The reviews for the much-awaited Joaquin Phoenix movie “Joker: Folie à Deux” are out, and it seems that not everything went well with the film. The addition of making it a musical has made it feel distant from the 2019 movie. What we’ve noticed recently is that many sequels, especially when the first part becomes a huge hit, look visibly different from the universe they originally created. This is one of the most noticeable flaws of sequels.
The unexpected success of the first movie often leads the director to try bigger things, which takes away from the original tone. If we compare two epic sequels like “Baahubali” and “KGF”, both had outstanding follow-ups, but in the case of “Baahubali”, the first and second parts blended organically. On the other hand, “KGF”’s sequel feels distinct from the first part. While one can argue that this was done to showcase Rocky’s larger achievements, the more likely reason is that the immense success of the first part pushed the makers to invest more money, aiming to make the sequel bigger in every aspect. This is why the world of “KGF Chapter 2” seems very different from the first one.
There is a high chance that this could happen with a movie like “Kantara”, whose grounded story could take a huge leap due to a bigger budget. The same can be said for “Pushpa 2: The Rule”.
We don’t understand what prevents filmmakers from keeping things grounded even after success. Perhaps the greed for more money leads them to try new elements that don’t align with the story.
Another example is the “Fukrey” franchise. The first part was a carefree comedy set in the heartland of Delhi, but after it became a hit, the filmmakers, in an attempt to raise the stakes, introduced politics into the story. Still not satisfied, they took the third installment to Africa, which removed the initial charm and quirkiness of the fukraas.
The first two parts of the “Race” franchise are a great example of how to achieve a seamless transition between sequels, but with the third installment, in an attempt to make it bigger, they brought in Salman Khan and compromised the organic world they had created. Now that they’ve seen the consequences, there are reports of a reboot in the making with Saif Ali Khan returning as the lead, like in the original movie. What are your thoughts on this?
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