Peter’s Pick of the Week: Upgrade
I feel like it’s rare that I got to see an original film this time of year.
I feel like it’s rare that I got to see an original film this time of year.
Though I can’t remember what movie I went to see, I’ll never forget the reaction to one of the trailers that played before it. For about two minutes, they watched the trailer for Devil, as they had the others. That was until a name appeared on screen: M. Night Shyamalan. At that point, the audience began to boo and laugh.
Crafting a sequel to any successful film is a daunting task. Fan expectations can be high, bizarre and even unreasonable. This is a weight that a creator must ignore to a certain extent in order to produce something of value. Perhaps the key to a good sequel is taking the established world and then throwing something unexpected at it. Think The Empire Strikes Back and The Dark Knight. Both take their prequels and throw a few more wrenches into the works. Respect is maintained for the previous work but the audience is provided with a more complex narrative created by both films, or as many as the line maintains. In the best case scenario, you end up with work that shatters the perception of the original and improves on it. Creating a sequel to a great film, which doesn’t necessarily have room for improvement, must be even harder.