My rant about Prequels

My rant about Prequels 

 

I can be narrow-minded when it comes to Prequels. I mean, they can be hard to make because you have to tell the story backwards without contradicting yourself. That's the one and only problem I have with prequel stories. How can I be invested in a story if I already know the outcome? That's not always the best excuse to not watch or read them, just because you already know what happened, that doesn't mean you'll know how things will play out. For example, if I told you that Harvey Dent died in the dark knight without the either you died a hero or live long enough to see yourself be the villain line his death adds no weight to the story. 

That's how you make a good prequel it has to reinforce what we already know and adds context to it. Another example in history class I was jaw-dropped to learn that Black people were slaves to the point where I didn't believe it. After I saw Roots, underground and went to the Africa American museum I was still in shock. Hearing about what happened in the past should be as good as seeing it if it's not then something is wrong. Also, having this I already know what happened attitude can make you look arrogant. Let's use History class for example do you think the history teacher will accept I already know what happened as an excuse for not doing your homework? What about wars knowing who won means nothing if you don't know how the war was won and how it started because we will repeat past mistakes. 

Sometimes it's not about the destination is about the journey. Batman fans were annoyed that Batman Begins told Batman’s origin story. They didn’t want to see Batman’s origin being told because less is more. Seeing Batman's origin in that movie didn't ruin the movie for them. The same thing goes for Arrow, with the flashbacks. In fact, that's considered the best part of that series. There are somethings that shouldn't get a prequel because there isn't much to work with.

Another problem I have with prequels is when you bring in a new character or element from the past, it could overshadow the present story. Count Dracula, I mean Dooku, can close to doing that for me In the Star Wars prequels. I'm annoyed with how he was wasted in the third film. Speaking of Star Wars, there are things Star Wars fans didn't like about the Star Wars Prequels like the midichlorians, the prophecy, CGI Yoda, not knowing what role the Clone Wars play in this franchise etc.   

Look at Terminator Salvation, for example. That movie tried to tell us how John Connor became the resistance leader that we hear about in previous films. That was the problem I had with the movie I didn’t want to see that plus we didn’t hear stories about how he became the leader of the resistance he just became the leader. Because we don’t have a lot of knowledge of what the characters or what the universe was like beforehand that creates continuity issues. ( I know that's not the best example but you get the idea.) When you don't have an outline for a prequel you could write yourself into a corner. This is what I'm worried about in the show Gotham, I'm worried that it will make all the villains sympathetic. Do I really have to explain how problematic that is?

To me, a good prequel is a standalone story that flushes out characters and the world that we're familiar with without having prior knowledge of it. So far, we have that with X-Men first class despite the continuity issues. We also have that with the new Plant of the ape's movies; they almost connect with the original movies. Another way you can make prequels work is by telling the story backward I mean have the movie start in the middle of a character doing something wrong. Then have the movie shows the events that led up to that moment showing that he or she is not a bad person. Halo Reach is a good example of doing that and being a prequel. (Despite the hiccups in continuity.) That’s all I have to say about this subject.