When Did Remakes Go Bad?

[CensoredAlso]

Seriously, there's so much irrational hate for The Dark Knight Rises (because it was slightly disappointing)

Old news but can I ask why it was disappointing? Just curious because I only saw Dark Knight (Ledger was great, the rest was whatever, lol).

 

[Drtooth]

I have no idea. Some idiotic superfan comic geek bullcrap, and some stuck up schmuck picking the movie apart and everyone agreeing with it. All I know is, they don't realize how good they had it, compared to every other third superhero movie ever up until that point. The film makers choked with the second film being an impossible film to follow and not using the villain Nolan wanted to use.

Anyway... I'm starting to wonder if calling live action adaptions of cartoons are even worthy of being called remakes. I mean, half the time they're barely in name only. And even if that didn't matter, technically they're adaptions not remakes.

 

[beatnikchick300]

I grow tired of the fallacy of "Hollywood can't come up with new ideas." That's a glib interpretation, actually. It removed the even worse and more cynical truth behind sequels and remakes.

Yeah, well I'm growing tired of them NOT coming up with new ideas and only doing what makes more money. It's aggravating.

With regard to sequels/remakes versus rip-offs, why is it that we make it too easy for movie studios to get away with restricting us to just those options? I think if someone came up with a new idea that was well-promoted enough that people would know about it enough to want to see it, that might be something.

 

[Drtooth]

In the case of no sequels or remakes, I can agree there. It's not a matter of running out of ideas as it is that those ideas sell. Trends tend to happen because they're usually safe bets. On the subject of something actually new... well, everything's been done. Basic story structure basically dooms you to repeating the same "someone has to do something or get to somewhere," and all the paths have been traveled before. The best you can hope for is subversion or creative solutions that tweak the story, but having a similar outcome every time. Be it a big blockbuster movie or a small indie film. Even the most experimental art film you could make would have some similarities to another, even if it's completely unintentional. We've been telling stories since we could first communicate, and everything owes itself to something else.

Now, what those who claim to want original movies are actually saying is that they want more lower key, slice of life type films about people. And those aren't that original either. Better made, perhaps, but even they all feel a bit like each other no matter how good they are.

Seriously... you do not know how many indie comic writers I've spoken to (and some are so indie they're Kinkos published) that have the same idea of "Super hero nerd gets super hero powers" punctuated every time with "be careful what you wish for." Now, they don't all communicate with each other, they all assume it's their original idea (even then... kinda used before, Gizmoduck in Ducktales for example). I'd love to say to each one of them that I heard several other comic writers come up with the same exact concept, but that would be kinda mean. Granted, they'd all be slightly different, but they'd also be very similar. That's the part of unoriginality that cannot be helped.