A lot of modern reboots seem really focused on recreating how certain movies or franchises felt when we first saw them, especially ones from the ’80s and ’90s. Sometimes that nostalgia works, and other times it just doesn’t land the same way.

Do you think that feeling is something studios can actually recreate, or was it more about where we were as fans and as a society at the time? Are there any reboots you think struck the right balance, or ones that clearly missed the mark for you?

I kind of pin the blame for the nostalgia buzz on two franchises; Star Wars (TFA in particular) and Stranger Things for '80s nostalgia. Imo they set a pattern for popular culture in focusing purely on nostalgia.

I think nostalgia works as part of a dish. It's when the project becomes pure nostalgia that there's a problem.

4 hours ago, Tom Bacon said:

I kind of pin the blame for the nostalgia buzz on two franchises; Star Wars (TFA in particular) and Stranger Things for '80s nostalgia. Imo they set a pattern for popular culture in focusing purely on nostalgia.

I think nostalgia works as part of a dish. It's when the project becomes pure nostalgia that there's a problem.

I think you’re spot on that nostalgia works best as an ingredient, not the entire meal. When a reboot leans too hard on recreating familiar beats instead of expanding the world or characters, it starts to feel hollow pretty quickly.

I fully agree with @Tom Bacon

Some nostalgia is nice, but if that's all you have to offer, you lose me fast. Adding to Tom's Star Wars example, after The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi tried to take the franchise in a new direction. It was divisive, but the reaction was going back to full nostalgia with The Rise of Skywalker... Which is, by far, the worst Star Wars movie ever!

I think a lot of remakes and reboots fall short because they manage to somehow both fail to capture the thing they're trying to immerse us in nostalgia for AND fail to add something new. Makes them feel like hollow imitations. I'm a pretty big nostalgia person, but even I think it's gotten out of hand lately. An example of nostalgia done well in my Spider-Man (2002) loving heart is Spider-Man: No Way Home. It's a new story that is doing its own thing, but it also gave us some really fun moments with our Spideys and villains of yore. I prefer that to fully rehashing stories we've already seen.