Sequels are wild things. You can never predict them. On some rare occasions, they can ascend past the original (Superman 2, The Dark Knight, Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood). But most of the time, they kick you right in your optimistic crotch (Spiderman 3, Ocean’s Twelve, Star Wars: Episodes 1, 2 and 3).
Mixed feelings also arise with sequels that simply copy the first film. In some cases it’s understandable (a budget boost can be very inviting). Other times, it’s Hollywood simply turning the flavourless meat-grinder, regurgitating out some chunky lump that resembles the thing you loved but with that horrible lingering processed taste.
Here are five types of copy-paste sequels that, for better or for worse, fallacious or not, exist prominently and without shame in the movie-verse.
1. The straight-up remake
e.g: The Evil Dead > Evil Dead 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPJxxfYNlIg&feature=youtu.be
Sam Raimi did some amazing things on his meagre budget for The Evil Dead. It was both a delight and a heart-breaker to imagine what other craziness he could’ve conducted with a bigger sack of cash. Then he actually got that big sack of cash, saying “screw you” to continuity. Now we have Evil Dead 2, the sequel that’s not really a sequel and more of a remake with more cash. And more craziness. And more awesomeness. And more Bruce Campbell jaw-line. Yeah, it’s still a copy-paste, and more. Just more.
2. The “too afraid to be different” mentality
e.g: Die Hard > Die Hard 2: Die Harder
They were bold enough to copy-paste the subtitle from the title and add an –er. In a way, that sums up Die Harder pretty nicely. They took most of the plot devices from the first then went “er, let’s do it in an airport.” With the ultra-badass original as a mile-high bar to hurdle, you can understand their thinking of “well dang, let’s just do it all over again.” And hey, it was still hellishly entertaining. But if you put those movies side by side, you’ll never un-see the similarities.
3. The creative decision
e.g: The Hangover > The Hangover Part 2
The biggest criticism of this much anticipated sequel is how far it didn’t stray from the original. Despite being in a different continent, it was easy to pick out the elements being rehashed. However, that’s not to say it was a lazy investment. It’s very likely that the use of the exact same situation playing out in the exact same way was intended as a creative comedic decision, similar to the “same shit, different day” adage. Obviously, they heard the complaints, for Part 3 is making a huge departure.
4. The “make everything the same, but worse” approach
e.g: Escape from NY > Escape from LA
(There is no substitute for this scene. There never can be.)
If you replace New York for Los Angeles, a state prison with an earthquake, the president with the president’s daughter, a glider with a submarine, Romero for Cuervo, Cabbie with Eddie, the random woman who gets dragged to her doom with the random woman who gets shot, a gladiatorial fight-to-the-death with a gladiatorial game of b-ball (to-the-death), a screw-the-government ending with a screw-the-planet ending and quality for crap, then there’d be absolutely no difference between both these films.
5. The one-change cash-in
e.g: Speed > Speed 2: Cruise Control
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrEAOjLoR6Q
It’s a little similar to the “too afraid to be different” mentality, except that approach still required effort. Cruise Control had none, simply thinking that chucking the same situation on a cruise liner equals a good movie. It doesn’t. It really, really doesn’t.
