By Lindsey Schibelhut, Senior Reporter.
Do you remember when you were a kid? We used to watch movies back in the day, when Disney made quality films, and we watched them over and over. Nowadays, we are getting a live action version of our favorite childhood movies every two seconds, usually with no originality, desecrating the timeless material from whence they came.
What about you Marvel fans out there? The same unfortunate moments have happened to you as well. Really? We needed a remake of the “Fantastic Four?” It’s only been what? 11 years since the first one came out? Is it truly necessary? Quite frankly, I’m tired of this remake, reboot, Hollywood snooze fest.
Don’t get me wrong here, I know why Hollywood does this. Maybe the consumers want it, but let’s be honest: companies like Disney, Marvel and others do it for the profits. They had great classics in the past, and as the years have went on and maybe those old videos just aren’t selling like they used to, they bring them back to theaters in the form of live adaptations. Not only does this scheme get the children to the theaters, but they get back the adults, who used to love those films when they were kids, in the seats as well.
I have a really hard time calling any Disney or Marvel remake innovative, not unless they can do something completely different with the telling of the original story. The one film I thought did this theory some relative justice was the 2011 film “Beastly.” It was a modern day reimagining of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Granted, the movie wasn’t Oscar material and neither was the book, but at least it was something. Although in recent years, Disney has tried to be innovative and failed at it.
Does anyone remember “Maleficent” starring Angelina Jolie? I had high hopes for this film in the beginning, then it all fell apart with the conclusion. In the world of movie making, it seems like the key element we are missing is original storytelling. About the only fresh movie I had the opportunity to see in a while was “The Revenant” earlier this year. I keep watching the movie release rosters to see if any other great films will hit theaters, but instead it’s looking like more sequels, reboots or remakes: “Disney’s The Jungle Book,” anyone?
As for me, instead of wasting my money on any other regurgitated Disney or Marvel remake or reboot, I’ll continue to watch the classics, and I’ll reminisce how life used to be.
As a child of the 90s, it was simplistic, uncomplicated, and filled with my favorite cartoon movies such as, “A Bug’s Life.” My heart is already heavy with sadness with the news of a possible “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” reboot film scheduled to come out next year. I’ll never forgive Hollywood if they were to screw that portion of my childhood up. I’m thinking Disney, Marvel and the like need to just go by the guise of “it’s better if we don’t.”