There have been more than enough reboots lately, don’t you think? Not that I have a problem with rebooting a franchise per-se, but from a creative POV, they’re taking away funding from stuff that might tell a new story. Right? Or not?
Like half the planet, I eagerly lined up to see Star Wars Episode 1. I even went to the trouble of camping out overnight for a ticket to one of the earliest showings (being young at the time and still in ownership of an all-weather sleeping bag). Granted, I didn’t feel quite as outraged at JarJar as everyone else (I have a high tolerance for that kind of nuttery, it’s a gift) but it wasn’t *my* Star Wars, it didn’t quite engender the same spark that the first one had. I was… well, not quite disappointed, because by that time in my life I was well aware that most things you remember from being a kid aren’t as cool as you remember, and I just wrote it off as the same sort of nostalgic near-miss.
But then I saw the reaction of my best friends girlfriends son, 10 years old at the time.
He was in awe. Of everything. The whole da** movie. Then he went back and saw the “first” three. We spent about a month hearing “And did you know that Boba Fett did this… Did you know Anakin can do this… Did you know…”
I just recently saw another, similar reaction with my own kids, when I brought home the newest GCI of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What went before, the shortcomings that may or may not have been there went unnoticed. The legacy was hidden and for my kids it was a fresh, new experience.
And now there’s another new rash of “Reboots” on the horizon. I’m rather excited about a couple of them, kindof “meh” about others. Thing is, I think I’m going to hold my opinion. I’m already biased, one way or another, and there’s no point in wrecking the fun for someone. These reboots, these new takes on an older story, they’re not *for* me. They’re for a new group of moviegoers, a new audience. If the new guys are excited, if these reboots breathe new life into a franchise I knew and loved (even if I hate the redo) then who am I to pee in everyone elses Cheerios?
