Underdogs in summer movies include originality, opportunity

Out of the 33 films coming from the major studios, only 12 aren’t a sequel, reboot or based on an already popular property

And Hollywood wonders why people aren't going to the movies. Geez, bring back some originality.

You can make a good movie on a less than exhorbitant budget if you have a good story, director and actors.

Probably shouldn't confuse whether or not something is a sequel with whether or not something is original or creative. They're different things.

It's also cute to see people bemoaning comic book movies as "safe" and "lacking originality" when only a few years ago comic book movies were incredibly risky so they hardly ever got made. Then Marvel got Joss Whedon to figure out how to make them a success and naturally they're cashing in on that success, and suddenly they're safe? LOL.

I checked about some of the movies. While Secret lives of pets will be released in the beginning of August and Finding Dory - in mid-July, Pete's Dragon will be released in Japan in December, and for Ice Age there isn't any release date yet.

People don't go to see new, untested movies.

Heck, here's the most recent Oscars nominees for Best Picture:

Bridge of Spies

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

Spotlight

The Martian

The Big Short

Room

Brooklyn

OK, which ones have people seen?

Lemme guess, Mad Max.

It's the remake people go to see, lol

Lemme guess, Mad Max.

It's the remake people go to see, lol

I'm sure the biggest reason for people wanting to see this movie was that George Miller (Road Warrior 1, 2 & 3) was directing it. After seeing the commercials for it, I decided was not going to pay one cent to see this movie. I made the right choice cuz it was BAD! The Big Short was great. I did pay to see The Martian just cuz I like Sci Fi flicks.

After being TOTALLY disappointed by the second Star Trek movie, the third one is not a copy from the TV series and looks good. Toho has the best popcorn so I will see that at the theatre.

I don't see them doing a better Tarzan Chris Lambert's. The new one should be titled "Titanic in the Jungle".

It's OK though, I can watch Once Upon A Time In The West, The Matrix, Shane, over and over and over....

Sequels are ok if the plot development continues with originally and the writing manages to produce a surprise or two. Its those that simply rely on noise and special effects that get tiresome. That includes all the latest superheroes and the last Star Trek. Haven't made my mind up yet with reboots although I am tending to lean toward boredom with the lack of original character development. Have we had anything refreshing since Bourne? Kingsman maybe? There has been some interesting one offs though, Edge of Tomorrow, Gravity, The Martian, Cloud Atlas (can you tell I'm a Sci Fi fan?), American Hustle. Personally I think its time for a round of decent Mafia or Cockney Gangster flicks.

"Independence Day: Resurgence”

This can have a chance to have some redeeming value only if Bill Pullman is cast once again as President Whitmore.

OK, which ones have people seen? Lemme guess, Mad Max. It's the remake people go to see, lol

True but the last Mad Max movie was in 1985 which rules out a majority of the people in their 20s and younger who probably never watched or even heard of the original. The biggest draws are sequels to recent blockbuster movies, movies with non-stop special effects that involve the involves the possible destruction of the planet earth and animation movies.

Speed: "And Hollywood wonders why people aren't going to the movies. Geez, bring back some originality."

You've had the same argument shot down on other threads. There is plenty of originality that CAN go into remakes, reboots, and what have you. Mad Max, for example, was a FANTASTIC reboot, and I went to go see it SPECIFICALLY because I wanted to see what they did with it, and because it was Mad Max. Some of the best shows on TV right now are reboots, and granted, some of the worst as well.

Which is to say, again, it's not fair nor is it accurate to say that reboots and remakes, or sequels, mean a complete lack of originality. If it's a sequel based SOLELY on the success of an original or series, then there's a big risk that it will be a failure, and lack the aforementioned qualities, but there are plenty of examples where a lot of thought and creativity has gone into things.

Anyway, I have seen more movies in the past month than pretty much my entire time in Japan combined after they dropped late show prices in my area. Some were good, some were bad -- which goes towards my argument that if you drop prices by half, or to 1000 yen or so, people will go and see more movies regardless of if they are hesitant or not, but won't if they are 1800.

Captain America: Civil War SUCKED! It had a few good moments, but it is an example of a movie that should be a single episode of a television series, and an example of why combining stories in TV shows and movies and needing to know it all to completely grasp what's happening is not a good idea. Again, a couple of good moments, but compared to past Avengers movies and Iron Man one-offs the quality was pretty bad (story-wise), and it was just an exercise in masturbation for Marvel fans. That's why characters like Spiderman and The Ant, which was ridiculous, got thrown in for the 'civil war' battle. It was just a "what would happen if these guys fought" -- with no furthering of the plot for their appearance, etc. Big disappointment.

Serrano: "This can have a chance to have some redeeming value only if Bill Pullman is cast once again as President Whoitmore."

Dude, that is one of the most horrible moments in modern movie history -- the existence of that flick, and most notably President Whitmore's big speech, and Randy Quaid's "Up YOUUUUURRRRSSSS!!" at the end. The movie is DEFINITELY going to milk the former for all it's worth, and if he doesn't show up and reprise his role as president he will at least play the part of 'someone who was there and needs to be called upon' for the sequel, and indeed he's in the trailers (and his speech is, though whether it's as horrible voice-over of it he's doing it again is not 100% clear). BUT, I think I might just enjoy turning off my brain and going to see it if I can get a cheap ticket. I'll want that part of my life back after, I'm sure, but I'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to bad movies.