Yesterday, I wrote about why, despite my undeniable fandom, I couldn’t be excited about the prospect of an Adventure Time movie. Now I’m going to tell you about another thing I ought to be into but am not. I, a Breaking Bad fan to the core, have not watched Better Call Saul.
Why wouldn’t I want to go back to a world I loved so dearly? Wouldn’t it be a dream come true? A friend of mine literally asked me those exact questions. Well, I answer, a sequel is a sequel, even when it’s a “prequel,” and lightning rarely strikes twice.
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Some sequels actually improve upon the original. Gremlins 2: The New Batch is Joe Dante’s masterpiece. And I’ve always been partial to the weird, metaphysical darkness pulsing below the surface of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. Movie lovers will debate until the end times whether The Godfather Part II bests its predecessor (I love both but prefer the original) or which is the greatest Toy Story movie (for me, it’s the third one). And there are cases when a sequel that disappoints in most ways can still have redeeming qualities, like The Matrix Reloaded (but not Revolutions; never Revolutions).
By and large, though, sequels have a very well-earned bad reputation. We do ourselves a disservice when we forget that just because there’s a sequel to something we like. Better Call Saul is getting decent reviews. Maybe I’ll check it out but I won’t regret my wait-and-see approach. As for the upcoming Wet Hot American Summer Netflix sequel, you’ll forgive me for being squeamish about exhuming the body of one of the greatest film comedies of all time and making it walk around like it’s Weekend at Bernie’s (II).
To be fair, Better Call Saul has been getting pretty stellar reviews. I’m not sure I’ve ever boycotted something that was a follow-up to something I loved simply because I loved the original thing so much, but I guess I understand that mindset.
Not that my opinion matters to someone who has never met me, but I’m actually really enjoying Better Call Saul and particularly enjoying how different it feels from Breaking Bad while still maintaining a meaningful connection to it.
I think the key to not feeling like a retread is that each episode is not just a ramping up of tension as Jimmy gets in deeper and deeper trouble, like Walt did. Instead, they’re doling out seemingly disparate storylines slowly throughout the season, which seems to give us a little more space and time to get to know the world of 2002 Albuquerque.
Setting the bar at “as good as Breaking Bad” is ridiculous since it’s one of the best shows of all time in many peoples’ eyes, but the way they’ve made the show, I’m already not making that comparison but just enjoying BCS on its own terms, and I’m really enjoying it so far.
This isn’t the same thing, exactly, but I’ve found that I have no nostalgia-based excitement for a lot of the properties getting dragged out.
I think the new Jurassic World looks dumb. I don’t trust that JJ Abrams can make a good movie, Star Wars or not. I’m a little curious, but generally pessimistic, about the new Twin Peaks. I am cautiously optimistic about Wet Hot, mostly because I just want it to be good, not because I think it will be. Pretty much the only projects I’m excited for are Max Mad: Fury Road (based on the footage that’s been released, not the return of a beloved bygone property) and the new Ghostbusters* (due to the people involved, again not because of the return of a beloved property). Otherwise I’m generally indifferent to the return of a lot of old properties, and have no intention of going to see any of them.
*I mean the all-female Ghostbusters, not the dumb and cowardly all-male Ghostbusters that Sony said they’d develop to placate loud-mouthed idiots.
To be fair, Better Call Saul has been getting pretty stellar reviews. I’m not sure I’ve ever boycotted something that was a follow-up to something I loved simply because I loved the original thing so much, but I guess I understand that mindset.
Not that my opinion matters to someone who has never met me, but I’m actually really enjoying Better Call Saul and particularly enjoying how different it feels from Breaking Bad while still maintaining a meaningful connection to it.
I think the key to not feeling like a retread is that each episode is not just a ramping up of tension as Jimmy gets in deeper and deeper trouble, like Walt did. Instead, they’re doling out seemingly disparate storylines slowly throughout the season, which seems to give us a little more space and time to get to know the world of 2002 Albuquerque.
Setting the bar at “as good as Breaking Bad” is ridiculous since it’s one of the best shows of all time in many peoples’ eyes, but the way they’ve made the show, I’m already not making that comparison but just enjoying BCS on its own terms, and I’m really enjoying it so far.
This isn’t the same thing, exactly, but I’ve found that I have no nostalgia-based excitement for a lot of the properties getting dragged out.
I think the new Jurassic World looks dumb. I don’t trust that JJ Abrams can make a good movie, Star Wars or not. I’m a little curious, but generally pessimistic, about the new Twin Peaks. I am cautiously optimistic about Wet Hot, mostly because I just want it to be good, not because I think it will be. Pretty much the only projects I’m excited for are Max Mad: Fury Road (based on the footage that’s been released, not the return of a beloved bygone property) and the new Ghostbusters* (due to the people involved, again not because of the return of a beloved property). Otherwise I’m generally indifferent to the return of a lot of old properties, and have no intention of going to see any of them.
*I mean the all-female Ghostbusters, not the dumb and cowardly all-male Ghostbusters that Sony said they’d develop to placate loud-mouthed idiots.