With the release of The Amazing Spider- Man 2 close at hand, it is no question that it serves as a not so gentle reminder that the trend of reboots and remakes of popular films is still going strong. The sequel continues the story of Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker not 7 years after Toby Maguire’s wide-eyed, dorky incarnation (and surprisingly emo in its last run) was put to bed.
In the same vein, the recent arrival of Man of Steel–which is a reboot of a failed continuation–came just 8 years after Superman Returns was conceived and then tossed in pop culture’s trash heap, simultaneously turning lead actor Brandon Routh into a phantom. Hopefully Henry Cavill’s run as the big blue boyscout (with a killing streak higher than the muder rate in Detroit apparently) will fare better on his career.
To make matters worse (or better as I prefer to think), it was announced last year that Batman would be an addition to the returning cast set to appear in the 2016 Man of Steel sequel and that Ben Affleck would be taking over instead of Christian Bale. Most fans could not fathom why Bale would not be reprising his role as the nearly inept, growly Batman of the Dark Knight trilogy.
Like Batman vs. Superman, outraged and disappointed fans are already calling out the new Fantastic Four reboot as an utter and complete failure. Essentially deeming it the prom night dumpster baby of comic book adaptations before any footage has been revealed; chiefly because they view the casting choices as an eyesore.
As with Spider-Man, after director Sam Raimi and Maguire stepped down, it seems that host company Fox was more likely than not in a rush to release a revision of the Fantastic Four so that they would not lose the rights to the property.
Unlike those mentioned above, some reboots like Star Trek have had a considerable grace period (Star Trek: Insurrection being the last of the original line in 1998). Regardless of canonical accuracy or quality, the newer Star Trek is an example of a reboot or remake introducing a fading and mostly fan exclusive property to millennials because, let’s face it, I don’t think anyone under the age of 35 without having grown up on it was rushing to watch a “Next Generation” marathon anytime soon.
The only remake/reboot of late that seems to be garnering any even handed praise is the Planet of the Apes series. Revived in 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a reboot/prequel to a remake of a 1960’s classic. In an attempt to wipe away the disappointing grease spot that Tim Burton and Mark Wahlberg left behind in 2001, writers ventured further along the Ape timeline, favoring a fresh origin story over a rehashed adaptation while enlisting the help of veteran motion capture actor Andy Serkis,who played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, to fill the role of lead ape Caesar.
Rebooting Planet of the Apes is one of the rare cases that actually works in that improved technology was able to do wonders for it. The same argument could be made for RoboCop but with a PG-13 rating they might as well have not of bothered at all. The sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
is set to release July 11 , and it offers more insight into how apes became the dominant species on Earth.
It is almost a no brainer that someone will eventually remake the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises, heaven forbid Twilight. But I suppose it would be wishful thinking to hope someone would come along and reboot the Percy Jackson and Last Airbender series.
While moviegoers are assured to argue over which rendition of the character was better, Garfield’s smart-mouthed, tech- savvy version of Peter Parker is just an inch more charming than Maguire’s homely and awkward portrayal. Even still, it’s nice to have a choice between the two. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens May 2.
Zhana Johnson
Features Correspondent