Well hey there, folks. Why yes, it has indeed been a while but let's move past that "Oh my God, I'm so sorry I haven't talked to you in ages" anxiety and move on with our lives, shall we? Plenty has happened since last we convened, but one thing has struck my interest in particular and is the reason I'm here.Today, after much waiting, the new Fantastic Four trailer has finally debuted and if you want to check it out you can watch it here. It's been almost 8 years since a Fantastic Four film blasted onto our screens with Rise of the Silver Surfer (one of my personal favourite superhero's) so it's been a while since we saw Reed Richards and the gang. Taking a leaf out of The Amazing Spiderman's book, the franchise has been rebooted and taken on a younger, virile cast, a director from the semi-indie circuit and a darker tone. Compared to Spiderman though, it actually looks promising because unlike the Spiderman franchise, Fantastic Four could do with a do over.
And that, ladies and gentleman, is our talking point of the day - What do you think could do with a second chance reboot? In the hopes of starting a discussion, I'm gonna name a few of my ideas and from there some of you can jump in with your own suggestions in the comments.
The Golden Compass
Many of you might have forgotten that in 2007 New Line Cinema came out with the long awaited adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, the first in the His Dark Materials trilogy. New Line had this made in the hopes of having another Lord of The Ring's on their hands but unfortunately the film fell flat on its face. Although it had some solid actor's on board with Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Eva Green, the story was watered down and failed to capture the meatier aspect's of the book. The over arching narrative of the trilogy is set around Lord Asriel's (Daniel Craig) aiming to break from his world and build an army to kill the Authority (aka God). This get's the hero, Lyra - an eleven year old girl raised in a prestigious Oxford College, to seek him out with her truth compass and save her friend whose been kidnapped.Not only do we have a brilliant fantasy setting here, but we also have hard hitting themes that could make us think and some damn compelling characters, one of which is one of my favourite's in literature. Pullman's books are so rich with scope that it's ripe for a cinematic venture. One that attempts to put to screen what made the books special, that doesn't talk down to it's audience and has something to say. This is a franchise that has some gumption, a characteristic all too rare now.
Sleepy Hollow
In 1949 Disney brought out a two part feature film that contained two half hour short's based on classic children's literature, one was The Wind in the Willow's and the other was Sleepy Hollow. It followed Ichabod Crane, the new Sleepy Hollow schoolmaster who had all the town's woman besotted with him. In 1999 Tim Burton came out with his version of the tale that had, surprise surprise, Johnny Depp starring as Ichabod Crane, an experimental forensic investigator who comes to Sleepy Hollow to investigate mysterious murders. Of course we have two very different approaches to the original material and this isn't even mentioning the recent TV rehash that's been made over on FOX, but what I'm suggesting here is that we have a fantasy horror film for kids based on the creepiness of Sleepy hollow.There's a sequence in the last act of the 1949 Sleepy Hollow that had Ichabod riding home from a halloween party on his own and scared out of his wits by the tale of the headless horseman. It's creepy and still to this day gives me goosebumps as I fear the headless horseman's arrival alongside paranoid Ichabod. That's a great feeling to have especially as a kid, to not be mollycoddled and have the crap scared out of you just like everyone else. It'd be great to have a Sleepy Hollow film that's made with that gothic creepiness that induces goosebumps; to have the headless horseman be a silent, scary monster like Alien. Whether it's animated or live action this would be a great niche to have filled and with the onslaught of live action fairy tale rehash's hitting our screens, it's a great time to try it out. Somebody get on it!
The Pagemaster
Okay, bare with me here. Anyone old enough to have grown up with The Pagemaster should be able to admit that even with the rose tinted goggles of childhood, it wasn't that great a film. Thing is, that doesn't stop it being good.
Yes, that's why I said bare with me,
The Pagemaster follows Kevin, a 'cowardly' kid who gets stuck in a library during a storm and is engulfed into the world of books, literally. It follows in the footsteps of Bed knobs & Broomsticks and The Never Ending Story, it's a live action-animation fantasy film about the power of reading. Now even though the film was a badly told tale, it does capture your imagination and that is what it's meant to do. It's supposed to be a film that entertains you, show's you the power of using your imagination and why books matter. Film's like that are few and far between now a days and with an unabashed classic tale to tell, it could prove popular. With a rickety old original like this, it means there's even more incentive to reboot it, maybe even with the possibility of a sequel. Any creative who'd take it on could easily make it their own as long as they kept the heart of the original beating. Just a little tender love, care and skill could bring this story to life and keep library's of the world open that bit longer.
Anything by M. Night Shyamalan after the year 2000
It's become real easy to make a punchline out of M. Night Shyamalan over the last 15 years, and it's not without reason. I mean have you seen The Happening? The thing is, it's hard to choose just one piece of work from Shyamalan that should be given a second chance. The Last Airbender was a miscarriage of justice against the original series, which everyone should check out, and After Earth couldn't save Shyamalan from his flop streak even with box office magnet Will Smith involved. Even though the obvious choice would be The Last Airbender, I'm going to choose Lady In The Water instead, simply for the reason that The Last Airbender has a magnificent original series to watch while Lady in the Water has no such luck.
Lady In the Water was originally written as a bedtime story for Shyamalan's kids. It follows the superintendent of an apartment building who finds a girl called Story (yes that's her name) a mermaid like creature who needs to be returned to her home. It's a fairy tale like story that, like The Pagemaster, has a great heart to it. Although over indulged, the morale of the story is that no one can tell you what you are, which is a valuable lesson. Shyamalan seemed so in love with his own fairy tale and telling it specifically that the audience didn't get a chance to love it the way he did. Were this to be given a second chance it could be given a non-sycophant's attention and allow them to have an objective opinion, letting them cut, change and adapt as they saw fit. Lady in the Water is the beginning of what could be a great adult fairytale and maybe without Shyamalan's involvement, something could come of it
Honourable mentions
Crash Bandicoot - It may be a game, but it's been a long damn time since Crash Bandicoot has come out with a new one. With his zany energy and welcoming wackiness, Crash deserves his long awaited comeback.Missy Elliot - Missy's still around, thank goodness, but has mainly kept to producing and writing for "All Ya Favorite Singers!" but it's been a long time since she's given us any of her own tunes. With popular music becoming more and more banal, Missy's return would be a welcome shake up to the chart's.
Destiny's Child - The Destiny's three shaped R&B in the early 2000's and with Beyonce strutting her stuff all around the world, it'd make a welcome and humbling change to have Kelly and Michelle join her.
Young Justice- The much loved animated show only aired for two seasons but it won the hearts of many. It's second season did convolute the story way too much, but if given a second chance, old fans and newly acquired fans cold swarm to watch a great and honest telling of what it's like to be a teenage superhero.
