The sequels of the movie I don’t want to see –

I don’t want to see: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

For me, the pinnacle of form for Tom Cruise’s beloved spy series is Mission: Impossible III. JJ Abrams made his feature film debut and directed with a drive and frenzy that was and is hard to resist and the tragically deceased Philip Seymour Hoffman offered one of the best villains in film history. There was nothing wrong with part four, nor with part five. But time has passed. 19 years, to be exact, and by the last Mission: Impossible movie, it was clear to me that Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg were all too old to play spies. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning looked to me like a bunch of retirees with fake masks and expensive glasses trying to play highly trained spies. 60-year-olds trying to look 20 or at most 30 years old. None of this worked for me, which means I’m more than happy to skip the upcoming film The Final Reckoning. Mission: Impossible deserves new blood. Hunt should retire even in the mythology of the movies and make way for new talent played by young, athletic, hungry actors in the same way Sean Connery and Roger Moore made way for new versions of Bond.

I don’t want to see: Star Wars: New Jedi Order

There is probably no upcoming blockbuster film that I am looking forward to less than the first (of three) Star Wars films that revolve solely around the character of Rey. Apparently it’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ‘s James Mangold directing and Daisy Ridley returning to the role of Rey. I feel like I’m done with Disney’s new Star Wars saga, I don’t want to hear about Rey, or Kylo Ren, or Poe, or Finn anymore. Ultimately, I consider The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker to be worse films than The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, which I once didn’t even think possible. Instead, I would love to see a movie about Kyle Katarn, directed by Leigh Whannell, the man behind Upgrade and The Invisible Man.

I don’t want to see: Avatar: Fire and Ash

No matter how many times I hear and read that James Cameron’s sci-fi hit is only a “simple Pocahontas copy.” was, Avatar will forever stand as one of the best blockbusters I’ve seen in theaters. It was epic, great, simple in story, but filled with great characters and phenomenal action. The second film, however… This was as thin, flat and empty as the first was entertaining. Cameron basically just repeated the first film and added water to the equation. This left me with absolutely no desire for the upcoming Fire and Ash. In retrospect, one movie would have been enough for me. Instead, I would have liked Cameron to have focused more on a continuation of Strange Days.

I don’t want to see: Happy Gilmore 2

I love Happy Gilmore. Let me make this clear right away. Happy Gilmore is, along with Big Daddy, my favorite Sandler comedy and I’ve probably seen it more than 20 times, all told. This basically means I want more, a good second, a funny third, a fun fourth, a successful fifth. I want and have always wanted more Happy Gilmore. That said, I’m sure Netflix’s upcoming sequel will not only disappoint me terribly, it will also destroy the first film’s legacy, ruining more than it adds, in the same way Prime Video ‘s Coming 2 America did. The streaming giant’s comedy productions lack bite, originality and grit. They are usually so formal, predictable and unfunny that I just don’t want to watch Happy Gilmore 2. Sorry.

I don’t want to see: Avengers: Doomsday

The Avengers is probably the best ensemble-based action movie made since Predator. It’s so good. Fantastically well written, considering that a dozen or so very strong, iconic comic book characters are all given space and done absolute justice while being steeped in character, personality and brilliant action. Avengers: Infinity War is not as brilliant, but very good and Endgame is an absolute pass. That was the ending. They got rid of Thanos, they saved the universe and Tony Stark sacrificed himself for humanity. The circle was complete. The world’s most selfish superhero did the most selfless thing we could dream of. The end. For that very reason, and given that Marvel Studios today is downright lousy compared to the greatness that once was, it makes me not want to see the next Avengers movie. I no longer want to see the Avengers with Doctor Hulk, a beloved character decimated to a sweater-clad chino-wearing dumbass. I don’t want to see the Avengers without Iron Man, without the real Captain America, and I don’t want to see a movie where they use the multiverse to bring Stark back to life because Robert Downey Jr. is now too old and should never play a superhero again. Instead, I would like Marvel to go for the Punisher. Stand-alone, independent films for kids 18 and older. Dark, hyper-violent, super-stylish and gritty – right in line with the top Punisher comics.

I don’t want to see: The Batman: Part II

Planet of the Apes TheThe Batman film by director Matt Reeves stands out (thanks largely to Oscar-winning cameraman Greig Fraser) as one of the best-looking blockbusters I’ve ever seen. Incredibly, brutally beautiful and steeped in evocatively stunning scenes. However, it was not very “Batman” and Pattinson did not fit in at all as the new, lean Emo-Batman. The film was wafer-thin, it was notable that 90% of it was shot in the effects studio “The Volume” (made possible by Epic ‘s Unreal Engine ), and it was clear that Reeves was stuck in the visual rather than in effective storytelling and comic book-accurate mythology. Therefore, Warner Bros. can skip the second film, if I had to choose. Batman should go back to Affleck, if anything. Give me Frank Miller’s Batman, again. Even grayer, even more emotionally damaged, even more violent. Give me the movie where the Joker kills Robin and Batman indulges in the comic book world’s bloodiest vendetta.

I don’t want to see: Riddick: Furya

Vin Diesel apparently sees himself as eternally young. The movie star who defies time and space, who drives his 2000 horsepower Charger over Hoover Dam and who walks around in his white tank top even when he’s outside at the North Pole. I can appreciate all that and I am bizarrely looking forward to Fast 11 (even though I know it will be crap). However, I am not looking forward to the upcoming Riddick: Furya, in which the soon-to-be 60-year-old Diesel will play a violent, capable, unpredictably dark, super-lethal raging alien with giant upper arm muscles. Because it won’t work. Riddick was great in Pitch Black (the iconic indie film), but already in the sequel it derailed and the character himself should have been buried shortly thereafter, if you ask me.