Nostalgia is a strong emotion. It's the feeling of summer with your friends, times on vacation with your family, or your favorite movie from your childhood. Most importantly, nostalgia sells, and it sells big. It's very clear to see the impact nostalgia has on our society. We have new Star Trek movies, a new Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars movies about different characters, and most recently a new 'Jurassic' trilogy. Here's the thing though, a lot of these movies carry hype, but don't deliver on said hype.
The issue here is, in my opinion, nostalgia gone awry. When the first Jurassic Park movies were released in the early 90's, and Star Wars was released in the 70's, they were ground breaking, technologically advanced films. They had good stories, great characters, and just an aura about them that had never been felt before.
On top of that, having them be a set of movies, they brought great anticipation of what was to come, from an already great movie. That feeling of discovery and enjoyment was genuine and amazing for everyone who saw the films. But now, those ideas and characters from the movies have become so ingrained in our culture and the zeitgeist of society that they're almost a given.
This is an issue for film makers wanting to recreate that sense of wonder. Everyone knows that Darth Vader is Luke's father, we all know that the T-Rex escapes and Jurassic Park is a failure, etc. However, there is a drive to cash in on that nostalgia and to try and recreate that sense of wonder. But often times, these movies tend to be overblown and don't fulfill the joy people are looking for in the movies.
Now, typically these movies are decent! I happen to enjoy the new Star Wars Trilogy, those being, "The Force Awakens", and "The Last Jedi". However, for a good number of the films, the movies seem half-baked and don't live up to the original movie's joy and wonder (In the first Jurassic World, one of the characters even mentions how 'the original park was so much better', in a way acknowledging that the remake won't live up to expectations).
So what is there to do about this? In my opinion, I feel that movies that want to exist in a universe already established, should try and find a story that is unique. We don't need to see the first Jurassic Park all over again, we know what happened! We don't need to see the Rebels (Resistance in the new Star Wars trilogy) blow up the Death Star again (Star Killer Base in The Force Awakens).
If you want to cash in on nostalgia, then by all means, make another Jurassic or Star Wars movie, but make it original. There are plenty of talented writers out there who I know would be able to deliver good new stories. Don't pander to the audience, deliver to the audience.
