This Is How You Do A Reboot

Hollywood execs, take note: The Tissot Sideral is a perfect amalgamation of the new and the old

- SUFFIAN HAKIM

I HATE REBOOTS AND REMAKES. They’ve ruined some of my favourite works. Disney’s live-action remake of The Lion King and Aladdin did nothing to add to the majesty of the original animated movies. The lifelike animals in the former took away the expressive, emotional presentation of the original, and as for Aladdin... can we just agree as a species that we should not try and replicate any of Robin Williams’ performances?

The Lion King and Aladdin are just the tip of the iceberg. In recent memory, there have been terrible reboots or remakes in Men In Black: International, Ghostbusters, Queen Latifah’s Taxi, The Clash of the Titans, the Star Wars sequel trilogy (tell me that The Force Awakens isn’t a remake of A New Hope)... it’s a nearly inexhaustible list, really.

A common diagnosis for the failure (whether in critical reception, box-office revenue or in terms of public reaction) is something to the effect of “The creators don’t understand what fans loved about the original”.