Oscar clout tends to make certain flicks seem sacrosanct; as if the very notion of a sequel were inconceivable. King’s Speech 2 sounds like some corny insider gag from the Critic, right? Step back and think about it, though. There are actually a lot Academy Award winners that didn’t have too many qualms about follow-ups. The Godfather, Silence of the Lambs, Return of the King… and, yes, Rocky come to mind immediately.
That last one’s the most relevant, as Mark Wahlberg told EW recently that he’s really jonsing to follow-up the Fighter with another movie about Micky Ward. Of course, he’s conscious of the excesses of that other boxing movie series and would want to just keep the fun to just one movie about Ward’s epic fued with Arturo Gatti. I guess that dashes any fleeting ideas of him fighting, say, Rampage “Closest Thing to A Modern Mr. T” Jackson in a third movie or a North Korean super soldier in a fourth.
I liked the Fighter, so why not? Considering how much of a passion project this was for Wahlberg, I can see him pushing pretty hard for it. Actually, Ward himself is pushing pretty hard for it. He's supposedly been calling Wahlberg all the time asking for another movie.
I don't think Mark Zuckerberg's been asking for the same thing about the Social Network...
Especially considering how well they portrayed the fights that were in the movie. They choreographed them perfectly and even used the real audio commentary from the actual fights.
I generally like Whalberg, but only when he's in above his head around better actors and being used for his vocal cadence (The Departed, I Heart Huckabees, Boogie Nights). Any time he is the primary in a non-wacky role he tends to come off too serious.
I'm with this guy on this one.
And for the record, I don't like Whalberg anyway.
I liked The Fighter well enough, so I'd be up for watching a sequel of sorts!