What makes a good movie sequel?

What makes a good movie sequel?

Transcript¹

As multiple movie sequels come out this year, Vulture recently ranked the 101 best movie sequels ever made. NPR's A Martinez talks to TV and film critic Matt Zoller Seitz who contributed to the list

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Marvel²'s "Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness" opens in theaters this week.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS")

BENEDICT WONG: (As Wong) You opened a doorway³ between universes. And we don't know who or what will walk through it.

MART?NEZ: No, we don't. It's one of a bunch of sequels coming out this year. We're getting reprises of "Jurassic World," "Top Gun," "Hocus Pocus," "Downton Abbey," "Minions⁴" and a lot more. So what makes a sequel good? Vulture went back in time to try and answer that question recently and came back with a ranking of the 101 best movie sequels ever made. TV and film critic Matt Zoller Seitz contributed to that list. He joins us now on Skype. So Matt, what would you say to a cynic who only sees sequels as a way for Hollywood to cash in and make some bucks⁵?

MATT ZOLLER SEITZ: Well, a lot of the time, that is all that it is, but not always. I mean, I always like to think of it as, there can be multiple versions of a pop song. And there can be sequels to a pop song. And why can't there be that to movies? If there can be multiple novels in a series, why not movies? And at best, it's a creative experiment. Like, we can just redo the thing that was a success. Or we can try to add something to it. We can try to criticize it. We can reflect back on itself. And that's what the best sequels do.

MART?NEZ: All right. So what does make a sequel good?

SEITZ: I think it has to - first of all, it has that commercial imperative⁶ where it's supposed to give people kind of the experience that they had the first time, because that's the whole point of the exercise. It made money, and they want to make money again. But you also want to add something new. You want to, you know - you add new characters. You open up the universe. Maybe you introduce a note that kind of questions what you thought you knew. Like, I think "The Matrix" sequels do that very well. And of course, there's that franchise-building thing. But I think, at its best, in a movie like, say, "Evil Dead II," you can do a lot more. You can kind of remake a drama as a comedy. You can make it kind of a metafictional reflection on what makes a sequel, which I think "Matrix Resurrections" did very well. And then there's also a thing called legacyquels, where you have a reboot, essentially⁷, with a bunch of new characters in the same universe. But then they encounter people from the first series of movies who act as kind of mentor⁸ figures.

MART?NEZ: All right. So those are a couple of examples of films that did this well. But what about some movies or franchises⁹ that did this badly?

SEITZ: (Laughter) Oh, my goodness. Well, I think a lot of the...

MART?NEZ: The list is long, I can imagine.

SEITZ: I think a lot of the slasher movies from the '80s got very repetitive. And that was my generation. And I eagerly went to all the new "Friday The 13th" and "Nightmare On Elm Street." And there were a few that were pretty good. Like, I thought the fifth "Nightmare" was excellent. But a lot of times, you do just get, like, the question of - why are they going back to the same summer camp to get hacked¹⁰ up? - becomes a plausibility¹¹ issue (laughter). When you're starting to question the plausibility of one of these movies, it's in trouble. But I think, at its best - you know, I think the "Jurassic Park" series, which has a new one opening this year, does a great job of building plausibility concerns right into the story. They actually have characters saying, why have we not shut down the island? Why are we still letting people go into the - go to the island with dinosaurs¹² where they have been eaten before?

(LAUGHTER)

MART?NEZ: Any sequels coming out soon that you're really looking forward to?

SEITZ: Well, you know, the "Doctor Strange" movie I'm actually looking forward to. I've - I go to see all the Marvel films with my kids. But this one is special because Sam Raimi directed it. And he's somebody who, I think, has done some of his very best work as an artist in the superhero genre¹³ with "Darkman" and three Spider-Man movies. And this is somebody who really, really knows how to build a sequence and how to have fun. And I'm glad he's back, you know? He's a giant. He hasn't directed in, I think, over a decade now.

MART?NEZ: Matt Zoller Seitz is a TV and film critic for New York Magazine. He joined us via Skype. Matt, thanks a lot.

SEITZ: I really appreciate it. Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF AMBIENT JAZZ ENSEMBLE'S "ELEVEN DAYS")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

3 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

4 minions   

n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者

参考例句：

• She delegated the job to one of her minions. 她把这份工作委派给她的一个手下。 来自辞典例句
• I have been a slave to the vicious-those whom I served were his minions. 我当过那帮坏人的奴隶，我伺候的都是他的爪牙。 来自辞典例句

5 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

9 franchises   

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ford dealerships operated as independent franchises. 福特汽车公司的代销商都是独立的联营商。 来自辞典例句

10 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

11 plausibility   

n. 似有道理, 能言善辩

参考例句：

• We can add further plausibility to the above argument. 我们可以在上述论据之外，再进一步增添一个合理的论据。
• Let us consider the charges she faces, and the legal plausibility of those charges. 让我们考虑一下她面临的指控以及这些指控在法律上的可信性。

12 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。