英語閲讀:我們為何對大片續集情有獨鍾

《變形金剛5》、《蜘蛛俠：歸來》、《加勒比海盜5：死無對證》等大片陸續登陸各大院線，不少影迷朋友表示，今年夏天再也不用擔心片荒啦~ 不過，追了這麼多年的擎天柱、蜘蛛俠還有傑克船長，為什麼大家對他們的愛能一直有增無減呢?

加勒比海盜

Summer is coming, but that doesn’t simply mean hot temperatures. At that time of year, the latest installments from popular movie franchises arrive in cinemas.

夏天來了，但這不併不僅僅意味着高温來襲。每年這時，熱門系列電影的最新之作都會登陸各大影院。

Following the Fast and the Furious, this summer, we have Transformers, Spiderman and Pirates of the Caribbean movies coming our way. These franchises have been so popular for so long that viewing and enjoying them has become part of popular culture all over the world.

繼《速度與激情》之後，還有《變形金剛》，《蜘蛛俠》以及《加勒比海盜》等電影即將於今夏上映。這些系列電影已經流行了很長一段時間，觀賞這些電影已經成為了全世界流行文化的一部分。

But despite their popularity, critics tend to turn their noses up at these profitable blockbusters. “Hollywood has relied on expanding its proven commodities, rather than offering us new ideas,” commented The Huffington Post. Others agree with this, arguing that franchise movies are simply made to pick the pockets of easily deceived film fans.

然而，儘管這些電影大受歡迎，評論家們卻對這些利潤豐厚的大片嗤之以鼻。“好萊塢已經日漸依賴於擴大其口碑產品，而不是給我們看些新點子。”《赫芬頓郵報》評論道。其他人對此也表示認同，認為系列電影只是讓容易上當的影迷們掏腰包罷了。

However, whatever critics say, it isn’t unusual to see people lining up for tickets for these blockbuster sequels. Why is that? Besides the obvious – people continue to enjoy them – what is the appeal of going to see a film that in many respects will be very similar to one you saw two years before?

然而，無論評論家們怎麼説，人們大排長龍買票看大片續集的場面並不少見。為何會如此呢?除了顯而易見的原因 —— 人們依然很喜歡它們 —— 之外，是什麼吸引人們去看一部在各方面與兩年前看過的影片相差無幾的電影呢?

Stephen Snart, writing in The Guardian, has an interesting theory: People like franchises because they sense the effects of the passage of time on the heroes of the movies. Take Jason Bourne for example. At the start of the franchise 13 years ago, Matt Damon – who plays Bourne in four of the movies – was a fresh-faced young man, with little sense of what life had in store for him.

史蒂芬·史納特在《衞報》上發表了一個有趣的理論:人們喜歡系列電影是因為他們在電影的主人公身上感到了時光的流逝。以《諜影重重》為例，該系列電影的首部於13年前問世，如今已四次出演伯恩的馬特·達蒙，當時還是個面露稚氣的年輕人，前路未卜。

But over the course of the years – and five films – he changes in both body and mind. He pays a price for all that frantic running and fighting. As Snart pointed out, you can see this just by looking at the movie posters for the franchise. In The Bourne Identity (2002) Damon was all “youthful oblivion.” In Jason Bourne (2016) the actor appeared old and tired. Of course, this is the actor himself aging, but in our imagination, it’s the story of Bourne himself.

但經歷了這些年 —— 以及五部電影之後，他的'外在和內在都有所變化。他為所有瘋狂的奔跑和戰鬥付出了代價。正如史納特指出的那樣，單看這些系列電影的海報，你就能看出這一點。在電影《諜影重重》(2002)中，達蒙是個完全“不為人知的人物”。而在《諜影重重5》(2016)中，這位演員看起來盡顯老態，滿臉疲憊。當然，這是演員自己變老的原因，但在我們的腦海中，這就是伯恩他自己的故事。

The Roman poet Virgil (70BC-19BC) wrote, “Time flies never to be recalled” – an observation that will always be true. It’s also a little sad.

羅馬詩人維吉爾(公元前70年——公元前19年)曾寫道，“光陰一去不復返”—— 這一觀察是永恆的真理。同時也有些傷感。

The upside (好處) is that looking back can be fun. We watch a new installment of a franchise and think back to what we were doing when the previous movie came out. Bourne, Captain Jack and Bridget Jones all grow old, and so do we.

但好處是，回顧過去十分有趣。當我們觀看系列電影的新片時，會想起先前幾部影片上映時我們彼此都在做些什麼。伯恩、傑克船長還有布里奇特·瓊斯全部年華老去，我們也一樣。