A sequel, more than any other type of movie – remakes, adaptations, spin-offs, original fare, even prequels – has an obligation to its audience to achieve coherence with outside material, namely its predecessor. Most basically, the plot should follow from one movie to the next. This means location, names and timeline should remain unchanged, or at least evolve organically as the films progress.
Events in the originals should impact those in the later efforts. Characters at the beginning of a sequel should have the same relationships, the same dispositions and the same flaws they had at the end of the previous film – unless there’s some explicable reason they don’t.
It’s a baseline requirement, and meeting it won’t guarantee a sequel’s success. But it’s nonetheless important, because creating continuity matters both to the internal logical structure of a set of movies and to the economic returns brought forth by a committed fanbase. Sales for, say, collectible humidors would probably have taken a major hit if Fredo Corleone had popped back up in “The Godfather Part III.”
So thank God “Little Fockers” checks that box, because the putrid third wind of 2000’s “Meet the Parents” misses on almost every other count. Still leaning on jokes about male nurses, awkward names (Gaylord Focker! How rich!) and filthy, filthy old-people sex, the movie is dead on arrival – despite a star-studded cast. Like so many caught fish, their flailing is really just an inability to breathe the harsh oxygen of yet another unasked for raunch-comedy about middle-age life.
The hope is that Captain Ben Stiller is playing catch and release, but one can only assume Robert De Niro’s dignity perished on board no later than the third time he uttered the word “Godfocker.”
The plot follows the Focker family as it deals with the tribulations of upper middle-class living in a peaceful Chicago suburb. Gaylord Focker, who now tries to go by Greg, (Stiller, “Megamind”) is the main character: a father and husband beset with complicated issues like having a wife, a family and a job.
As the title would indicate, much of the movie is spent following Focker and his wife Pam (Teri Polo, “The Beacon”) as they attempt to be good parents by making breakfast, taking tours of a prestigious preschool and setting up a gigantic birthday party. There’s also some marital drama between Greg and Pam, caused by a pharmaceutical representative at Greg’s hospital, (Jessica Alba, “Machete”) and the aforementioned Godfocker plot, in which Greg’s father-in-law Jack (De Niro, “Limitless”) waffles on whom to appoint head of the family.
A second step in becoming a successful sequel is something often called “staying true to the source.” This is different from the continuity requirement, because it deals with tone and feel rather than plot and characters, but the idea remains: Unless there’s a good reason for it, comedies should use a similar type of humor and dramatic films should portray a similar type of suspense. This trick allows a group of movies to feel truly connected, even if they’re released years apart.
It’s hard to tell whether “Little Fockers” hits that goal for sequels, but it probably doesn’t really matter, since its main problems lie more with the plot and dialogue than with the idea itself. In fact, those aspects were so sub-par that I found myself questioning – fairly or not – whether I had been mistaken in liking “Meet the Parents” when I first saw it several years ago. Safe to say, then, that “Little Fockers” squarely misses on the third goal of sequels, which is to add something positive and new to the series.
So really, all “Fockers” has going for it is that it’s a sequel of a successful franchise.
A movie that accomplishes slightly more than that, despite working from a tougher angle, is Disney’s recent release “Tron: Legacy.” A follow-up to the 1982 sci-fi cult hit “Tron,” the new effort follows the weathered blueprint of movies like “Star Wars” and “Wall Street,” inviting a son to take up his father’s old work.
In the case of “Tron: Legacy,” that means Sam Flynn (Garret Hedlund, “Country Strong”), son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges, “True Grit”), who was an executive at the software company ENCOM before he suddenly disappeared and left behind a damaged, pre-adolescent Sam. It turns out Kevin had been digitized into a game he’d created.
Although early trips into the realm were intentional, he’d become trapped there by his own creation – a wily copy of himself called Clu who will wreak havoc on the real world if he ever finds a way there. Sam, talented but drifting in a sea of apathy, inadvertently joins the adventure and soon becomes fixated on rescuing his father and bringing him home.
The plot is complicated, but even with just one viewing, audiences are left with an adequate understanding of the basic rules of the digital world of “Tron: Legacy.” Also it gives a clear view into what must have happened in the first “Tron,” way back in the early ’80s.
“Tron” misses slightly on recreating the feel of the original, but enough time has passed that it might be a good thing. The original “Tron” has the sort of neon feel that might have seemed futuristic 20 years ago, but now just looks like the 1980s. That the filmmakers don’t foist that on an unprepared generation is a definite point in favor of the sequel.
Little Fockers: 2 stars; Tron Legacy: 3 stars out of 5
Lin Weeks is a junior majoring in economics. Upset with his omission of the DVD you were most excited about renting this week? Vent at [email protected].
