I think the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Die Hard, Saw, and The Godfather are the only films to have escaped the trilogy curse.
It's weird, I hear that about
The Godfather, but my father, who's a huge fan of the
Godfather films, isn't so high on 3. The first one is definatley his favorite, and he really likes 2, but I don't think he was too big on 3.
As far as your
Hulk question is concerned; well, the idea of a reboot with
Hulk isn't really something I've thought about, because really, well, I didn't like the Ang Lee one, And Hulk isn't a comic book character I follow at all. I didn't think there was much to the film, and with comic films like
X-Men,
X2, and
Spiderman, and the first
Blade, which added more substance to comic book films, I think that
Hulk tried way too hard to be serious, and just failed in the process. I don't think it was really that well done at all.
Having said that, I don't really know why they are rebooting it to begin with. They might as well just make a sequel.
But from what I've heard, Bana and Connelly aren't too high on another
Hulk movie, so I guess when you have an entirely different core cast, and a new director anyways, there isn't going to be much connection to the original.
X-Men and Hulk are in completely different situations, however.
Hulk was a not all that well recieved film, the cast and crew want nothing to do with further films, and I don't know how the fanbase felt about it.
X-Men is a very well recieved franchise that, despite some inaccuracies to the source material (most of them coming in
X-Men: The Last Stand), remained more accurate to the comics than not, and has a complete, full story arc to it that, while some of the conclussions my be questionable (in terms of quality), all is brought to resolution, with all 3 movies and their subplots truly acting as smaller pieces to one larger story. Maybe not AS seamless as
Lord of the Rings or even
Star Wars, but definatley one "bigger" story by far.
Hulk was a failure. It's getting redone. The original Batman films were failures. While the Burton's are considered to be okay (I still think that those ones are horribly wrong as well), the latter 2 put a horrible taste in the mouths of Batman fans and casual viewers alike. Batman is, behind Superman, the single most popular comic book character in American culture. One of the most popular CHARACTERS in American culture. A new Batman franchise during the peak of comic book films is pretty much a given. Same goes for Superman, who hasn't had a movie since the early 80's. And
Casino Royale, I hardly consider a "reboot" to the Bond franchise, as, except for having it be his first mission, and taking place in post 9-11 times, the formula is pretty much still the same as other Bond movies. And if I can accept 5 different actors playing the role (6 now with Craig) over the span of 40 years, and the character never aging from the Cold War to 21st Century, then I think I can handle a "prequel" that takes place in modern day.
I can understand remakes, or reboots, moreso when the original was a failure, and the remake is an attempt to do justice to the source material. When the source material has, for the most part, been accuratley represented, I feel no need to ruin what's been made, and ruin the integrity of it, with remakes. Batman NEEDED to be remade and done justice, Superman NEEDED to make a return to the big screen. X-Men, for the most part, was done right. Of course there were changes, and I'm not saying that I'm 100% happy with the films (and despite the fact that I highly enjoy it, and may even call it my favorite,
X-Men: The Last Stand also has the most complaints from me in the trilogy).
As far as Hulk goes, I find myself absolutley not caring because
A. The original movie sucked
B. I've had absolutley 0% interest in the character my entire life
and
C. Hulk isn't nearly on the same level as Batman or Superman
So honestly, I'd rather that it weren't a remake. I'd rather that they didn't try to "reboot" the series. The movie came out like, 4 years ago, and I didn't like it then, so I probably won't like it now.
But at the same time, I have absolutley no care in the world what happens, because I have no emotional investment or attatchment to the project. If Hulk doesn't happen, I'll sleep at night. If Hulk is rebooted, I'll see it in theatres, and sleep at night.
X-Men is a totally different ballgame. I have an immense amount of emotional investment and attatchment to the X-Men. And while there are tons of things that I never got to see in the movies that I'd want to see brought to life (Gambit, my favorite fictional character ever; Sentinels; just to name a couple), I feel that the overall, big picture, is more important than whether I see a Cajun and a robot or not.
The X-Men trilogy is one that tells one larger story through many different subplots, and all connect together, ala
Lord of the Rings,
Star Wars, or
The Matrix. The X-Men trilogy is one that I find did the source material an incredible amount of justice, despite certain differences from the source material. It is one that, as a whole, is very well recieved by the fans and general audience alike. Unlike Batman, Superman, and even The Hulk, which needed to be "done right", X-Men has already been "done right". It's like doing a reboot of
The Godfather, or
Star Wars, or
The Matrix, because there were certain elements that weren't favorable. Would you reboot
Jurassic Park just because the first one didn't feature the boat ride down the river with Alan Grant and the children? Would you reboot
Lord of the Rings because there was no Tom Bombadil, or the confrontation of the Hobbits and Saramon at The Shire?
Just because a reboot happened to one franchise, and was successful, is not justification to run around doing reboots to every franchise that faulters a little bit, and I get tired of these damned Hollywood trends. X-Men is done... it's time for Hollywood to move on to something else now. Cuz remaking these movies everytime a fan has a complaint with something is not going to get us anywhere, because somewhere, a fan will always have a complaint with it.