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.

夏天来了，但这不并不仅仅意味着高温来袭。每年这时，热门系列电影的最新之作都会登陆各大影院。

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.

继《速度与激情》之后，还有《变形金刚》，《蜘蛛侠》以及《加勒比海盗》等电影即将于今夏上映。这些系列电影已经流行了很长一段时间，观赏这些电影已经成为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，尽管这些电影大受欢迎，评论家们却对这些利润丰厚的大片嗤之以鼻。“好莱坞已经日渐依赖于扩大其口碑产品，而不是给我们看些新点子。”《赫芬顿邮报》评论道。其他人对此也表示认同，认为系列电影只是让容易上当的影迷们掏腰包罢了。

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，无论评论家们怎么说，人们大排长龙买票看大片续集的场面并不少见。为何会如此呢？除了显而易见的原因 —— 人们依然很喜欢它们 —— 之外，是什么吸引人们去看一部在各方面与两年前看过的影片相差无几的电影呢？

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·史纳特在《卫报》上发表了一个有趣的理论：人们喜欢系列电影是因为他们在电影的主人公身上感到了时光的流逝。以《谍影重重》为例，该系列电影的首部于13年前问世，如今已四次出演伯恩的马特·达蒙，当时还是个面露稚气的年轻人，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.

但经历了这些年 —— 以及五部电影之后，他的外在和内在都有所变化。他为所有疯狂的奔跑和战斗付出了代价。正如史纳特指出的那样，单看这些系列电影的海报，你就能看出这一点。在电影《谍影重重》（2002）中，达蒙是个完全“不为人知的人物”。而在《谍影重重5》（2016）中，这位演员看起来尽显老态，满脸疲惫。当然，这是演员自己变老的原因，但在我们的脑海中，这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.

罗马诗人维吉尔（公元前70年——公元前19年）曾写道，“光阴一去不复返”—— 这一观察是永恒的真理。同时也有些伤感。

The upside （好处） 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.

但好处是，回顾过去十分有趣。当我们观看系列电影的新片时，会想起先前几部影片上映时我们彼此都在做些什么。伯恩、杰克船长还有布里奇特·琼斯全部年华老去，我们也一样。