Hollywood's lack of creativity

Do you remember the time when Hollywood was a place where ideas were shapped and nurtured? Where the films that were produced were some of the most original pieces of art that were around?

I know that I don't. This is partly because I was born after all of that was the case. I get it though, I really do. Why chance a new idea on people when one has a proven track record already.

Recently, we were given a glimpse of what can be done to a fan favourite of times gone by. Transformers. As a kid in the 1980's I watched the show a considerable amount, begged my parents for the toys and destroyed the ones they were willing to buy me. I'd accepted the death of Optimus Prime in the 1986 animated feature, and had moved on with my life feeling safe in the knowledge that my childhood wasn't marred by "re envisioning" or "reinventing".

Thanks Michael Bay. We all saw the marketing potential. The kids of the 80's now have the money to spend and are looking for a bit of nostalgia to brighten there work filled days. And I understand that with CG as good as it is, you could make the Autobots crush the Decepticons in the most brutal ways imaginable. Now without me going into a full-out movie review here, let me just say for the record that the movie had several problems thereby deserving no more than 2 out of 5 stars. I'm just lost looking for the benefit in all this. Many industry types would probably point to their swollen wallets as benefit enough, and from their perspective who can blame them. But for me, the consumer, I find it difficult to understand why they couldn't just make a robot movie that had nothing to do with the Transformers.

In making this movie you'd called on your fans to remember the source material, much of which you then ignored. Aside from the obviousness of bringing in Peter Cullen to reprise his role as Optimus prime, almost everything else of value had been altered. Bumblebee was no longer a VW Beetle; Optimus Prime wasn't a flat-front truck; Megatron was no longer a gun; far too much time was spent on human characters rather than on the Transformers themselves.

I know that I'm focusing on Transformers right now, but this same dialog could be over any number of movies. To list them would a daunting task I'm not willing to undertake, but I will mention some "highlights". The current run of Comic books that are now movies: Batman, Spider-man, X-Men, Superman, Daredevil, The Punisher, The Hulk, etc. Books: Memoirs of a Geisha, Sideways, Fight Club, Harry Potter, etc. Video games: Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc. All of these and many more have had the "Hollywood treatment", all with great boxoffice/finacial success but most with little artistic success.

There is a reason that these characters, settings, and what not are successful. They all tap into some quality in a person that touches their heart, mind or both. So why not turn it into something else? Well, that's all well-and-good if the film version has the integrity and spirit of the original. But, and I would think that most people would agree with me, the ORIGINAL source material was done perfectly well in the first place so there should be no need to redo it just for the sake of making a quick buck.