The Last Sequel and Remake Discussion Thread Part II

[on:]

From last thread:

On the topic of good or bad sequels, are the sequels to The Matrix any good? I'm a huge fan of the first film, and I'd like to know if the others live up to it's quality.

No.

Though I didn't even like the first one, so I might not be the most reputable source on this one.

Me too sorta. It's more like when I finally got around to seeing The Matrix in high school, my brain had been so over-saturated with every satire, parody, send-up- and reference of The Matrix that watching the movie only gave me like 5% more context and I didn't care. Not a bad movie but everyone else had already done it (even though it was because of that movie).

Also the title is inspired from Last Exorcism Part II. Anyone else have any stupid sequel titles they want to throw out here for suggestions of future thread titles?

[Reply #1 on:]

The title really should include some indication of this thread being discussion for upcoming films, but other than that, I approve.

[Reply #2 on:]

Fixed it. Are you happy? Because the joke is dead. You killed humor like Homer Simpson killed the Hamburglar.

[Reply #3 on:]

LOL, good reference there, Snrub!

[Reply #4 on:]

Good sequels...

Aliens
The Empire Strikes Back
Spider-Man 2
The Wrath of Khan

What else?

It depends if by good you mean "better than the original" or just plain old "good".

The Daniel Craig reboot of the Bond franchise springs to mind (although that's a reboot, so I guess it doesn't really count)

Thor: The Dark World was better than the first.

The Dark Knight would also be a popular answer.

Other than that, I can't think of much. I'd say The Two Towers and The Return of the King are ineligible since the LOTR trilogy was produced in one big chunk.

[Reply #5 on:]

Franchises don't count, since a "sequel" and an "installment" are two different things, regardless of whether or not a reboot or what-have-you occurs.

I haven't seen the Godfather trilogy in full, though I frequently see The Godfather: Part II being cited as the best of the three.

And, as listed in the previous thread:
All the Pixar sequels
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (and then we pretend that they actually succeeded in stopping Skynet and none of the shitty sequels or tv spin-offs happened)

Also, the Back to the Future sequels... I actually consider the first one the best, though they're all so close in quality, it definitely deserves a mention. And the second Austin Powers movie was also on par with the first... Unnecessary, but still very, very funny (until Goldmember came and ruined everything).

[Reply #6 on:]

Am I the only one who thinks The Dark Knight is really overrated? Aside from almost all the scenes with the Joker, which also consists of most of the action scenes, the movie un-engaging after a while. When the stuff with the two boats happens at the end, on top of the Harvey Dent stuff, by that point I'm over it. Granted 2/3s of TDK are really entertaining but Joker overshadows everything and that's not necessarily an entirely positive thing. I know people are mixed on Rises, but there was more than one character that I found interesting. I love Catwoman, I liked the stuff with the Gotham Police Department (might as well have been it's own movie), and I liked Bane, and even Bruce Wayne a little bit more. I've said this before but I think Rachel was just the x-factor to this characterization of Bruce Wayne, she drags him down.

Anyway my favorite of those movies is Batman Begins. I think it's a good balance of an origin/superhero arc that revitalized the franchise and it's where Batman is the most interesting part of the movie. He gets lost in the shuffle after that.

[Reply #7 on:]

If you're trying to say that you think The Dark Knight Rises is better than The Dark Knight, then....no. I can accept that The Dark Knight isn't the perfect movie of the century some have made it out to be, but it's at least better than the mess that was Rises.

But ya, Batman Begins was great. Personally I think TDK is the best of the three, but Begins definitely takes a close second. Although honestly I think it suffers from the same problem you said about TDK, which is that it starts to crumble under the weight of everything going on near the end. The city getting gassed combined with the derailing train was a little much after how great the beginning of the film was with setting up his origin.

[Reply #8 on:]

This guy is back
[youtube]ECUbuBrbP1g[/youtube]

[Reply #9 on:]

They lost my interest years ago, when they failed to negotiate rights to the BOC song for their soundtrack in the first one.  Screw 'em.

[Reply #10 on:]

That Godzilla movie looks pretty cool, it reminded me of Resistance at first.

They lost my interest years ago, when they failed to negotiate rights to the BOC song for their soundtrack in the first one.  Screw 'em.

I think that this has no relation to that shitty 1999 Godzilla with Matthew Broderick if that's what you're thinking of.

[Reply #11 on:]

Yeah, I've seen the trailer. That looks fucking intense, and much better looking than the previous two IMO. I'm looking forward to that one.

[Reply #12 on:]

But...I...already threadjaculated.

[Reply #13 on:]

Haha, the joke's on you now, Faze!

[Reply #14 on:]

But...I...already threadjaculated.

Toldja you should've included some mention of upcoming films in the thread title!

[Reply #15 on:]

I do apologise, an evil wizard made me do it.
Just remember my half clever title Futurefilma!!

All the sillyness of the previous Godzilla should be ignored, it was Ferris Bueller, Leon and Moe from The Simpsons babysitting veliciraptors briefly featuring Godzilla!

New Wachowskis original sci-fi, Jupiter Ascending:
[youtube]THVFkk-sEus[/youtube]

New Tom Cruise movie looks like a mix of Starship Troopers, District 9 and .... Groundhog Day?!?
[youtube]vw61gCe2oqI[/youtube]

[Reply #16 on:]

Franchises don't count, since a "sequel" and an "installment" are two different things,

How do you define that, though? A movie doesn't become a "franchise" until it's had a sequel.

[Reply #17 on:]

In the sense that, for example, the 007 movies are rarely ever direct sequels of their predecessors, or the way certain franchises can get re-boots and/or unrelated installments. BUt yes, I suppose you can have sequels within a franchise; ie. The Dark Knight would technically be a sequel to Batman Begins, but still unrelated to other installments within the Batman film franchise in general.

[Reply #18 on:]

Ah.
A 'property', I guess. Usually being developed from an original media. Detective Comics, Ian Fleming's novels, etc.
Quantum of Solace would be the only 'sequel' that Bond ever had.

[Reply #19 on:]

With the ending of Skyfall, I'm thinking the next Bond film will be sequelish as well.

[Reply #20 on:]

Wait, Skyfall ended!? I thought it was still going.

[Reply #21 on:]

Quantum of Solace would be the only 'sequel' that Bond ever had.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service --> Diamonds Are Forever

The Spy Who Loved Me --> Moonraker

[Reply #22 on:]

...Well, yes and no. The plots are fairly standalone.

[Reply #23 on:]

Well so was Quantum's, beyond the very beginning.

[Reply #24 on:]

No it wasn't.

I haven't seen any James Bond films, actually.

[Reply #25 on:]

I...

[Reply #26 on:]

Wait, no... I have. All of them. Several times.

[Reply #27 on:]

Several... times...? Even the terrible ones like "A View to a Kill" and "Moonraker"?   

[Reply #28 on:]

Moonraker is actually a lot of fun if you accept it for its cheese.  I'll give you A View To A Kill though...and maybe even Octopussy. And that's coming from a guy whose favorite Bond is Roger Moore.

Also, Never Say Never Again. Ever.

[Reply #29 on:]

Several... times...? Even the terrible ones like "A View to a Kill" and "Moonraker"?   

A View To A Kill is excellent.

The worst is Die Another Day...

[Reply #30 on:]

I'd call Die Another Day mediocre if anything, but I really fail to see how A View to a Kill is anything but awful.

It's funny how inconsistent the Bond franchise is.

[Reply #31 on:]

I'd call Die Another Day mediocre if anything, but I really fail to see how A View to a Kill is anything but awful.

It's funny how inconsistent the Bond franchise is.

I honestly love AVTAK and consider it one of the best. I honestly can't see why people hate it. It has an amazing villain, brilliant action, and excellent locations. From the city hall fire, to the fire engine chase, to the mine sequence, to the golden-gate bridge fight - excellent sequence of events.

AVTAK has 6.2 on IMDB.com and Die Another Day has 6.0 - 2 of the lowest scores for bond films (as well as Moonraker, with 6.2). I can see the criticism with Die Another Day, and Moonraker, but I honestly love A View To A Kill. I'm a huge bond fan btw.

[Reply #32 on:]

Same here. I should start a marathon sometime soon.

[Reply #33 on:]

I actually loved A View to a Kill. I mean... Christopher Walken and Duran Duran!? Made of win.

[Reply #34 on:]

Here's what I think:

Dr. No Great
From Russia With Love Average
Goldfinger Great
Thunderball Bad
You Only Live Twice Good
On Her Majesty's Secret Service The only one I haven't seen
Diamonds Are Forever Bad
Live and Let Die Average
The Man with the Golden Gun Great
The Spy Who Loved Me Good
Moonraker Bad
For Your Eyes Only Good
Octopussy Average
A View to a Kill Bad
The Living Daylights Good
Licence to Kill Excellent
GoldenEye Great
Tomorrow Never Dies Average
The World Is Not Enough Good
Die Another Day Average
Casino Royale Excellent
Quantum of Solace Average
Skyfall Great

Some of these might be controversial, I don't know.

[Reply #35 on:]

OHMSS is terrible, UrL. I wouldn't bother seeing it. The list you gave, I can agree with except for TWINE. I disliked TWINE intensely (overall. But it had some good bits), and I'm not really sure why, because it had many of the elements that the ones I like had.

Still, the rest of that list I haven't got any great argument against. I think it's a pretty fair evaluation.

Hm. So many James Bond threads to choose from.

Best James Bond Movie

007 - James Bond

Favourite Bond

I'm really not sure which one we should resurrect in order to have everybody rate the various films in the franchise, but the first is my favourite contender.

[Reply #36 on:]

I coulda been a contender.

[Reply #37 on:]

I coulda been a contender.

I would also have accepted "contender? I 'ardly know 'er!", and "the people of this nation can stomach quite a bit, but the one thing they can't stomach is the image of a vice president with a mouthful of cock!", as well as "I really want to try soccer after I retire because I've watched football over the years and I think I could be a good contender".

[Reply #38 on:]

I've got the DVD of OHMSS, so I'll probably end up watching it anyway. I mean, it can't be that bad (especially since I am easily entertained by poor movies).

And as for TWINE, I was kind torn between "Average" and "Good", but ended up going for the latter because otherwise Pierce Brosnan's load wouldn't look too good. I think he was a pretty good Bond, but he just happened to make a lot of merely "alright" films.

[Reply #39 on:]

Ahem. I saw the sequel to Kick-Ass.
It really just felt like more of the same... like I never took the first one out of the DVD player and it just kept rolling. That's not a bad thing. Hit Girl is a little older now, so she doesn't make me wince so much getting into fights with brutally violent adults who have no qualms about hitting her.

Feels like there's a lot of Watchmen DNA up in this bitch.