My experience with The Matrix Revolutions got me to thinking about sequels, and, god for bid, “franchise” movies.
Most franchises go at least three movies; two movies and all you have is an original and a sequel. With most franchises the first movie, say Star Wars, was an incredible innovation or a bigger hit than the film makers expected it to be so it spawned a sequel. Some franchises, Batman, started out as something else in another medium, hence they showed up on the screen with a built in fan base and all the first movie needed to do was toe the fan party line enough not to alienate existing fans while being different enough from the original idea that spawned the movie to attract viewers that may have disregarded the same plots and characters in their original medium. No matter what, each franchise breaks down completely by the third movie, losing any originality it had in the first place, as well as, in the end, betraying the qualities which made the first film such a spectacular hit. Take The Matrix series as an example.
The Matrix was visually stunning. Special effects like movie audiences had never seen before wrapped up inside a script containing a plot about a young man accepting his destiny and a theme that pushed the boundaries on the nature of reality. The Matrix Reloaded was, in some ways, the middle act of a traditional three-act story arc and it suffered all the same problems. It got bogged down by its theme and any semblance of plot was, essentially, buried. The Matrix Revolutions, like most third-in-the-series films, was a complete digression from both the first film’s theme and from any sort of coherent development of previous plot points. The Matrix series is a fairly unique example of The Law of Threes. Most often, a series will follow another pattern altogether.
The first film will be something unique, usually a small character or theme driven story with enough plot to shield the message from the average filmgoer. The second film tends to be a big budget, all-plot movie with a lot of action sequences that sometimes, but not usually, results in further character development of the principles from the first film. The third film simply capitalizes on the audience’s hunger for more of those characters and more of whatever made the franchise unique. The third film is usually a cut and paste job of barely acceptable plot and rote elements from the first film; just enough to get the audience to plunk down full price to see the movie. Film franchises that fall into this pattern:
- The Terminator franchise
- The Terminator: Low-budget, disutopian sci-fi action film with a cast of then-unknowns and a plot dealing with time travel and a theme that tapped into man’s growing fear and dependence on computers and technology that we’ve built but don’t really understand and, sometimes, fear.
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day: Much bigger budget, plot driven story that, while carrying through with some of the themes (fear of technology, the disconnection fostered by every day modern life) and advancing the character development a little (Sarah comes to realize that people are what matter), is, essentially, a showcase for the Terminator’s quips and a lot of big-stunt set pieces.
- Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines: An even bigger budget than the second film, even in adjusted dollars, the elimination of the franchise’s main character (it was never John’s story; it was always about Sarah and her journey), and a totally plot driven story. The only shreds of thematic development involve John’s isolation from society, ostensibly to keep himself “off the grid” in case Judgement Day does actually occur.
- The Alien franchise
- Alien: All the marks of a classic horror movie, the claustrophobic field of view, the strategic use of sound…but in outer space! This film established Ellen Ripley as the model for movie heroines for the next 25 years. It also set forth
- Aliens: A much bigger budget than the first film and it also abandons the hallmarks of the horror genre in favor of a more action oriented plot. The political conspiracy of the first film carries through, as does Ripley’s continued existence as the Alpha-Female of movie heroines.
- Alien3: We’ve got an alien…we’ve got a captive population for it to terrorize…we’ve got Ripley (who dies at the end of the film). Some of the themes of the fear of sex and birth carry through but not many.
If you consider most of the other movie franchises in existence (Batman, Scream, Scary Movie, Star Wars) it’s not hard to see the degradation of theme, character development, and, for lack of a better term, values from film #1 to film #2 right through to the total suckage that is film #3.
Do I have a solution for this? Indeed, I do not, but thinking about it is definitely more interesting than watching the local-advertising slides before the film starts.
Just another dispatch from The Thoughts That Come Unbidden Department.