To Three, or not to Three, that is the question

As the world braces itself for more Hobbit-mania, the debate still rumbles on as to whether the source book is substantial enough to provide Director Peter Jackson with enough material for the three films he has promised.

It is, of course, a moot point, because in a Hollywood where franchise potential is King, Jackson would squeeze three films out of it if The Hobbit were originally written on the back of a postcard.

I do have to wonder why trilogies seem to be so popular where film makers are concerned. Personally, I blame George Lucas. When the first Star Wars films were released, it must have seemed like a publicists dream to say that they were the middle trilogy of three. I’d be willing to bet that Lucas had no ideas for, and no intention of ever making, any more, but, many years later, he succumbed to fan pressure and released the first trilogy. Since we had already seen the middle trilogy, we already knew how things would turn out, which meant they were little more than a colossal trailer for films we had already seen. Only in Hollywood, right? They may have made money, but garnered little critical acclaim and, surprisingly, no-one seems bothered about seeing the final trilogy. Sorry George.

Comic book adaptations should also try to escape the trilogy trap. The latest franchise to be re-booted is Spider-Man. Coming some years after the original trilogy, we have a new Peter Parker, (Andrew Garfield) replacing Toby Maguire. A good move, because Maguire never really convinced as the science geek turned super hero. And when the Spidey mask went on, stunt men and CGI became the real stars. Let’s hope that the next two efforts employ more stuntmen and less CGI since the effects in The Amazing Spider-Man looked too obviously computer generated. True, the film delves into Spidey’s lengthy history and delivers enough original detail in the shape of Peter’s first love Gwen Stacy, to keep the fan base happy, but fails to acknowledge the fact that anyone interested in seeing a Spider-Man movie already knows that Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and gained super powers. You don’t need to spend millions of dollars and half a movie telling us what we already know, that’s what opening credits are for surely. But then, that’s the trouble with trilogies. They end up being self- contained (George Lucas take note) and any attempt to re-boot them after a lengthy absence necessitates repetition which has the audience shouting: ‘Just get on with it will you!’ at the screen.

Anyone truly wishing to jump on the franchise bandwagon should takes notes from the master of such things. Twenty-three films down the line and after numerous changes of actors in the leading role, the James Bond films are going from strength the strength. No-one has ever offered an ‘origin’ for Bond and one has never been required. Bond simply ‘is’ and is likely to continue for a long time yet.