The Tragic Sequel

I'm always skeptical of sequels, let alone sequels of sequels. I say this because, as most people likely know, they (sequels) tend to feed off their great originator, thus they become either an on-par rehash or a B-movie in the same universe. Of course, there are exceptions, and a sequel is able to do what sequels should, which is take the known world to new, compelling places without misstepping on what was great about the first. Then, with the box office success or at least relative success of a sequel comes yet another sequel, where you must do the seemingly impossible again! And if this cycle continues, the movies will have more and more of a following and, in turn, more ability to be at least semi-successful (financially speaking) without doing the earlier ones justice. Which is why it is pretty much inevitable that the movies will get worse and worse. So, why does this matter? Well, the great movies which lend themselves to sequels are great, in my opinion, because they moved you; they touched you in some way where you saw or felt differently, you cared about the characters, you lived in their world, you experienced the drama or the magic that took place. And I find that bad sequels turn around and tell you that these characters, this world isn't really what you thought it was. It's like a mockery of all the real feelings you carried from the first. Then the previous great movie is forever tainted and, therefore, would've been much better off alone. That is why I'm skeptical of sequels.

Anyway, I watched Toy Story 3 on Saturday night. Like Toy Story 2 before it, it was one of the exceptions. It achieved the "seemingly impossible".