Remakes, Adaptations, and Sequels, Oh My!

During the summer months, you couldn’t take two steps without bumping into a movie that had already been done in one way or another, especially when it came to ripping stories from the pages of a comic book. The colder weather has blown in and with it brought more movies with original scripts, but not enough to fill all the theaters. Remakes (The Thing, Footloose, The Three Musketeers), sequels (Final Destination 5, Paranormal Activity 3, Happy Feet 2) and adaptations (The Help, I Don’t Know How She Does It, Breaking Dawn: part 1) still abound. Although all this may cause some eye-rolling and groans, many of these films either already have or have the potential to bring in large audiences and receive praise from critics. It begs the question: can remakes, sequels or adaptations ever be better than the original? No, really, I’m asking. I can think of only a few rare exceptions...

Better than the original remake: Sabrina (1995)

Better than the original adaptation: Strangers on a Train (1951)

Better than the original sequel: All the sequels of The Pink Panther (1963) when the focus shifted to Inspector Clouseau

Surely, there are others out there or this wouldn’t keep happening, right?