Rise of the Planet of the Prequels

It all began in 2010 with the release of Iron Man 2. For me, it was the first reminder of a disease that existed throughout the vast cinematic universe: sequelitis. Sequelitis can be defined as a film sequel that not only is far worse in quality than its predecessor, but, often, destroys a franchise. Sure, there are the occasional successes like The Godfather Part II or Spiderman 2, but more often than not you get films like Grease 2, Staying Alive and, my personal (least) favorite, American Psycho II: All American Girl. Unfortunately, it is a malady that still continues to plague our contemporary society.

But now a whole new monster seems to be on the rise: The Prequel. Just look at the past few years with films like Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the three Hobbit films–okay doesn’t three films just seem excessive for a three hundred page long book?! And it’s not just films. Gotham is a TV show about the backstory of Batman…except that Batman is a 12-year-old Bruce Wayne and it’s actually about Jim Gordon’s rise in the police department. Even The Carrie Diaries took on the backstory of Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City.

To start off, what is the purpose of a prequel? A prequel, from my understanding, attempts to explain how characters from a particular film or show got from point A to point B. For example, X-Men: First Class helps to explain key ideas about Professor X and Magneto’s frenemy situation, how Professor X became paralyzed and how Magneto got his signature helmet and name. At the same time, prequels open up a whole new world that can’t be seen in the original series. In the new series Gotham, we get an origin for characters like Selina Kyle (Catwoman) and Dr. Edward Nygma (The Riddler) that we hadn’t seen before in prior films or TV shows.

So let’s ask ourselves, are prequels really all that bad? The best way I can look at it is by thinking of one of my favorite movies, American Beauty. At the start of the film Kevin Spacey tells everyone how it’s going to end. In doing this, it’s easy for us as an audience to realize that it is not about the destination but rather how we get there, and, damn, does that movie succeed. For prequels we know how it’s going to end because the original story is out there, but that’s not what’s important: what matters is the journey.

So, next time you hear, “oh crap, not another prequel,” stop for a minute and think about the possibilities it opens up. Just maybe we can avoid a spread of franchise-destroying prequelitis and, instead, embrace the rise of the planet of the prequels.