More of the Same

I recently went to see the re-release of the wonderful 1997 Studio Ghibli film Princess Mononoke. It was terrific to see this masterpiece of animation on the big screen. The story was thoughtful and exciting. Moreover, it was beautifully crafted, with many scenes that took your breath away.

Going to a film like Princess Mononoke was typical of my recent movie going. I rarely see first run fare, except during Oscar season. Instead, I see showings of older movies. (My other movie in a theater that week was the hilarious 2007 comedy Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story). Luckily, I live where such films are readily available.

The previews I saw before Princess exemplified why I skip most new studio releases. The previews were of “family friendly” movies and included a live action remake of How to Train Your Dragon, a teen action/adventure film called The Legend of Ochi and a live action remake of Lilo and Stitch.

While I am not the target audience for these films, the obvious lack of originality struck me. Both the Dragon and Ochi involve a teenager befriending an otherwise hated creature. Both included the exact same line, “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you”. Dragon and Lilo seem to have been remade for no other reason than that they now have the CGI to let them do so. From what I could tell, they are a mere regurgitation of the originals.      

The dearth of new ideas from Hollywood is nothing new. The industry powers that be are constantly searching for something that will tickle the fancy of moviegoers but generally settle for rehashing what they have done before. They are either afraid to venture something different, or don’t have the ability to generate new ideas.

Hollywood struck gold 20 or so years ago with Marvel superhero films. Audiences seemed willing to swallow any savior with special powers, and Hollywood certainly was willing to keep churning such films out. After a while, however, they ran out of A-list heroes and dug deep for material, giving us such white knights as Black Adam, The Eternals, and Blue Beetle. Not surprisingly, interest waned.

With the superhero genre a mere shadow of itself, Hollywood is fishing for something new, by looking at things old. In addition to the live cartoons listed above, we have been recently graced with Snow White, Mufasa: The Lion King and The Little Mermaid. Hercules and Robin Hood are on their way.     

I get it. It’s expensive to make a film. If you can’t attract an audience, you will lose a lot of money. Put together a string of bombs and you could lose your job. It’s safer to put something out there that has, at least ostensibly, a ready-made following. Or at least that’s the argument.

The problem is that these are not normal times for the film industry. According to NPR, five years after COVID resulted in the biggest attendance drop in cinematic history, Hollywood still has not recovered. The first nine weeks of 2025 ticket sales in North America improved over last year, but they’re still running well behind the pre-COVID weeks of 2020. I just can’t see these rehashed films pulling Hollywood out of the doldrums.

The recent Oscars highlighted the problem Hollywood has. It was truly ironic when Sean Baker, director of Best Picture winner, Anora, pleaded with viewers to come back into the theaters and bring their kids. Has he watched his own movie? I can only imagine mom and pop bringing Susie and Johnny to see Anora, only to find that the first 40 minutes were as sexually explicit as Debbie Does Dallas. They would never go to see a film again (though Johnny may have his first wet dream that evening).

I shouldn’t care. I wouldn’t go to most traditional Hollywood output, even if they were of better quality. I am satisfied with small, independent cinema. Yet, for films to flourish and screens to proliferate, there must be movies of broader appeal.

I also don’t have an answer. In all likelihood the cycle will have to repeat itself. Blockbuster hits. Endless remakes, rehashes and reboots follow. The public buys in until it doesn’t and then a lull ensues until it starts all over again. We just have to hope the film industry as we know it survives until things improve.

The expected summer moneymakers don’t bode well. We have another Jurassic Park movie, a film from the world of John Wick (I guess Kenau has had enough), three superhero movies (Superman, the third Fantastic Four reboot and Thunderbolts, whoever they are), the second half of the bloated Mission Impossible finale and Freakier Friday, for all of who have been pining to see Lindsay Lohan return to the silver screen.

The only summer “blockbuster” I am interested in seeing is also a sequel, 28 Years Later. Since 28 Days Later was released 23 years ago, this is clearly not an attempt to rush out a second movie to feed off the first. Plus, Danny Boyle is back at the helm, and I trust him.

I am sure other films currently off the radar will pop up as well. And who knows, maybe some of the other rehashes will be worth the price of admission. For Hollywood’s sake, I hope so. In the meantime, Mishima, a Life in Four Chapters, a Fassbinder retrospective and a slew of other great oldies are coming to the Philadelphia Film Society. Lower the lights and fire up the projector!!!