THE FOLLOWING RANT DOES NOT REFER TO EVERY SINGLE SEQUEL IN EXISTENCE. OF COURSE, THERE IS SOME THAT I BELIEVE WERE GREAT SEQUELS, BUT NOWADAYS I'M SEEING MORE THAT I JUST DON'T THINK REALLY NEEDED TO HAPPEN. I ALSO UNDERSTAND HOW HARD THESE PEOPLE WORK TO BRING OUT THE CONTENT THEY MAKE. I AM NOT HATING THE CREATOR, I'M HATING THE CREATION. PLEASE DO NOT BASH ON MY POINT OF VIEW. EVEN IF YOU DO DISAGREE WITH THEM, I WILL BE WILLING TO LISTEN AS TO WHY YOU DO AS LONG AS IT'S A MATURE CONVERSATION. THANK YOU.
Toy Story 4
Incredibles 2
Finding Dory
Princess Diaries 3
Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
The list literally goes on because there are probably more I didn't even list on here. There are a bunch of sequels coming out this year and the years afterwards, and while it may give many people joy seeing their favorite classic stories or characters hit the big screen once again, I can't bring myself to love the hype. Even when it comes to movies like The Incredibles, which was indeed an incredible feature, knowing that it has a sequel coming out has me groaning internally.
Allow me to express myself on why I hate sequels, especially the ones that are coming out this year or in the near future.
First off, here is a brief definition of what a sequel is according to thefreedictionary.com. It is, "Something that follows as a continuation, especially a literary, dramatic, or cinematic work whose narrative continues that of a preexisting work"
My way of thinking is, if a sequel is not needed, then don't make one. It wastes a lot of people's money and time and it's bound to be worse than its predecessor. This statement leads me into my first reason why I hate sequels.
1- IT'S A WASTE OF TIME
Here's a fine example of what I mean when a sequel is a waste of time: The Incredibles 2.
Yes, I'm hitting it where it hurts.
I know so many people adore this Pixar movie for its innovative story on the struggles of enduring midlife crises, the fear of adultery, the feeling of unworthiness, and how a simple action can create major consequences. This film attracts both children and adults with its deep subjects and fun action scenes as it follows the quirky family of superheroes.
Judging by the its ending where the family is faced with another dangerous villain and they dawn their masks in preparation to kick the villain's butt, it's obvious that the creators of The Incredibles were planning a sequel. One that many are waiting 15 years for, and now that the sequel is finally being released in 2019, there is a roar of enjoyment swarming the nation; yet I can't join in.
All I can feel is utter annoyance that The Incredibles 2 is being released, and it's not because I didn't like the first one, but rather it's been too long a wait for it. A movie like this deserved a sequel, but if the creators could've worked on the sequel after the first film and then released the first film at a later date so there can only be a couple years before the sequel could've arrived, then I wouldn't mind. Or they could've made the Incredibles 2 their top priority and work on that before other Pixar films so it could be released early.
My annoyance stems from the concern I hold about the danger of the world. We don't have superheroes like the Incredibles family who can easily save every frightened child who is near starvation or every teen who is gunned down. These people are your major audience in Pixar, and many terrible things can happen to those people in 15 years before their favorite movie gets the sequel they've been eager to watch. While I am trailing down a dark tone with this, try and tell me that this is not true.
Every year, more than thousands of people pass away, nowadays it seems like the biggest cause for this is these acts of violence with school shootings and bombings and war. My sympathetic heart cannot take the fact that there are people out there who can't wait to see their favorite movies come to the screen again, but halfway through the 15 year production process, they are subjected to being a victim of death.
I am not blaming Pixar Studios for not thinking of this, I understand there is a lot of work that must be done to perfect a sequel as potentially great as The Incredibles 2, but wouldn't it be wonderful if even a quarter of all of those people were able to watch it earlier?
My suggestions are what I mentioned before, make movies like The Incredibles TOP PRIORITY while it still attracts your audience.
2- WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO TELL?
There are many worthy examples to this one, sequels such as The Princess Diaries 3, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, and Finding Dory didn't need to continue. People could've easily written fan-fiction about all of these stories and that would've sufficed.
As a fan of fan-fiction myself, I am not blind to the fact that when your favorite story is not longer running, it can be absolute hell to handle. You crave to see more of Princess Mia, the Portokalos family, and Dory entertaining your day. But there has to be a point where enough is enough.
Was there really a big demand to know what else life has in store from Princess Mia? After hooking up with two guys throughout her two movies and becoming a well-liked princess, what else does she have to do that requires our undivided attention?
Did we really want to see Toula and Ian have marital problems after all of the challenges they faced with Toula's family?
Is Dory really such an strong character to hold her own movie, despite having the comic relief character being such a risk? (example- Mater in Cars 2)
I say that all of these movies should've stayed the way the were before, they were perfect. Princess Diaries already has 2 films, so if this sequel turns out to be very good, then hopefully the creators no longer produced anymore. Princess Diaries can be known as the lovely trio, as for the other two, I can only hope the best for their movies too.
3- THERE MUST ALWAYS BE ROMANCE
This is the one that annoys me the most, I cannot think of ONE sequel from a movie that DIDN'T focus on the main character gaining a love interest. One of the movies I can think of right off the bat is The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2.
This movie was released years before, but it still irritates me. The original story was one filled with dark and sensitive topics like religion and sexuality that leads the main character to die after losing the woman he cared so deeply for.
It was never meant to be a happy story, but when Disney adapted the story with its first film, I could easily excuse them for not ending it the same way as the book. It's because Disney still pushed the limits of their viewers' mind, still presenting the sensitive topics the book addressed and as a result The Hunchback of Notre Dame is considered one of the most popular Disney films ever for its rebellion against Disney's typical light-hearted tone. So when I watched its sequel, I wasn't even that angry with the bland storyline and mediocre animation, at least not as much as I was at the fact that main character Quasimodo got himself a girlfriend!
That is such a cheap reason to make a sequel and I have a strong feeling that Quasimodo having a love interest was the biggest reason why Disney chose to make a sequel. The point of the story is that life can be a scary and unfair existence, and Quasimodo not getting the girl in the first film was a prime example of that. The first girl or boy you like is not always going to like you back and that's just the way life works. And I don't care that the sequel takes place years after the events of the first film, it's still spitting in the face of its predecessor and the original source material by making love the main plot point.
I learned that a Toy Story 4 is in the works and people are hearing rumors that it will center on Woody trying to find Bo Peep, his love interest in the first 2 Toy Story films. I swear, if this movie focuses on that in order for Woody to have his love interest again, I will be enraged. Toy Story is not about romance and the last movie ended the story just fine! I'm even okay with the shorts they play on television. Love does not need to be talked about with every single story, whether it be cartoons or action or drama. Not every earns a spouse in a matter of days and not everyone needs a spouse. This is an insult to happily single people everywhere!
Overall, not every sequel is horrible and the ones that I pointed out may not turn out to be so bad after all, but I just wanted to share my opinion. There's not much else I can say but, if you're interested in making movies or watching any of these films in the future, consider this:
How important is it to know what happens next? Is it that important to you?
Answer these questions and you may discover how lackluster and devoid of heart that these movies really are.
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