By Megan Bianco
With all the praise Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 has been getting since opening weekend, at a time when supposedly audiences are getting sequel fatigue, one has to wonder when and how a sequel should be made.
Villeneuve’s film is under-performing at the box-office, just as its 1982 predecessor did, but the reviews and audience feedback have been positive. Two years ago Mad Max: Fury Road received a similar reception and won Oscars, while The Force Awakens successfully rejuvenated the Star Wars franchise. So what separates the “good” reboots of movies that are decades old from the “bad” ones that are just quick, forgotten cash grabs?
For the past five or so years, Hollywood has been seemingly extra lazy and predictable by just rebooting as many classic films, TV series and franchises as possible. But for every 2049, Fury Road and Force Awakens, there is a Zoolander 2, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and Jurassic World. Sequels exist because studios realize that if audiences like characters enough to make them no. 1 at the box office one time around, they’ll probably do it a second time.
The Godfather, Part II (1974), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and T2: Judgment Day (1991) are considered the best sequels of all time. But Grease 2 (1982), Caddyshack 2 (1988) and Speed 2 (1997) are considered some of the absolute worst.
One thing to note about the quality of a sequel is how much time has passed since the previous movie. The more years that have gone by, the less likely the sequel will probably be good. But like everything, there are exceptions. Not many people were expecting, let alone hoping for, a Blade Runner sequel before now. Original director Ridley Scott opted to not return this time, and Villeneuve successfully managed to create his own spin on an existing universe.
With past critical hits like Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), Sicario (2015) and Arrival (2016), the filmmaker was not out of his league and confident enough to let Ryan Gosling take over from Harrison Ford. There are throwbacks to the original film, but they completely fit in to the new plot. Same with T2 and Fury Road, though those two features were created by their original filmmakers, who had plenty of time to brainstorm what exactly they wanted to do without the studios’ input.
Another thing to consider is how drama usually has a higher chance of aging well than comedy. What was funny a decade ago might not be now, or the chemistry just isn’t there anymore, as was the case with Greek Wedding 2 and the downright bizarre Zoolander 2. Or just the obvious studio laziness with Caddyshack 2 or Speed 2, both sequels to movies whose stories had clearly ended and didn’t have any bait for a second tale other than the executives looking to make easy money.
Whatever the case, I think it’s safe to say that when directors plan ahead on what they want to do with their characters, it works out better than when a producer is just looking at possible box office numbers.
Megan Bianco is a Southern California-based movie reviewer and content writer with a degree from California State University Northridge.
