Google Image Search

I’m sure many people are sick and tired of reboots.  You see them of movies, tv shows, comics, video games, and even books being rewritten from another perspective.  I’d like to say a reboot was something special, but I can’t remember those days.  Did those days ever exist?

They probably did when reboots were made of very old franchises that were beloved and there was a call for them to come back.  These shows managed to keep the heart and much of the lore of the original, but add some modern takes on it.  You didn’t see a mangling of the source material or a blatant attempt to push a different story under a popular name.  Sure, they could have all been cash grabs, but there was a time when it felt less obvious and there was at least some effort put into it.  Now, it’s a reboot solely to make money and hope the original fans will accept anything while new fans are drawn in.  This is part of the reason fandoms splinter these days.  No balance.

Movies seem to be where this is extremely egregious.  I recently read that they’re rebooting the ‘Naked Gun’ franchise.  Liam Neeson is going to play Frank Drebin, who was originally played by Leslie Nielson.  This is a legendary comedy movie for anyone born in the 80’s and 90’s, so it’s rough thinking that it gets a reboot.  Makes one wonder why or is it really all about money.  You can make a good argument about the creative bankruptcy of modern culture with stuff like this too.  I’d put some of the blame on audiences still buying the half-assed reboots even when complaining too.  Money talks more than words when it comes to these industries.

Perhaps one of the biggest issues with modern reboot trends is that they’re coming in fast and mediocre.  We’re already seeing reboots of franchises from barely a decade ago or even less.  This doesn’t make any sense to me.  Not enough time has passed for people to really cool off on the originals.  In fact, it seems to increase the chances of fans being upset because now the version they like could be considered obsolete.  If you wait at least 20 years, you have a better chance of the older fans being okay with a new version since the one they started on has been firmly established in history.  Then again, the people behind these things don’t really care about the current fans and seem to be more interested in having their own, personal slice of the fandom pie.

Sometimes, these reboots are hidden as prequels too.  You can tell the difference if the added stuff honors and builds on the originals or if it creates tons of plot holes for both storylines.  I’m sure people know exactly, which reboot disguised as a prequel I’m thinking of.  This tactic gets my blood boiling a bit.

The only time I think a reboot could really, really help is when it’s being done with a bad movie.  I’ve seen this suggested on forums a bunch and I agree.  A story that was good, but done poorly should have a chance at a reboot.  Fans would like to see their story get the treatment they feel it deserves and newer people will be interested.  You give new life to a story that simply had bad luck with writers, actors, directors, etc.  Of course, this could backfire if people think it’s a good idea to push the bad version out before the new one, which would turn new fans off.  I say this because I remember the newer Judge Dredd movie with Carl Urban got hurt by the Sylvester Stallone one being shown all over TV before it’s release.  Many of my friends said they weren’t going to try the new movie because they felt it would be the same.  It wasn’t and I really liked it.  Guess everything can be undone by bad decisions.

Anyway, what do other people think of reboots?  Tired of them or love them?