WHAT'S WITH ALL THE PREQUELS?

Blockbuster season is nearly upon us. Three of the most hotly anticipated--by the studios’ accountants, at least--are "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", "Star Trek" and "Terminator Salvation", due in April, May and June respectively. What they all have in common, apart from a surfeit of computer-generated explosions and well-developed biceps, is that they’re prequels.

The "Wolverine" film explains how the X-Man acquired his shiny metal claws; "Star Trek" recalls the very first mission of Captain Kirk and crew, while "Terminator: Salvation" chronicles the research and development that went into creating the Arnold Schwarzenegger-model killer robot of the original film. These three are doing what "Batman Begins" did in 2005 and what "Casino Royale" did in 2006: they’re reviving a moribund franchise not by dreaming up new adventures for the central character, but by turning back the clock and having a Freudian wander through his formative years.

The one to blame for this phenomenon, like so many others, is George Lucas. Prequels used to be rare events (the Robert DeNiro half of "The Godfather Part 2" being the most notable), but then Lucas churned out his trilogy of scene-setting "Star Wars" prequels, starting with "The Phantom Menace" in 1999. These were unloved yet lucrative enough to spark the flashback trend. And so we got "The Sum Of All Fears" (2002), "Hannibal Rising" (2007) and the imaginatively titled double-bill, "Exorcist: The Beginning" (2004) and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" (2006). Comedy producers also delivered "Dumb And Dumberer" (2003), "Starsky & Hutch" (2004) and "The Pink Panther" (2006), but most prequels are superhero, sci-fi and horror titles, in keeping with their fans’ nerdish fixation on origin stories, a staple of comics and tie-in novels.

The irony is that these genres are supposedly built on their ability to shock, yet prequels are by definition unsurprising: we already know what’s going to happen in the future. For all their special effects, the new "Star Trek" film and its competitors are as cosy and nostalgic as the fluffiest romantic comedy.

~ NICHOLAS BARBER

Picture credit: "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"