Scream 5 & Matrix Resurrections: Never Ending Suffering Of Legacyquel

[RAMROD 96,174]

Is this a sequel? Is this a reboot? No. As one of the kids explains, it’s the purgatory between both — alternately known as the requel or the legacyquel. (I’m going to use legacyquel because it’s a great play on words.)

I really liked Scream and loved The Matrix Resurrections. But they also left me wondering if they were ultimately about the same basic idea: If storytelling is, on some level, about either catharsis or the subversion of same, then what happens when you have to tell stories that keep jerking catharsis away from their characters, like Lucy with a trauma-filled football?

In the best serialized stories, the writers, directors, and actors combine to convince you that, say, Meredith really is that stalwart and steadfast because she is a doctor, and doctors are stalwart and steadfast. It’s taking an idea inherent in our culture and pushing it to its absolute extreme.

But in serialized TV shows, we expect things to keep rolling along to some degree. Film sequels are a different beast, and legacyquels are really different. Both Matrix Resurrections and the new Scream need to convincingly tie off stories for characters old and new in a way that will stand as a successful wrap-up for the entire story, but they also need to leave just enough room for the story to continue if need be.

What sets apart the legacyquel is an attempt to build satisfying stories for characters we know from older entries in the franchise and for characters brand new to this particular story. Yes, Sidney and Gale face off with Ghostface again, but so do sisters Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega). If there are more Scream movies, the franchise’s many keepers surely hope you’ll be just as excited to find out what Sam and Tara are up to as you were Sidney and Gale. That way, the franchise’s future is not tied to actors who might not want to keep coming back for more movies every few years.

The irony here is that the addition of new “generations” of characters means the stories of these franchises can’t end. They’re doomed to cycle endlessly, grinding up more and more people. 

But the legacyquel drags entirely new batches of characters into the central stories of the franchise, which ends up feeling slightly like a cycle of trauma perpetuating itself. If we accept that these stories are “about trauma” on some level (and I have doubts, but I’m going with it for purposes of this argument), then the continuation of the story is a continuation of the trauma. And if new people are getting dragged into the story, then the trauma becomes cyclical. Sidney and Neo aren’t spreading damage themselves, but by being in mere proximity to them, you’ll probably end up dead or horribly injured anyway.

There used to be room for many stories within the American film industry, but now, unless you’re willing to make movies for very small budgets that often limit the scope of what you can do, you’re only telling a handful of stories we already know. We’re still telling the same stories we’ve always told. The difference is that we won’t let the characters we love escape them to do something else. They’re stuck in the spiral, and they’re dragging all of us down with them.

 

 

https://www.vox.com/culture/22890147/scream-5-matrix-4-legacyquel

(Full article contains spoilers, which is why I ommited it here, be warned)

 

Interesting article.

[Meta Mart 352]

The new Matrix is ridiculous. For so many reasons. Mainly because that series always was, and this legacyquel is dressing it up, even if you think it's cool meta, as if it's culture is a decent joke.

[Yovska 167]

Blade Runner 2049 was good

[Chromatislaps 34,558]

The Matrix 4 is genius, its actually meant to be this "bad".

Spoiler alert:

Spoiler

Warner Brothers wanted to make the Matrix Sequel with or without Lana. There were countless reports the sequel/reboot would be made without the Wachowski sisters, and eventually it was announced Lana Wachowski would film it. But it's very apparent in the actual dialogues that this movie is a satire and a commentary on nostalgia, reboots and people craving never ending franchizes. The Matrix 4 has a meta awareness of its impact on culture and actually recreates the original Matrix formula but dumbs it down to get a point across. So yeah the movie may be bad, but it's Lana's own choice to do so because she doesn't want to give Warner Brothers the pleasure of a cashgrab franchize.