(Re)Bootilicious Movies & Sequels

Hollywood has been churning out more sequels and reboots than ever before, from re-energizing old franchises like 'Superman', 'Conan', 'Transformers', 'Batman' and The A-Team - to name but a few - to providing more and more sequels to modern hits.

Franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean, Scream, X-Men, the aforementioned Transformers, and The Fast and Furious, have all had sequels produced over the last couple of years (and no, I didn't forget Harry Potter!)...and it's not gonna end there - we're just about to be hit with Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (from Neveldine / Taylor - the team behind another franchise...Crank), followed by The Dark Knight Rises (another Christopher Nolan entry into the 'Batman' lexicon) and 'GI Joe 2'...the film we've all been waiting for!

Here's a list of a few sequels and reboots you can expect (and, in some cases, hope not to expect) in the coming months and years:

SEQUELS / PREQUELS:

'Ghostbusters 3', 'Alien 5', 'Paranormal Activity 3', 'Kick Ass 2', 'The Expendables 2', 'The Thing Prequel', 'Rush Hour 4',  'Bourne' movie: 'Bourne Legacy', 'Daredevil 2', 'Fantastic Four 3', 'Big Trouble in Little China 2' (I wish!), 'Avatar 2', 'Bill & Ted 3' (Non-Heinous!), 'Thor 2', 'Terminator 5', 'Wrath of the Titans' (sequel to the reboot: 'Clash of the Titans'...ooohh the irony!), 'The Ring: 3D' (sequel to the adaption of a Japanese franchise...originality has left the building!), 'Wolverine 2', 'X-Men: First Class 2'...I have to stop, I'm reaching for a sick bag as we speak!

REBOOTS:

'The Crow' (possibly with the original's director, Steven Norrington), 'Superman' ('Man of Steel', directed by Zach Snyder), 'Spiderman' ('The Amazing Spiderman'), 'Alien' (yes, not just a touted sequel - a reboot too, possibly directed by Ridley Scott!), 'Akira' (hubba-hubba!), 'Battle Royale' (hubba-hubba times ten!) 'Dune' (hubba-hubba times a hundred!..alright, I'll stop that 'hubba-hubba' stuff now!), 'Escape from New York', 'Child's Play', 'Cliffhanger' (?!), 'Death Wish', 'Flash Gordon', 'Fletch', 'Footloose' (can't let that in - ZERO action content!), 'Flight of the Navigator' (another on the 'Reantimator Wish List').

Anyway, you get the idea - the sheer magnitude of sequel / reboot numbers is through the roof over in Hollywood-land.

And if you think other movie-making countries aren't guilty of it as well. Read on!

In Thailand, you have sequels to hits like Ong Bak, Tom Yum Goong / 'The Protector and Chocolate either out already or in the works....In Hong Kong, you have reboots to things like Ching Siu Tung's A Chinese Ghost Story (the new one is directed by Dragon Tiger Gate's' Wilson Yip), Wu Xia / Swordsmen, which is a remake of One Armed Swordsman, and Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy (in glorious 3-D!!!).

On top of that, you have movies based on historical figures or popular novels: The Monkey King (partly based on 'Journey to the West'), The Lost Bladesman, based on Guan Zhou / the 'Three Kingdoms' Period, also cinematically retold in Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon - starring Andy Lau and Sammo Hung. You also have the the Ip Man movies - there's two so far, as well as Ip Man: A Legend is Born, sometimes known as 'Ip Man 3' - but it's a mere Wong Jing cash-in, methinks - which is appropriate as WJ has a history of doing franchises (eg Naked Killer and Young and Dangerous).

What do we make of this? Is it a case of Hollywood (and everyone else!) saying 'Let's give the public what they want...more of the same'? Or is it a case of lack of money (what us Brits call: Being Tight) for developing new ideas, purchasing decent screenplays and putting in the time to create wholly original material for it's audience?

Either way, for my penny, pound or buck, as long as we've got decent, action-filled movies that don't forget about plotting, characterisation and film technique...I'm happy!