Has the american film industry lost it's creativity?

[Atma]

From a second re-launch of Spiderman, to a remake of Total Recall, and Jonah Hill's latest you can't help but wonder where has all the creativity gone? Is it even about the film itself anymore or just another extended commercial?

[░▓░]

It is a safe investment to produce a movie in which the target audience is already familiar with. Are people going to see a movie over a character they don't know versus one they recognize (i.e. spiderman)? The same formula also applies to remakes.

It isn't that creativity is dead (look at independent or foreign films) but creativity doesn't bring in the big dough to justify the millions spent to produce a movie. The audience wants something that they are familiar with and this is what pays the bills for the studios.

[░▓░]

It's just capitalism.

If people want it, the market provides that product. The film industry produce movies as their product and require massive amounts of resources to create that movie. However, before production is even started, the studio has to know what they are making is going to be profitable enough to cover the costs of creating that movie. Therefore, it is a risky investment and, like all cautious investors, they need to know that there is an interest before devoting themselves to producing it. This is why you see a lot of remakes, sequels, reboots, prequels and spinoffs in Hollywood.

Good movies aren't necessarily profitable either. Slingblade was a critically acclaimed movie which only grossed $34,000,000 in revenue while a shoddy, summer blockbuster like Armageddon generated over $500,000,000 in sales. The latter, despite being a disaster with movie reviewers made half a billion. (This is a bad comparison but consider it none the less.)

If summer superhero flicks provide studios with a 1000% return investment then the studios stick to that formula. Why should they deviate from a profitable platform? On the other hand, if totally original concepts sold better than the usual summer superhero flicks then studios would change course. I think this says something about movie goers than it does about the film industry.

Personally, I am not that big of a movie person. I honestly don't have the patience to sit down and watch a movie for X amount of hours unless I am able to do something else. So whatever crap or gem Hollywood poops out doesn't really affect me.

[Sam]

I dont mind some of the reboots or remakes, I mean the technology of today is way better for filming and CGI adds a whole new aspect to movies. I am a nerd so I love that they can turn comic books into movies and make them look somewhat realistic as opposed to Lou Ferrigno painted green.

[Atma]

i agree with you jer people are sheep when it comes to shitty films that are re-made from the 80's and they still go to the movies to see them. Shouldn't familiarity go so far?? Superman isn't this the fourth reboot of the franchise? They do not even try to make any changes to the story line just the same boring plot that initially started with Christopher Reeves.

Jer said:

Every regurgitated idea was once an original idea. Hollywood seems to be greedily milking the abundance of originality present within pre-millennium decades for all it's worth. There have been a ridiculous number of movie remakes and reboots over the past decade. The remakes are typically slopped together and nearly always receive negative/mediocre reviews from the majority of film critics.

Yet mass amounts of people still flock to movie theaters to watch them (like flies frantically swarming towards a heaping pile of shit). Why? Familiarity sells (and most people are sheep). They get baited with a familiar concept and a flashy movie trailer. The next thing they know they're at the local cinema dishing out $8 for a movie ticket and stuffing their faces with overly-buttered, genetically-modified popcorn. All to sit through a poorly-directed, poorly-produced, poorly-cast piece of shit of a film that was created solely for cash grab purposes.

You can tell when a film is made with love and care. You can tell when the director pays fine attention to detail. You can tell when the actors are thoughtfully-selected. You can tell when a plot is innovative and original. None of these characteristics are obvious (or present) within the majority of mainstream, modern day films. It's just the same old, cookie-cutter, worn-out bullshit again and again.

Familiarity may sell, but it's originality that's the major seller. Every four star movie throughout history was original. That's what made them special, that's what made them classics. Originality takes a little word called effort, however, and dollar signs take precedence over quality nowadays. Hollywood is now consumed by the "make a quick buck and run" mentality (which is right on par with the continuous rot and decay of the rest of the mainstream entertainment culture). I could rant on and on about this, but I guess I'll stop here for now. I'll continue later.

One more thing... The jackasses are even remaking classic films like "The Crow"... I mean seriously? Leave the classics alone, assholes. You'll never match them. It's just a pathetic, sad, waste of time, fruitless venture. Nothing beats the original. That goes for just about anything in life.

Originals > Everything Else (Unless it's The Godfather Part 2 - the only movie sequel I can think of that actually fully lived up to the original)

[Sam]

I believe the Man of Steel is going to be a little darker, although, not much has been released about it yet. Its not even just the re makes, how about all the comedies that are being made? To me they are all basically the same.

[Atma]

they are! how many times can Michael Cera play the same tired awkward teenage boy in a movie and its supposed to be funny and cute. I just don't get it.

[Willsteak]

your such a nerd its unbearably awesome

Sam said:

I believe the Man of Steel is going to be a little darker, although, not much has been released about it yet. Its not even just the re makes, how about all the comedies that are being made? To me they are all basically the same.

[abbygal]

only because i love you, can i reveal things to you...if you ask.
because the 2013 man of steel was filmed on my dad's boat. >_>
fancy, huh.

Sam said:

I believe the Man of Steel is going to be a little darker, although, not much has been released about it yet. Its not even just the re makes, how about all the comedies that are being made? To me they are all basically the same.

[Nagi Naoe]

I have noticed in recent years that yes, Hollywood has lost their creative edge on a lot of movies. I have actually stopped watching a lot of the movies and went back to the past, I was highly disappointed with Fright Night the new one, considering it just lost the edge. Then again, the industry thrives on how much money they make off us the idiots.

I went through the hell of going to see Dark Knight Rises, I went through the hell of seeing Twilight (wish my exroommate's girlfriend wasn't such a dork).

I agree with Jer on this because it is the fact we are looking at the standardization of the movies where they are given certain ideals to achieve in what record. The edge of creativity is almost frowned upon unless it is trying to rebuild or edge something else.

I can't stand remakes in some sense considering that watching movies with my fiance is turned into near torture. Remaking Fright Night in my view was terrible. I could not bear the idea of a remake anymore.

I am thinking the edge is gone...wonder how long until someone comes up with a story that is incredible

[Rob]

I'm curious about the release of "Red Dawn". That movie was originally released during the cold war and depicted a Russian invasion. Unless they revamped the storyline to a more modern theme I don't think many people who didn't grow up during the cold war era will be able to relate as well as those that did. Just a random thought though.

[Curious George]

IMHO today's movies makers have resorted to cutting 1/2 second flash in your face clips together and using overly done special effects and call it a movie. In short, yes I agree on lost creativity.

[tippy canoe]