Skip to main content

Good Sequel, Bad Sequel


Sequels are notorious for being lesser films than the original.  

For example, The Never-ending Story was brilliant.  The Never-Ending Story 2 was only okay.  The Never-Ending Story 3?  Well…  Trust me, it didn’t make anyone’s favorite list.

But sometimes- albeit rarely- the sequels are not only decent, but can actually be better than the original.  Take Star Trek:  The Motion Picture and Star Trek:  The Wrath of Khan.  The Motion Picture was okay, but it’s sequel was much better.

So What Gives?

Why are some sequels amazing, but others are really…  less-than?  Well, in my opinion, bad sequels tend to be “Film 2,” as where good sequels tend to be “Film: Part 2.”

Let me explain.  In the first example, a movie- let’s call it Wallow- was a blockbuster hit.  It sold out it’s tickets in a month, the critics and the people loved it, and the DVD sales made a fortune.  Then the producers said to each other, “This stuff is gold!  Let’s make another.”  So they spend a few years making a new movie, Wallow 2, and when it it finally comes out, fans of the first movie buy up the theater tickets.  

Then everyone thew away their DVDs of the first movies and went on strike.  Why?  Because the sequel was awful.  The plot was contrived, there were a few(hundred) too many explosions, and they killed off a beloved character for shock value.

Take Two!

In the second example, the movie in question- Tales of the Golden Squirrel- was also a smash hit.  Sales were through the roof, and Golden Squirrel action figures(With chainsaw action!) were in every household.  And then the writer went back to the producers with a new script.  He felt that the story wasn’t complete, and he wanted to finish it.  The producers jumped at the chance to double their profits, and in a few year’s time, The Squirrel Strikes Back was released into the world.

And the people raved.  The second film was brilliant, perhaps even better than the first.  It answered so many questions the fans had, and raised several more.  The characters stayed true, and the film even sparked several fan theories.  Not to mention the amazing sales of the Senior Golden Squirrel(With lightning chainsaw action!).

Knowledge of Good & Evil

So what was the difference between the two?  What made one sequel amazing, and the other plum awful?  Well, in my humble opinion, I think the success of a film depends on weather or not the story wants to be told.

In other words, Wallow 2 didn’t want to be told.  It was written because the producers wanted another hit, not because the writer felt the story needed more.  On the other hand, The Squirrel Strikes Back was written because the story wanted to be finished, not for external purposes.  Of course, the writer and produces still wanted money-  That’s the case in every film ever, and it’s not a problem- but that wasn’t why it was written.  There’s no magic button you can hit when you want a new script, it needs to be inspired.

Aaaaand CUT!

So that’s about the long and short of it.  Of course, it’s only my opinion, and I’d be interested to know what you guys think makes a sequel good or bad.  If you want to share, please comment, and as always, keep on geekin’ on!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Free Art Assets for Tabletop Games

I know as well as most of you what a pain it can be to get decent art on a tiny budget. In fact, for me at least, finding art is one of the biggest hurtles between a good design and a finished game.  It's expensive, it can be hard to find, and it's stressful.  And if you're like me, it's really hard to barter over the price of another creative's services;  You know they're pouring out their heart and soul for your game, and that's priceless.  But at the same time, most of us game designers don't have deep pockets, and anywhere we can save a few dollars gets us that much closer to actually getting your dream out there. Because of this struggle, I've compiled a list of some of my favorite resources for getting %100 free art, no strings attached.  Of course, it won't be tailored to your game, and you probably will need to commission some of your own stuff before all is said and done, but it can get you pretty far with your game, and might save y
4 comments
Read more

Project Heracles - Design Journal, Day Four

Day Four(11/25/19) After a full, but sadly gameless, weekend, I finally got some playtesting done today, as well as a rough draft for the graphic design of my cards.   Not too bad, but I wish I could have done more. The playtesting mostly just verified that the system was solid enough, though I did end up doing a bit of power-tweaking to make things more even.   I’m considering taking out the more mundane abilities of Marksman, Brawler, and Multi-Tasker, as they don’t add much flavor, and they are impossible to reflect on the standees.   A possible replacement for Marksman(+3 Ranged Skill) would be X-Ray Vision(+1 Ranged Skill, Ignore line of sight).   Other than that, the only new content I’ve added is a new power, Flameskin(Ranged attack, and when you’re attacked in Melee, deal damage). As for the graphic design, I’ve got a pretty decent draft for my cards done: As you can see, it’s very rough at the moment, but I think it gives a pretty good impression of
Post a Comment
Read more

Don't Be Shy: DMing 2.0

W e’ve all seen that player.   The one who never interacts with the group, and only really exists to jam their “slash” button during combat.  No one wants their players to be this way, and these players aren’t having much fun, either.   The only real issue is shyness, or unsureness of what they’re “supposed” to do.   This, of course, can be remedied, and that’s today’s topic. Ask the Player Directly One of the best ways to get players to interact is simply to ask them to do so.   This is very simple, and equally effective.   Essentially, when players are doing something, such as talking to an NPC, and one player isn’t saying anything, simply say something like “Jeff, do you have anything to say?”   They may say no, and if they do, just say “Okay” and move on. Reward Roleplay In psychology, this is known as Positive Reinforcement.   In short, when you reward good actions, people tend to repeat those actions.   In RPGs, you can do this in a variety of ways to pr
Post a Comment
Read more