On Reboots and Why Warner/DC Should Not Try to Copy Marvel.

            Earlier this week it was confirmed in the LA Times that THE DARK KNIGHT RISES will be the final chapter in Nolan’s adaptation of the Batman story. I can understand why many fans are very displeased with this decision; Nolan’s vision of Batman is so epic we all want more of it. However there are a few advantages to this. First and foremost, The Dark Knight was so overwhelmingly awesome that there is no way any subsequent sequel will ever meet expectations. It might still be really good, but it won’t be The Dark Knight. Secondly it is the first time a definitive end has been announced for any superhero helmed by a single director, so it is going to be very interesting seeing some closure. Yes, Raimi’s Spiderman had an ending and he helmed all three. But, lets face it, those were not Raimi films in the same sense the Dark Knight is a Nolan film and there had been talks of making a fourth fifth and sixth installment with or without Raimi afterwards. Ultimately Marvel chose to reboot the Spiderman franchise so it can tie it to its new Avengers assembly of movies. Warner/DC has announced its intentions to reboot the Batman franchise after The Dark Knight Rises so it can tie it in to a series of films that will lead to a Justice League movie in a few years. Monkey see monkey do.

Of Cats and Remakes: A Well Done Reboot

            Contemporary Hollywood seems obsessed with franchising sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots and although our short-term memories have led us to believe this is a new phenomenon, it is actually as old as Hollywood itself. Back in the day before home video the only way to find a new audience for an old movie was to remake it; when sound was introduced all the major studios remade their largest box-office hits as “talkies”. At times remakes can work; they are elegantly updated to find a new audience. Other times we get The Incredible Hulk, which was nothing above a piece of loud shit and an embarrassment to the career of a great actor. But sometimes we get something completely new; this was the case with Cat People (1942) and Cat People (1982). Made forty years apart from each other these movies could not be more different from each other and yet they explore the same themes of irrational fear and sexual repression, in their own way. And are equally effective, once again, each in their own way.