DATE: Friday, October 3, 1997               TAG: 9710020088

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MONIQUE FOSTER, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

PLEASE, HOLLYWOOD, PSARE US FROM SEQUELS THAT ARE NOT MORE OF A GOOD THING

Webster's definition of sequel: a cinematic work continuing the course of a story begun in a preceding one.

My definition: a dumb movie showing little or no originality by echoing a story line that probably wasn't that great anyway.

The public is drawn to film sequels to find out what happens next. It's human nature to be curious, to want to know more. I'm still waiting to see the sequel to Anne Rice's ``Interview With the Vampire.'' But let's face it, some stories should not be continued.

If ``Home Alone 2'' wasn't located in New York, seeing that movie would have been like watching the first one all over again. Beware, the third installment, minus Macaulay Culkin, is coming to theaters near you. It's the same with the Mighty Ducks. By the time I saw the third movie, I was praying they'd lose that all-important last hockey game. And could someone please get that lovable but redundant whale Willy a get-out-of-jail-free card? He's been caught more times than a Dallas Cowboy.

Horror movies seem to crank out the most sequels. The first ``Exorcist'' movie scared me so badly I still can't think about it at night without developing a fear of being possessed. The second edition made me laugh. Mike Meyers, Jason and Freddy should be sufficiently dead by now, don't you think?

Another genre overflowing with sequels is children's movies. I was about seven when ``The Land Before Time'' came out. Now there are four sequels. I loved ``Aladdin'' and thank the powers that be that its sequel went straight to video.

I admit, good sequels do exist. I probably know every word in ``Young Guns 2,'' and I thought ``Batman Returns'' was awesome. Several people, including me, enjoyed the Star Wars and Godfather trilogies.

They were true sequels, according to Webster's definition, because they continued stories begun by their predecessors. The battle between the rebels and the empire did not end when Luke Skywalker destroyed the first Death Star. The Corleone family story did not end when its youngest member became the all-powerful Godfather. Contrary to popular belief, ``Speed'' was over when Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves got off the bus.

The money used to make awful sequels can be used to make better movies or pay off the national debt.

Webster's definition of originality: the power of independent thought and/or constructive imagination.

Wouldn't that be nice? ILLUSTRATION: File photo

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