Anatomy of a Blockbuster
Joel here. I'm warming up for my date with Capt. Sparrow and his cohorts in what is sure to be the summer's biggest movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest." I'll be catching it tonight at Celebrity Theatre at the midnight showing. To really get into the mindframe for another pirate adventure, Ella and I re-watched the original last night.
It's every bit as good as you remember. Maybe better. The small things stood out for me last night. When Will Turner first goes to the Governor's house, bringing the Commodore's sword, he breaks off the candlestick holder and then shoves it in a vase. Hilarious, and the kind of thing that normal summer blockbusters miss. You see what separates "Pirates" or for the matter any great summer blockbuster from the average fair, is the little things.
Every big movie from May to September has explosions. They all have muscled up heroes, and slimy villains (sometimes literally). Generally they come stocked with evil schemes, and unselfish sacrifices. What many of them miss, and what sends them directly to the discount pile after release on DVD, is thin characters. Jack Sparrow, for all intents and purposes, exists, at least for the two plus hours we're watching. He makes choices, some honorable, some despicable, but real choices with consequences and repercussions for him and his world. That dynamic is the reason why the "X-Men" films and "Batman Begins" have largely been praised and "Fantastic Four" panned. It's the reason we still watch and talk about "Star Wars" but have almost completely forgotten "I, Robot."
I don't mean to bring down those of you that like the bullets and fistfights without all the angst and existentialism. There is nothing wrong with a little mindless fun. Just the way that we don't take Tolstoy to the beach to read, we as a nation don't always want to bring our brains to the movies. And why should we have to? But there is a distinct difference in the latest bodice-ripping paperback and "Confederacy of Dunces." If a filmmaker wants his (or her) film to be remembered, to be shared from parents to children, for years to come, they need to add those little things. Real character depth is what sets apart the great adventure films from the forgettable popcorn fare.
I have no doubt, we are in for another treat in the latest "Pirates..." installment. Now if we could just get a few more summer heroes as fully realized as Capt. Jack, we'd have a real summer to remember.
It's every bit as good as you remember. Maybe better. The small things stood out for me last night. When Will Turner first goes to the Governor's house, bringing the Commodore's sword, he breaks off the candlestick holder and then shoves it in a vase. Hilarious, and the kind of thing that normal summer blockbusters miss. You see what separates "Pirates" or for the matter any great summer blockbuster from the average fair, is the little things.
Every big movie from May to September has explosions. They all have muscled up heroes, and slimy villains (sometimes literally). Generally they come stocked with evil schemes, and unselfish sacrifices. What many of them miss, and what sends them directly to the discount pile after release on DVD, is thin characters. Jack Sparrow, for all intents and purposes, exists, at least for the two plus hours we're watching. He makes choices, some honorable, some despicable, but real choices with consequences and repercussions for him and his world. That dynamic is the reason why the "X-Men" films and "Batman Begins" have largely been praised and "Fantastic Four" panned. It's the reason we still watch and talk about "Star Wars" but have almost completely forgotten "I, Robot."
I don't mean to bring down those of you that like the bullets and fistfights without all the angst and existentialism. There is nothing wrong with a little mindless fun. Just the way that we don't take Tolstoy to the beach to read, we as a nation don't always want to bring our brains to the movies. And why should we have to? But there is a distinct difference in the latest bodice-ripping paperback and "Confederacy of Dunces." If a filmmaker wants his (or her) film to be remembered, to be shared from parents to children, for years to come, they need to add those little things. Real character depth is what sets apart the great adventure films from the forgettable popcorn fare.
I have no doubt, we are in for another treat in the latest "Pirates..." installment. Now if we could just get a few more summer heroes as fully realized as Capt. Jack, we'd have a real summer to remember.
posted by Daddy Rogue at 12:23 PM
2 Comments:
Huzzah, Sir Huzzah! You hit the proverbial nail on the head. Characters and attention to detail are the difference between decent summer movie X and classic summer movie Y. But movies like The Island they're doomed before they start...
dre :)
"The Island"'s biggest issue in my opinion is something I call, the "Arlington Road" syndrome. In this often fatal disease a movie gives away all of the specific twists and turns of the plotline in the 30 sec to two minutes of the trailer.
I STILL haven't seen "The Island" because, I feel like I already knew the whole story, and I didn't need to see explosions of the Michael Bay variety. Horrible waste of some great actors though, Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johannson, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Clarke Duncan, just to name a few
Post a Comment
<< Home