Sequels, Prequels and Re-makes; The Good and the Truly Awful
Godfather 3 was mauled as a terrible sequel.
Knowing when to stop means that we won’t be getting a fourth installment in the Bourne films, though Bourne Supremacy was a superb sequel, but not knowing when to stop meant that Mission Impossible 3 exists and Mission Impossible IV is in pre-production. It’s also the reason behind 7 Police Academy films, each more mirthless than the first insipid offering.
So, when the idea of improving a film with a follow up isn’t appealing what do you do? Write an entirely new and genre defining film? Of course not, all you need to do is make a prequel. A film that takes place before the events of the first film.
Except that, no prequel has ever really added anything to the original film and, by definition, are pointless. Look at the Star Wars trilogy briefly. They weren’t included in the
