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Author: KJMackley

Aug 17th 2015 at 12:27:15 PM

The idea is solid, especially since it is an existing term, but the definition and examples could use some work as there is a lot of overlap with BroadStrokes. Every Highlander example is a more BroadStrokes than this (the pick and choose which elements of the franchise to work with), and speculation on things that have not been released doesn't help either. And in practice the new Star Trek movies are a reboot, one that simply justifies the reboot via TimeTravel.

Truth is a Soft Reboot as a term has less to do with continuity and more to do with a {{Retool}}, hence why they call it a ''Soft'' Reboot. The idea is that either the earlier installment wasn't received very well or had a rather conclusive ending that undermines future installments. So in order to proceed they retool the story to the point it almost IS a reboot, but still acknowledges what came before. As such examples would look more like this:
* Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction follows a very conclusive victory in Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon, but in the interim Human/Autobot relations were severed and a CIA official sponsored a PrivateMilitaryCorporation to hunt down all Decepticons still on Earth, but secretly targets Autobots as well and they go into hiding. This scenario creates new human protagonists and justifies the massive change in the Autobot cast as well.
* Film/GIJoeRetaliation was made in response to the lukewarm reaction to Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra, which was considered too high-tech to the point of lacking tension (everyone had a tool or vehicle to solve the problem), too many characters showing up and dropping out of the narrative and relied too much on slick CG for their action scenes. Retaliation grounds the series by having [[ThePurge the main team killed off]], reducing the cast to a handful of people and they are short on supplies and resources. It still technically follows Rise of Cobra, but the tone of the movie is MUCH different.