We all know the term “franchise fatigue” and personally I think it has set in with quite a few movie series. For some of these films they have either strayed too far from the original formula that made them a hit or the recent sequels just haven’t been very good. So here are a few movie franchises that either need to just go away or need a kick up the ass to get back on track.
Die Hard
After the rotten 5th movie and average 4th movie, perhaps it’s time for John McClane to retire. I love Die Hard 1-3 but the other two movies have failed to capture the same magic. McClane just seems bored and in the 5th movie he was (criminally) more of a supporting character to his unlikable ass of a son Jack. There is word of a 6th movie called Die Hardest which is meant to take place in Japan. The only way I’ll be interested is if it is Hard R, McClane has his personality back and we get a really strong villain. Hans Gruber Jr. anyone?
Terminator
As far as I’m concerned the series ended after the classic Terminator 2: Judgment Day. This is James Cameron’s baby and without him it’s just never going to be as good. So far everything I’ve seen/heard about Terminator Genisys sounds pretty lame, from the cast to the PG-13 rating. If I remember correctly that rating didn’t help the last movie in the series. The only way I would be interested in keeping this series going is if we finally see the Future Wars and what Connor does to save mankind. Aside from that, not really interested. Also, it’s spelled “Genesis” Arrghh!!
Pirates of the Caribbean
I’ve never really been a fan of this series; I think one movie was more than enough and even then it was too long. Jack Sparrow is a one joke character and it stopped being funny after 20 minutes. With word of a 5th movie now in development, my expectations are very low and I won’t even bother to see it unless someone gives me free passes and an all-expenses paid trip to the Playboy Mansion.
The Expendables
I don’t really want this series to ever end, but I just want it to get back to its roots and give us what we’ve all been wanting: a true throwback to the actioners of old. After the disappointment of Part 3, it’s difficult to see how they can do a Part 4 and bring back the audience who have since lost interest. Give us a smaller cast and focus on the real Expendables; give us more hand-to-hand combat and a decent villain (Dwayne Johnson) and then take my money! But if you’re going to try and desperately try to appeal to the younger audience who has no interest in the series, then just stop now.
Transformers
There’s no way this juggernaut is going to stop any time soon; each film keeps making over $1 Billion at the box office, so the Transformers are here to stay. That doesn’t mean it’s actually any good though; sure it’s fun to watch big robots beating the crap out of each other, but it’s the hour and a half beforehand that is so dull. Even in the recent Age of Extinction we still didn’t really care about the new characters as none of them feel like real people. It was cool to see the Dinobots in action though and there was plenty of smashy smashy. If we get part 5 (we will) then can we just have it a bit shorter please and just maybe have a coherent story? I really like films which are 90 minutes long and it’s so rare today as everything seems to be over 2 hours. That’s fine if it’s a Stanley Kubrick film or something with depth… Transformers ain’t it though.
Resident Evil
I quite enjoyed the first movie in this series and thought it was a suitably creepy zombie flick, but the franchise has since gone on with numerous sequels and I can’t tell the difference between each one. Milla Jovovich looks great and it’s cool to have a kick ass female action hero but it’s just so forgettable that it’s difficult to care about anything that’s going on. Thankfully there is one more film currently being developed and it is meant to be the final movie in the franchise; whether that’s really the case though remains to be seen.
Indiana Jones
I’m not sure if we’ll ever see a a fifth Indiana Jones film but I don’t think I really want to, especially after part 4. Aside from the film’s many flaws Harrison Ford is just too old now to make it exciting and I sure as Hell won’t watch Shia LaBeouf taking over the fedora and whip. They should have left it as a trilogy, thus the movie being called The LAST Crusade, as it is now The Penultimate Crusade, which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
