C’mon Hollywood #194

… do something different with the Tomb Raider and Ghost Rider sequels!
by Sturdy

With the recent announcement of a third TOMB RAIDER film and a second GHOST RIDER film, I think we need to revisit the problem of Hollywood and sequels. Not all sequels are bad. To be honest, a lot of sequels are great and we all look forward to them. But is there anyone out there that actually thinks the sequels to TOMB RAIDER and GHOST RIDER will be anything but tired retreads of the originals? They shouldn’t be making sequels to these films in the first place, but if they insist, they at least need to do something different with them.

I hope they can do better than the first two.

The Tomb Raider sequel will be more of a challenge than a Ghost Rider sequel. For starters, going forward without Angelina Jolie is going to be tricky. She wasn’t exactly perfect as Lara Croft, but she definitely looked the part. In truth, it didn’t matter who you had playing Croft because the action was a joke and the storyline was horrendous. I’m one of the few people that think it’s possible to make a good Tomb Raider film, but it’s actually going to take some creativity with the script and some well crafted action sequences. If they continue with the same train of thought that pushed the first two forward, they’re going to be in for a box-office dud.

Shouldn’t be too hard to do better than this one.

Also, people are already clamoring for Megan Fox to play Lara Croft. Aside from being insanely hot, I really don’t even like Megan Fox, but I do think she should set her sights higher than playing a character that Angelina Jolie has already made famous. I think they’d be better off putting more money into a decent script and then giving the reigns to a relative unknown actress. Jolie proved that a big name isn’t going to make a Tomb Raider film decent, so there’s no need to throw money at an actress and have her not want to be there.

Hot enough, but I want an unknown for Lara Croft

While TOMB RAIDER had the look down pat, nothing was right with GHOST RIDER. Part of that is due to the ineptitude of Mark Steven Johnson and the other part was due to Nicholas Cage. I like Cage as much as the next guy, but he’s not Johnny Blaze. The best way to go forward with a Ghost Rider film is to start completely over, ala THE INCREDIBLE HULK. We need a new actor and a new story and a director that has a feel for the character and their situations. The ingredients are there to make a good Ghost Rider film, they just need to turn it over to someone that cares.

Not all sequels have to be more of the same

I think there’s a growing fear in Hollywood to try anything new. The powers that be want a series or a character that people recognize and that they can squeeze for profits. So I guess the logic is that since the first TOMB RAIDER and GHOST RIDER films eventually made money, they might as well go for another sequel. This way, they don’t have to go through that pile of scripts on their desk and can avoid taking a risk on a new and innovative project. It’s frustrating, but lets hope that in the case of TOMB RAIDER and GHOST RIDER, a sequel doesn’t necessarily mean more of the same.