Article by the Maverick Roundup

Reboots and remakes have consistently faced backlash and sparked controversy online. Many people view their existence as unnecessary and a poor recreation of the source material. However, despite viewers’ frustration with Hollywood constantly putting out identical storylines, there is still a wide range of people who enjoy and appreciate their existence. Many believe these reboots and remakes pay homage to the original and provide a sense of nostalgia. Regardless, the fact remains that if a television show or a movie is recreated, there will forever be discourse on whether or not it is a smash hit or a total fail. 

Iconic television shows like Full House and Boy Meets World recently became the source of reboots. In 2016, Full House became Fuller House, where most of the original cast reprised their roles on the same set two decades later. The new version followed D.J. Tanner-Fuller and her sister Stephanie as they navigated life as adults. Viewers loved the nostalgic feel of seeing the old cast crack the same jokes and go through new experiences together. However, according to film and television review website Rotten Tomatoes, “After the sense of nostalgia, Fuller House has little to offer to anyone except the original series’ most diehard fans.” To support this, Brittany Matthews, a viewer of both Full House and Fuller House states, “When it came down to [the reboot], the nostalgia was great, but it was also almost too much. It felt like they centered the whole show around it.” Overall, most reviews seem to agree with this sentiment because they award Fuller House for its nostalgia, but they condemn it for lacking in everything else. 

On the flipside, when Boy Meets World was rebooted into Girl Meets World in 2014, many older viewers did not enjoy the sense of nostalgia when watching the new show. The reboot followed Riley Matthews, Cory and Topanga Matthews’ daughter, as she journeyed through her teenage years with her friends. The reboot was geared toward the newer, younger generation, which is what many say is the root cause of the show’s failure. According to review website Resetera, “Not enough kids cared about Corey and Topanga [and] not enough adults tuned in.” The older generation who grew up watching Boy Meets World did not want to watch a show catered towards teens and the teens who were watching did not already have an appreciation for the original show. Not only that, but plotlines were viewed as both boring and impractical. Fuller House and Girl Meets World caused reboots to be a constant hot topic, and several other films have followed in its footsteps.

Along with these popular shows, movies have been subject to remakes as well. In 1984, a miniseries was released, based on Frank Herbert’s sci-fi book Dune. For its time, the series was considered decent but easily forgettable; however, in 2021 director Denis Villeneuve recaptured the story through a different lens and turned it into a wildly successful two-parter film series. In 2024, part two of the film series was released, earning a total of $180 million worldwide on its opening weekend and receiving a 93 percent rating from critics, according to Rotten Tomatoes. This success brought in new readers to the original book series and introduced many to the world of science fiction. For many, the remake of Dune was a much needed addition to cinemas. 

Nevertheless, not every movie received such high ratings and success. In 2021, the iconic rom-com She’s All That was remade into a Netflix original movie titled He’s All That. Unlike Dune: Part Two, the movie received a 28 percent rating from critics. The movie featured popular social media influencers who many believe were only in the movie due to name recognition. This was only further confirmed by their poor acting skills and the movie’s overall cheap budget. Critic Cristina Iskander states, “He’s All That is disappointing, both as a reimagining of She’s All That and as a film in its own right.” Even for regular viewers, like Josey Thompson, “He’s All That was a painful watch. I knew after the first five minutes it was going to be bad.” For many, this movie is simply yet another remake that would never reach the success of its original. 

The constant dispute over reboots and remakes might never be solved. It seems that there are both good and bad examples for either argument. Some have surpassed the success of the original, whereas others have fallen short and have become hated. While Hollywood desperately continues to revive their old hits, the debate on their necessity lives on.