People like to complain about Hollywood’s endless stream of reboots and remakes, which seems to only be getting worse in the 2020s, but some of them have actually turned out pretty great. In the post-COVID era, Tinseltown is relying on safer and safer bets, and that means we’re getting a lot of recognizable I.P. at the multiplex.
Most of these reboots are terrible and uninspired; last year’s Wolf Man reboot didn’t work at all. There are fantastic reboots just like there are terrible original movies. In the hands of a filmmaker with a singular vision, like James Gunn or Matt Reeves, franchise reboots can be a wonderful time at the movies.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Since Roger Corman’s unreleased low-budget effort, Hollywood has attempted to mount a Fantastic Four movie franchise three times: in 2005, in 2015, and in 2025. After the first two miserable failures, it was third time lucky for Marvel’s first family. The MCU’s Fantastic Four reboot is visually stunning, emotionally engaging, and perfectly in line with the hopeful tone of the original comics.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps breaks away from the MCU’s established house style with a dazzling retrofuturistic ‘60s aesthetic, and breaks away from Earth-616 to explore an alternate universe where the world is a unified utopia. First Steps nails the casting of the ensemble, it nails the optimism of the team, and it nails the notoriously tricky “Coming of Galactus” storyline.
The Invisible Man
Leigh Whannell’s reboot of The Invisible Man has almost nothing in common with H.G. Wells’ source material. It goes its own way and tells its own story, and the movie is all the better for it. The Invisible Man is a haunting portrayal of the trauma of domestic abuse.
After escaping from an abusive relationship, Elisabeth Moss’ Cecilia begins to suspect that her ex is stalking her with the sinister power of invisibility. The titular invisible man proves to be a really powerful horror metaphor for the specter of abuse hanging over a survivor.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a legacy sequel both in front of and behind the camera. It’s a revival of the Ghostbusters franchise directed by the original director’s son. Jason Reitman’s reverence for his dad’s work on the original movies bleeds into Egon Spengler’s granddaughter’s quest to resurrect his ghostbusting business.
Paul Feig’s reboot failed because it tried to recapture the magic of the original classic; Reitman’s reboot succeeds because it does something else entirely. It’s a story about family, and it works beautifully.
The Toxic Avenger
Macon Blair’s Toxic Avenger reboot was in the can for a couple of years before it finally secured a distributor, because it was considered to be much too graphic and gory for public consumption. But that’s exactly what The Toxic Avenger needs; it’s a goopy, grossout B-movie.
Blair isn’t interested in deconstructing The Toxic Avenger with a gritty reboot; he set out to make a bloody, bawdy, honest-to-God Troma movie, and he absolutely nailed it. Much like its predecessor, The Toxic Avenger reboot is a quintessential midnight movie.
Superman
James Gunn’s DC Universe arrived fully formed last summer when Superman flew into theaters. Rather than building the world from the ground up like the MCU, the DCU dropped us in at the deep end, like we’d picked a random issue off the shelf and immersed ourselves in Superman’s day-to-day.
Gunn did a really great job of making this movie feel like a typical week in Superman’s life, torn between his two lives and struggling to do good in the face of the incessant evil and corruption of the human world. After a decade of drab, dreary Superman movies, Gunn’s bright, colorful reboot felt like a breath of fresh air.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Although it bombed at the box office, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is one of the best big-budget tentpoles of the past few years. It dusted off a franchise that had never really worked on the big screen and turned it into a fast, fun, wildly entertaining ride.
The latest D&D movie owes a lot to comedic Marvel blockbusters like Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy. But when that formula works, it really works — and in Honor Among Thieves, thanks to a solid script, a game cast, and well-paced direction, it really works.
Top Gun: Maverick
Before Top Gun’s sequel was released, it seemed unnecessary and, frankly, destined to fail. But then, Top Gun: Maverick blasted onto the big screen at Mach 10 and left those naysayers exhilarated and speechless.
Top Gun: Maverick is one of the most riveting cinematic experiences ever created. The roar of the engines rumbled the handrests. The speed of the planes slammed you into the back of your seat. Watching Top Gun: Maverick in a theater was like going on a rollercoaster (in a good way, not a Scorsese-bashes-Marvel way).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Until Mutant Mayhem revitalized the franchise, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stories hadn’t focused much on the “teenage” aspect of these characters. But talking turtles who do martial arts and eat leftover pizza in a New York sewer will only sustain so much storytelling and character development.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg saw an opportunity to depict the Ninja Turtles as actual teenagers, grappling with real teenage issues. Mutant Mayhem is as much a touching, relatable coming-of-age movie as it is a superhero actioner.
Godzilla Minus One
Writer-director Takashi Yamazaki brought the Godzilla franchise back to its postwar roots in Godzilla Minus One, and it resulted in the franchise’s best entry in decades. The later movies lost sight of the symbolism, but Godzilla was originally conceived as a metaphor for the horrific effects of nuclear war.
If you removed Godzilla from the equation, Godzilla Minus One would still be a compelling story about Japan recovering from devastation. But, of course, Godzilla is there, and the kaiju sequences are an awe-inspiring blockbuster spectacle.
The Batman
Matt Reeves distilled the character of Batman into a perfect cinematic character study. The Batman is a moody detective story that accurately depicts Bruce Wayne as a sleep-deprived weirdo who hardly ever wants to take off the cowl, and depicts Gotham as a crime-ridden cesspool ripped straight from a classic 1970s neo-noir.
Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight is appropriately awkward and antisocial, Greig Fraser’s cinematography is appropriately gloomy and grainy, and Michael Giacchino’s score is appropriately somber and melancholic. The Batman is a bit overlong and overcomplicated, but it captures the exact right mood.