There’s seems to be an increasing trend happening where movies and shows are being re-written and filmed, or “rebooted.” In some cases, this is good thing. It helps to bring out the nostalgia in those who originally viewed the original. In some cases, it does more damage than good and harms the franchise, pushing people further away from it rather than bring it back to popularity. There’s always a way back, of course. One good example I can use are the Karate Kid movies. The 80’s were without a doubt the best decade for movies, and the Karate Kid was no exception. Even the sequel was fantastic, which usually isn’t a shared opinion among people.
The karate Kid had two further sequels, with the third part only received warmly and the fourth instalment being a lame attempt at rejuvenating the franchise with a new protagonist since Ralph Macchio aging out of the role and basically becoming the Karate Man, instead. Hilary Swank did an okay job overall, but her acting and personality didn’t quite bring the same magic to the role and the franchise went quiet for a number of years, after that. Over fifteen years, in fact. Then in 2010 and because it’s the thing to do, they rebooted the movie with Jayden Smith and Jackie Chan. It was based out of China and featured Kung Fu but for some inconceivable reason was still called the Karate Kid, which pissed off people in general in general but martial artists, specifically.
It would take eight years to see the release of a series that would reinvigorate the franchise and do it right. Yes, I’m talking about Cobra Kai. Although not specifically focused on the Karate Kid, it focuses on the original movie’s antagonist and how his life has turned out. They eventually bring back quite a number of cast members from the original movies, seeing a combination of nostalgia and new material that breathes life back into the franchise. It was a great concept, a great move and has brought karate back into the mainstream limelight of society. We’d see the same trend in other genres, as well. Take Superman as another example. The original movies from the late 70’s and early 80’s were fantastic and ahead of their time for the limited special effects that were available.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was a royal piece of shit and most people hated it. I still watch it on occasion out of nostalgia but the storyline was poor and the plot was weak. That pretty much killed the franchise for a while until they tried to reboot it with Superman Returns. It should have done way better than it did, with advanced effects and a modern take. But it spent too much time paying homage to Christopher Reeve instead of focusing on the development of the story. It was also a bit on the boring side. Here, you have a guy who’s invulnerable, can fly and has an array of powers but there were barely any action sequences.
It wouldn’t be until Man of Steel that the franchise would somewhat redeem itself. The DCEU hasn’t been quite as well received as the MCU but the movies were better than anything previously released. All things being equal, not all reboots have the same trend or effect. I grew up enjoying a significant number of Disney movies have been rebooted and most of those suck. One of the best Disney movies I’ve seen is Mulan. When they rebooted it into a live-action film, I was actually pretty stoked. But it didn’t hold up. Of course, that seems to be Disney’s thing, making cartoons into live-action. Someone needs to let them know that it ain’t working.
It’s the weekend and I’m blabbing about all of this shit. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I just saw the official trailer for Creed III. Creed is another series that rejuvenated the Rocky series. Rocky V was an absolute piece of shit and the release of Rocky Balboa where he fights in his sixties wasn’t well received. But the Creed movies have brought back the romance with underdog/feel good stories of overcoming adversity. You can see the official trailer for Creed III below. ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 