakes, reboots, and sequels get criticized for being unoriginal or that they take away from the original. All of this is no surprise though there will always be criticism especially when recreating someone else’s work. It needs to be addressed that you can respect the original work while still reimagining it for yourself, but this shouldn’t mean that film makers need to tiptoe around the original films to please the original audiences. I believe the only way remakes, reboots, and sequels can really successful in providing a influence on audiences is by expanding on original stories in reboots, and sequels and completely reimagining original stories in remakes.

 

What are your thoughts on remakes, reboots, and sequels in today’s society?