Here's the difference I see between Terminator/Jurassic Park, vs Mad Max/Star Wars. I understand that all of these things are the Nth sequel to a previously existing franchise, and that's usually an indication that all anyone cares about is money. The difference is, I feel like the makers of Star Wars and Mad Max are still trying to tell a story that they care about, whereas the vibe I've gotten from Jurassic World and Terminator 5 is more along the lines of just throwing out fan service to get more ticket sales. And that's probably not fair, especially since all I've seen of Star Wars 7 are two short teasers. And also since Mad Max was never really all that heavy on good stories in the first place. But I guess the new entries still feel like they have a good chance of being in the spirit of the originals. Fury Road probably won't be too heavy on great storytelling either, but the entire series so far just seemed sort of like an "adventure of the week" type deal. Mad Max is just a dude in the wasteland having adventures, and in that sense it's a lot like James Bond movies. And Fury Road looks to be just another "day in the life" for Mad Max. And...I'm fine with that, as long as this particular adventure is entertaining. And Star Wars? I know very little about the new movie, but it's based on such a rich universe that the filmmakers HAVE to be able to come up with a compelling story that actually has a reason to exist.
But Jurassic Park and Terminator? Those don't fit into either of the previously mentioned categories. They aren't part of some epically massive narrative universe, and they don't quite seem to fit the "adventure of the week" format either. They just seem to fall into this void where I can't imagine why the movie even needs to exist in the first place. Hell, throw Die Hard movies into the mix. Things like Terminator, Die Hard, and Jurassic Park, it's like, "could there POSSIBLY even be a story here that's worth telling?" What the hell is the point of making another Terminator movie (from a story-telling perspective), when the franchise's story has long since ceased to make any goddamn sense whatsoever? What the hell is the point of making another Jurassic Park movie when it looks like it's aping themes that have already been done, and the actual setting would make an "adventure of the week" format seem ridiculous? I can accept Mad Max or James Bond getting into yet ANOTHER trap/fight/chase, because the setting actually makes that plausible. But after all the shit that happened in the Jurassic Park series, I have a hard time buying that the same kind of shit is happening AGAIN. After all the shit that happened in the Die Hard series, I have a really hard time buying that this shit keeps happening to John McClane.
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