What happens when a new director comes into direct a sequel to a popular film?
The results can vary, Wil writes…
Theres something inherently odd about movie sequels.
The Rolling Stones didnt record Sgt Pepper Strikes Back.
James Cameron knows how to make sequels.
Aliensmight just be the perfect part two.Alienis a straight horror movie which happens to be in space.
Its almost a slasher movie.Alienstakes this simple story and just makes it bigger.
It changes a story into a world.
Turn a taut thriller into an action spectacular.
Turn a horror into a war movie.
And make it loads bigger, obviously.
Irvin Kershner is the opposite Cameron.
This isnt necessarily a bad thing.
Kershner madeThe Empire Strikes Back,probably the most beloved sequel of all time.
Of course, he was working for a very hands-on executive producer.
George Lucas talents do not lie in his shot composition or the performances he gets out of actors.
His skill lies in his imagination, in creating characters and worlds that have inspired a generation.
If only he had someone to do the pesky filmmaking itself for him.
Lucas delivered them in spades, and Kershner just had to put them together.
Stripped of Verhoevens input, KershnersRoboCop 2basically becomes the sort of film the first instalment was parodying.
The violence is garish, everything is played straight and it just starts to miss the point.
To be honest, its probably most remembered now for the Fat Boys theme song.
The project was doomed from the beginning, and both versions were met with an indifferent shrug.
Still, hes made entertaining follow-ups to all of them.
Im not going to take a stab at apply auteur theory to Murphys sequels or anything.
Murphy doesnt do that but hes made three enjoyable pieces of entertainment nonetheless.
Richard Lester, on the other hand, was originally a vibrant, surreal pop-art filmmaker.
Were not going to try and defendSuperman IV: The Quest For Peacethough.
But somehow Justin Lin took the series and ran with it, eventually making it Universals biggest cash-cow.
What Lin did with series is, in retrospect, a minor miracle.
They are set all over the world and have soundtracks to match.
You probably dont rememberUndisputed.
It seems an odd choice to even bother to make a straight to DVD sequel to it.
But it was a box office bomb, and it looked like the series was dead.
First-time director John Hyams didnt see it like that.
He had pedigree his dad Peter directed JCVD inTimecopandSudden Death and grasped the opportunity.
He shot the best action scenes of Van Dammes career: thrilling single raids through atmospheric Bulgarian industrial ruins.
He took advantage of Van Dammes now-haggard face.
He perfectly captures the world-weary expression of a soldier whos had his humanity ripped from him.
