Back to the Beginning

The summer movie season for the year is already in full swing. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" opened to mixed reviews a few weeks ago, "Star Trek" with an all-new cast playing the original characters hit two weeks ago and "Terminator: Salvation" opens this week. What do all these movies have in common? Well they're all part of a franchise and in the case of these three, the youngest franchise ("Terminator" in case you didn't know) is itself already 25 years old. Now while I will still stand by my statement that it's ample proof that originality or new concepts in Hollywood are either being stifled or are dead still stands though I am more prone to believe in recent years that part of this drive is being driven by people of my generation entering the movies industry.

As a child growing up I have already said that movies played (and continue to play) an important part of my life. Some may term it an unhealthy 'habit' but it's one that has helped shape me into who I am before. Most people of my generation can say that they have a handful of movies which they endlessly saw over and over again considering that we were among the first generation to actually grow up with home video. Previously (as alien as the concept may seem to many younger children) movies could be seen at the theatre and then very rarely, if ever again. With the advent of video you could see movies as many times as you wanted once you got a copy on some form of home media.

Growing up I saw movies like "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Star Wars", and "Rocky" among many many others so many times that they became benchmarks for movies I saw since. Now again, some may argue that perhaps my taste in movies is highly questionable or that it is a very low standard but still, they were the movies which I could and would watch many times over and still not get bored. Now when people of this same generation go to the movies, they will often lament the fact that movie aren't the way they used to be. How would you then fix it? Simple. Make movies like those that you grew up watching.

In the case of a movie like "Star Trek" which is more of a religion in some circles than in others, some of the changes that were made in this latest version were considered blasphemous but the trick becomes that if you make movies that are carbon copies of what you grew up watching then you narrow your audience. What you'll want to do to keep the love alive is create something that would appeal a new generation as well. Most kids today probably wouldn't know William Shatner (the original Captain Kirk) if he came and did a song and dance for them so you create a new one that will appeal to them. Same with James Bond several years ago with "Casino Royale". They took the essence of what the character was and injected him into the modern world.

For a lover of movies like me it is wonderful to see characters interpreted in new ways. Not all of these revisions are necessarily great but they at least show us that there are other ways to look at the characters that we know and love. I mean besides the movies that I've already rattled off, consider that "GI Joe" and "Transformers" (two beloved cartoons from the 80's) will be hitting the movie screen before the year is out. If that itself isn't proof that we're seeing a movie industry being run by kids who grew up in my generation then I dont' know what is. All I can say is that I hope this trend continues though I hope it doesn't tend to skew the things we like about a particular movie or franchise. Like the way George Lucas alienated many faithful "Star Wars" fans by creating a new trilogy that appealed more to little kids than anyone else. The appeal of the originals was that it had something for everyone, not just the consumers. One can only hope and keep going to the movies.