For anyone who loves the scale and spectacle of a big studio movie, you have to accept an ugly truth: Franchises rule the roost. Original blockbusters haven’t completely gone extinct, but risk-averse executives tend to favor what they believe is closer to a sure thing. It’s a strange predicament for artists, who have to take familiar IP and find ways to get creative within that sandbox. It can work, however: Mission: Impossible has parlayed Tom Cruise’s insatiable desire to risk his life for our entertainment into some all-timer action set pieces. (This year, Cruise has been spotted dangling from a biplane; praise Xenu.) But the one franchise to rule them all has hung around for more than four decades without overstaying its welcome. I’ll give you a hint: In space, no one can hear the characters scream, but in a theater, we sure as hell know what it sounds like when one of the franchise’s signature creatures tears through human tissue.
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