After two years of collecting dust, At The Movies is busting out of it's shell an is returning to give insight no one wants to hear. But hey, isn't that what all movie critics do.
But after all of my money dried up from my sports writing endeavor, I've decided to return to my first love: cinema.
Okay maybe the money hasn't dried up on the sports writing, in fact it's what inspired me to come back to At The Movies, my first adventure into the world of published writing. But there is an undeniable pull for me to return to it.
Plus it fits the theme of filmmaking. A tradition as old as the cinema itself, the sequel is a crutch almost all Hollywood producers rely on to continue to great story of the first film -- and to make a TON of money in the process.
Let's be blunt and call the kettle green: sequels are a cash grab. It's producers without the creative mind of storytellers king back to the well. But as many times as it has failed and as dreadful it is to hear a sequel to a great film is coming, there have been notable exceptions to the rule that all sequels are terrible.
Here are a few examples of filmmakers who have fallen on the sequel sword and out smarted creative suicide and actually reinvented the wheel.
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
George Lucas was known for creating one of the best sequels of all-time when in 1980 he released the follow up to 1977's breakout hit Star Wars. The footnote (and irony) to this story is George Lucas is also one of the first filmmakers -- or at least one of the most notable ones -- to overdo the sequel (see the 1 sequel and three prequels to follow Empire).
But putting all of Lucas' future missteps out of mind for a moment, 1980's Empire Strikes Back is one of the best sequels to date and in the eyes of many Star Wars fans the best film of the saga.
Director Irvin Kershner was asked to step in and direct the picture after Lucas suffered health issues post Star Wars. Lucas was in charge of basically everything on the first film and it took it's toll on the young filmmaker. Lucas had final say on what happened within the film, but Kershner directed a script written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan (who would collaborate with Lucas three more times).
What resulted was a beautiful character film set with the backdrop of the Star Wars Universe. The film is one of the best Sci-Fi films ever made but it features little action outside of three major sequences. Apart from the Battle on Hoth, The Chase of the Millennium Falcon and the Lightsaber duel at the end of the film, the film centers around the characters and their emotions. There is Luke Skywalker, dealing with the weight of becoming the last hope for the Jedi. There is a love story between Han Solo, the renegade bad boy, and Princess Leia. Plus there is Darth Vader who unbeknownst to the audience upon first vexing is tasked with hunting down his son and either turning him to the Dark Side or killing him.
It's a deep film that far exceeds the first film and is still the best of the entire saga. It's a nearly flawless film and that's saying something considering sequels to action films are far from respectable.
Aliens
If The Empire Strikes Back was a surprise success, James Cameron's 186 sequel to the Ridley Scott helmed Alien was a step further.
The typical formula for a sequel is to have a first time which does great at the Box Office and then create a second film to try to double your money even when the first film wraps itself up. Aliens appeared to be that very thing. But James Cameron has made a career on visually satisfying films like Avatar and Titanic. Aliens was one of his first attempts to hone his craft and he did a damn fine job doing that.
The film takes place 57 years after the conclusion of the first film with Ellen Ripley in stasis. She is revived and questioned about why her crew is dead and just what exactly the Alien that attacked them all was. Ripley learns that the planet in which the Alien was discovered by her crew is now a space colony. When communication is lost with the colony a crew of marines, accompanied be a reluctant Ripley, investigate.
You can pretty much fill in what happens from there. But what didn't happen is what the film is largely remembered for. The film avoids falling into cliche and returning to the well and instead teas the events of the first film a step further and elaborate more on just what the hell this Alien is.
Of course there are multiple Aliens in this film hence the plural title.
It's a cleaver film that never gets stale and never really retreads on itself. Like Star Wars it was followed by two unnecessary sequels which goes to show even if you perfect the first film the second time around, the formula doesn't always work.
Plus it satisfied the producers initial drive of making more coin. Aliens outgrossed the original film $131 million to $104 million.
The Godfather Part II
This is the film that perfected the sequel. Anytime a film moves into sequel stage, the immediate comparison is to Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 masterpiece The Godfather Part II.
It goes against every grain of the sequel while still satisfying every stereotype. It was made to make more money. It was not necessary at all but some how it fit perfectly and seamlessly into the Godfather mythology.
Micheal Corleone is now the Godfather of the Corleone family and after the events that concluded the first film (Michael executing all the heads of the other five family's), he's moved his business out west to Las Vegas and to gambling. Micheal also heads to Cuba after a failed assassination attempt leaves him gunning for his life.
But the story has a subplot occurring at the same time, albeit almost 100 years prior, revolving around rise of Vitto Corleone, Micheal's father and predecessor as Godfather. This is where the film gets good and innovative.
It seamlessly shifts between the two stories, one in a modern America told in English, the other in a rising America told in Italian.
Another area where the film deviates from all other sequels is it was an award winner. It was the first time two different actors won the Academy Award for playing the same character (Marlon Brando won in 1972). I mean the film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won six including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. Robert DeNiro was virtually unknown at the time he won the award as he was three years away from mainstream success when he collaborated with Martin Scoresese in Taxi Driver.
The Godfather Part II set the bar for all sequels to follow it. It broke down stereotypes and built up brand new standards for what a tasteful sequel should include. Like all great films it was plagued by a sequel to the sequel (the much hated third film in a franchise) but even that broke standards by not only coming nearly 20 years after the second film but it too was nominated for Best Picture.
There's a reason The Godfather is regarded as the greatest films of all time but the biggest reason it's so well renowned is because of the sequel, The Godfather part II.
