7 Franchises That Hollywood Needs To Stop Milking

Look, we all love the movies. They're a place for passion and creativity to go at it on the big screen, giving us plenty of eye candy and entertainment to relax to for two hours. Heck, with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu providing original content now, we may not even have to drive all the way to the theaters to catch a flick in the future. But sometimes enough is enough: people like sequels, but they also like something fresh. Many new productions spring up each and every year, but they seem to get overshadowed by dormant franchises that continue to milk their IP until audiences stop showing up. The indie market was once a place where filmmakers could craft new experiences for interested viewers like Steven Soderbergh's Sex Lies, and Videotape, Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, or Kimberly Peirce's Boys Don't Cry. Now, however, it's just seemingly blockbuster after blockbuster, adhering to a similar recipe without much divergence, with even so-called "risky" films like La La Land being throwbacks to older formulas. Until the day comes when producers get the idea of green-lighting more challenging movies, here are seven franchises we believe are being treated like indispensable cash cows that need to end before they become unwatchable. You may disagree with our opinion, but that's what the comments section is for. 1) Transformers It's easy to hate on Michael Bay’s Transformers series, but he doesn't exactly do much to inspire excitement. As each film is released, it genuinely feels as though Bay has stopped caring to the point where the most recent one, Transformers: The Last Knight, was riddled with inconsistent aspect ratio problems. Those that think that these movies are not his fault need only look at the behind-the-scenes features for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen wherein Bay insisted on one of the Transformers having wrecking ball testicles. Unlike that aforementioned film, however, which managed to be a box office success in spite of its horribleness, Transformers: The Last Knight was an indication that audiences have grown tired of the repetitive animations and trash dialogue. Not only was it the worst reviewed, but also the lowest-grossing in the entire series. Despite this, Paramount intends to start up a Transformers cinematic universe, starting with the upcoming spinoff Bumblebee next year. As Bay will remain on as a producer (like he did with the critically-derided Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows), the change in directors does not give us much hope. In short: this franchise needs to end. 2) Star Wars Spinoffs George Lucas envisioned three trilogies and nine entries when he first began making Star Wars. And with two of the three trilogies now complete, it made sense that Disney would want to pursue the final trio with Episodes VII-IX. However, to call the anthology spinoff films set between the releases of each main episode unnecessary would be an understatement. They're concerning stories that are mildly interesting, but serve no purpose other than to diminish the Original Trilogy. For instance, who honestly wanted to know about the secrets of the Death Star when its purpose was to be a galactic weapon of mass destruction? And why should we learn about Han Solo’s backstory when his roguish mystery added to the appeal of his character? With all the production problems reportedly coming out of Solo: A Star Wars Story, including the complete change in directors from Phil Lord and Chris Miller to Ron Howard, let us hope it's one of the last standalone films to emerge from Disney. 3) Pirates Of The Caribbean Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl must have seemed like an insane idea when it was pitched back in the early 2000s. The concept of taking a theme park ride and turning it into a major blockbuster budgeted at over $100 million is the kind of thinking that probably led to the disastrous 2012 film Battleship. Yet, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was a large success, riding off its witty charm, amazing VFX, and Johnny Depp’s phenomenal performance as Captain Jack Sparrow (which earned him an Oscar nod). Sequels were set-up in the movie’s narrative, resulting in the back-to-back filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. While receiving lower reviews than the first film, they still stuck to the same task of expanding the world/mythology of the pirates and continuing the story of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan. But since those were released, Disney has continued to bring back the series from its resting place in order to ring out more money, even though the arc of Turner and Swan was relatively complete by the third one. But of course, the reasoning has been that audiences are still interested in Jack Sparrow, and with the massive success of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, it seemed that their logic was sound. However, with the latest iteration, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, underperforming in comparison to its predecessors, let us hope any ideas about continuing the franchise have now sunk to a watery grave. After all, there's only so much Jack Sparrow one can take before needing to swallow a keg of rum. 4) Underworld With so many watered down action franchises clearly aimed at a young adult demographic, Underworld is a breath of fresh air as its R-rating markets it towards an older crowd. But just because it's one of the few to do that does not earn it longevity. The fact is, Underworld has chosen to take a semi-interesting mythology involving a war between vampires and lycans, and turned it into a lazy popcorn series clearly built for the purposes of showing off attractive actors in tight leather. While we're not claiming that it's anywhere near the level of disparity as the Twilight series, it's truly saying something when a battle between werewolves and stylish humanoid vampires lacks any sense of gravitas or excitement. With the last three entries getting worse and worse reviews, it seems clear that the sixth movie should either be a finale (as was done with the recent Resident Evil: The Final Chapter) or canned altogether. 5) Ice Age The first Ice Age, released back in 2002, was, like the first Toy Story, a feat in computer animation. Combining a talented voice cast with a genuinely touching story involving returning a human boy to his tribe, Ice Age set itself up as being a potential rival for Pixar. Most viewers may particularly recall a scene in which a young Manny views a cave painting that reveals his horrifying backstory of losing his wife and child to a pack of hunters. Alas, that level of heart was not to be seen in any other successor. Starting from the first sequel itself, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Blue Sky Studios evidently decided to substitute the heart of its predecessor with pointless gags that detracted from the drama, such as making Sid even more of a moron or adding unnecessary comic relief characters in the form of Crash and Eddie. While the first Ice Age had had many funny moments, they never took away from the serious parts like what happened here. Every entry since then has continued to degrade the declining dignity of the original, to the point where the latest one, Ice Age: Collision Course, had the characters travel across the land to stop an asteroid. Absolutely ridiculous. 6) Saw Everyone enjoys a good horror movie, and the first Saw had a certain charm to it. Written and directed by then-emerging filmmaker James Wan, who has since gone on to make notable horror efforts like Insidious, The Conjuring, Insidious: Chapter Two, and The Conjuring 2, Saw envisioned the antics of a madman named Jigsaw, who, suffering from an inoperable brain tumor, decides to make others appreciate life more by putting them through horrific traps they must escape: the most famous one being the bear trap which featured on some of the film's promotional posters. What made Saw particularly pleasing, and a stand-out from other indie horror flicks that were being released at the time, was its focus on the various mysteries. Why were the two people there? Who was this Jigsaw Killer? What was his end goal for them? Why was there a dead body in-between the two guys? Sadly, the sequels chose to abandon this in favor of doubling down on the gruesomeness of the traps. To call them torture porn would be appropriate as they became increasingly more interested in tormenting their protagonists than telling a coherent story. While Saw: The Final Chapter was, as its name implies, meant to end the franchise, it's instead being continued for what little name recognition the brand contains now with the upcoming Jigsaw. 7) The Mummy Look, as much as some may not want to admit it, the 1999 Brendan Fraser-led The Mummy was a thoroughly invigorating experience: a true adventure classic that introduced exotic locations, groundbreaking CGI and a subtle dash of self-awareness. Heck, years before that, the 1932 version of The Mummy stunned audiences as well with yet another top performance from famed monster actor Boris Karloff. But it's a series that relies on throwing its all behind a single storyline. Once you get past the initial mummy encounter, it becomes redundant to have a new mummy conveniently show up with each sequel. Perhaps that's the reason The Mummy Returns, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Scorpion King, and the 2017 reboot have all felt lacking in something. As not even Tom Cruise’s charms could resuscitate interest in the property, let it be put to the rest now.