Monday Night Poll: Kill These Mediocre Franchises
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
It's a dispiriting exercise to think about movie franchises that have been run into the ground. For years now, big Hollywood studios have focused on developing and cultivating franchise properties with worldwide appeal that are dependent more on iconic characters than the actors who play them.
When it works, it's fabulous (Star Trek). When it doesn't, it's awful (Fast & Furious). Even worse than the total misfires, though, are the movies that drag down a franchise into mediocrity, yet still make enough money to justify a sequel from a financial standpoint (X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Box office disasters don't necessarily discourage further installments, but often force a studio to rethink the property (Superman Returns). But good box office earnings despite negative reactions tend to empower executives and filmmakers, who then feel they can safely ignore the warning signs and make another sequel without really considering what could be done to improve the product film.
After two fabulous movies, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines "revived" the franchise, but was barely average as an action picture. The new producers of Terminator: Salvation tried to make it their own by bringing in a new director, new stars, and a new storyline, but the results were disappointing in every way but the bottom line. With total worldwide earnings of $341 million, however, Terminator 5 is on its way, and director McG is talking again about what he wants to do. As for me, I say it's time we kill off the franchises that have become mediocre. Let them lay fallow for a few years or decades. Which franchise would you most like to see put out of its misery? Take our poll and let us know!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-10-2009 @ 9:36PM
remf3 said...
Please kill "Saw."
Serialized torture porn. Erg.
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8-10-2009 @ 10:21PM
salerno said...
world
under
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8-10-2009 @ 10:45PM
techstar25 said...
By the looks of those poll numbers, it looks like Final Destination has escaped death for the final time.
I've always found those movies to be a good time. Funny. Campy. Over-the-top. But lots of fun, reasonably creative, and plenty entertaining. You can't say that about the others on the list.
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8-10-2009 @ 10:54PM
spaceace said...
SAW
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8-10-2009 @ 11:24PM
Blake said...
In the immortal words of Johnny Rico from a franchise that should be killed, "Kill em all!"
Let us not forget:
Transformers
Underworld
Starship Troopers
Anything by Tyler Perry
X Men or ANY of the spin-offs!
Any Disney Tween Movie
Jeepers Creepers
Any of those stupid spoof movies... Disaster, Epic, Spartans, Teen, Date.... ALL HORRIBLE!!!
I am sure I could name more all day but that is enough for now.
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8-10-2009 @ 11:29PM
rafe said...
SAW
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8-10-2009 @ 11:56PM
Dyslexicon said...
Pirates of the Caribbean anyone? No?
Indiana Jones?
Star freaking Wars!?
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8-14-2009 @ 6:04PM
Kevin said...
Exactly the 3 franchises I thought of right away. Yet none of them are on the list. Odd...
8-11-2009 @ 12:03AM
Jen said...
I don't mind the horror franchises like Final Destination and Freddy and Jason surviving. Those have always been more like self-contained installments in an anthology, with no real continuity to worry about.
But the ones that have run much-beloved mythologies into the ground, like Terminator, Star Wars, and Transformers? Die, die, die.
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8-11-2009 @ 12:31AM
Rhys said...
kill piece of shit saw.
Behind enemy lines, god plz stop them. First one is outstanding, then its like sum high school students came in with sequels.
should probably stop terminator yes.
Transformers is pushing it. Hopefully its a case where first ones great, second ones shit and the thirds better then 2nd and just under the 1st for quality. As long as he gets rid of the tacky crap lines. Having seen G.I Joe, transformers is similar. Crazy intense well done graphics with the lines from bloody spy kids or something.
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8-11-2009 @ 10:10AM
Torgan said...
There are so many franchises that need to just die, and not just sequels, I lump remakes into this group as well. SAW, Final Destination are my two biggest, Generally any and all horror movie franchises. Halloween....Friday the 13th...Nightmare on Elmstreet...My Bloody Valentine. Come-on, I lived through the eighties once. I love horror, been reading Fangoria since I was 7, but the serious lack of originallity is really starting to annoy.
Someone out there has to have some original scripts...right...anyone...Beuller?
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8-12-2009 @ 12:19AM
Hughman Bein said...
Out of all of these tired movies, I think Xmen still has potential to be good. The problem seems to be Fox in a lot of these franchises. Stop Tom Rothman! We need some good Marvel Fanboy input!
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8-11-2009 @ 1:26PM
Dev said...
Shrek.
Honesty, I wasn't even crazy about the second one. But I could have stood it, if there hadn't been a third...and now fourth...with no end in sight...
And yeah, Saw needs to stop now. Aside from the really-cool first movie I've only seen the third, and it reeked.
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8-11-2009 @ 3:00PM
Dwayne said...
I'm waiting til this next final destination before calling for it's head. The second one was a lot of fun to watch on opening night and with the same crew coming back, let's just say lofty expectations. The third one was horrible and the first doesn't stand on it's own anymore. I agree with the saw hatred but my vote was for ice age. Seeing the same trailer over and over again and then it being the first five minutes of the movie really put me in a bad mood for the rest of the boring, unfunny flick. That and queen latifah is not entertaining. At all.
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8-11-2009 @ 3:21PM
Channing said...
While I can understand wanting to kill of Saw or Fast & Furious or Final Destination franchise, those movies dont need to die. They are what they are. From jump street, you either liked them or you didn't. And whether they make more or not, your feelings are likely to be unchanged. The franchises that really need to go are the ones destroying the strong foundations laid by the originals. The ones where we were happy with the franchise ending after the second film. I don't need to specify which films. But you know the ones.
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8-11-2009 @ 3:59PM
Midnight13 said...
No franchise will die fully. If they put an installment that does not live up to the better films of the series, like the last two "Terminators" they'll just start from scratch, or say "take it into a different direction". The first "Hulk" did terrible, so they made a new one. "Rocky Balboa" was made because Stallone didn't want Rocky V to be the final word on the series because it wasn't very good. We're getting new "Friday the 13th", "Nightmare on Elm St", and "Halloweens" because the orginals are "dated". Everyone always thinks they can improve on what's already been done, and more times then not, they don't.
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8-11-2009 @ 4:43PM
Harless? said...
Why can I only pick one? All of these films' times have come.
And all of the films mention in the comments need to go as well. Although I think everyone forgot High School Musical. Zac Efron has f-in' graduated already.
How about some original stories? Everything coming out of Hollywood is either a serial/franchise or a remake. There is very little creativity, and it's sad.
Alright, now I am depressed. I need to go watch something artsy.... maybe an old Wong Kar-Wai flick....
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8-11-2009 @ 5:31PM
Batzarro said...
Terminator. I'm seriously convinced there's nowhere to go there. 3 attempted a sequel multiplication approach and failed. Salvation was just a soulless mess. Continual degradation, added stuff that doesn't bring anything, continuity issues out the wazoo, the demystification of stuff that was good because it was mysterious. It just needs to end.
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8-11-2009 @ 11:48PM
chris said...
Saw and Twilight saga.
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8-11-2009 @ 11:48PM
chris said...
Oh don't forget Pirates of the Caribbean
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