There are many things that make a movie bad. Here’s one: Mindboggling violence.
There, now you know I’m an old codger. I care about plot. I want good writing. I love to see talented acting. Drama is important. Spontaneous humor is engaging. Excessive violence, on the other hand, kills my interest.
Otherwise good movies have turned me off repeatedly in the last 5-8 years as they’ve strung the viewer along with explosions, multiple machine gunnings of bad guys, buildings crashing, massive noises and all the other sensory incendiary devices.
I think the writers/producers/directors/editors, for some unfathomable reason, must believe we want this. Maybe you do, but I don’t. It numbs me, and turns me off, and makes a good movie bad.
When “Transformers” came out, I was enthralled. What a great tale it told. Spectacular music. Some great subtle humor. A coming of age story in many ways. I couldn’t wait for the sequel.
Then it came out and I barfed. As we exited the theater, I ran into a friend of mine I hadn’t seen for years. He enthused about the movie. I looked at him like he’d grown a third head. I know he is a comic book fan, as am I, and we both “wanted” to sing the praises of the Marvel universe. But I couldn’t.
So I started pointing out how plot-less the movie was, how it relied far too much on unnecessary and senseless violence to make up for the lack of a story line. I give him credit because he listened to my rant. Afterwards, he went, “You know, you’re right.”
I wasn’t trying to be right or wrong. I only wanted to point out how much I expected the movie to be better and was disappointed as it chose to bombard my senses instead. I lost all interest in the characters, plot and finally the movie itself.
When the most recent remake of “Superman” came out, our younger daughter wanted to go see it because she had never been to a Superman movie before. I dreaded it. I’d seen the previews and knew what was in store: Long scenes of repetitive violence.
I wasn’t disappointed in that. It was so totally unrealistic and over-the-top once we watched it, that I couldn’t tell you anything else about the movie. “Hey, it had Superman knocking down every building in New York City and no one died from that,” would have been the sharpest comment I could make afterwards.
Recently, my wife, older daughter and I saw the newest Triple X movie. The first Triple X was incredible. Vin Diesel was perfect in the role. The opening scene with him vaulting off the bridge and escaping the authorities is an all-time classic. His tongue-in-cheek humor throughout helped move the plot along and break up the action. The bad guys were losers. You rooted for Diesel to take them down.
Contrast that with the one in movie theaters now. The current Triple X is decent, don’t get me wrong. You go to see Diesel and the action. That doesn’t disappoint.
It does disappoint when it comes to the over-reliance on smashes, blow-ups and shootings. When a plot drags, that’s the easy fall back.
And I think that’s the heart of the problem – if you can’t tell a decent story, then the writers fall back on the old familiars, which is smashing and shooting to take your mind off the rest of the movie deteriorating.
Too much violence makes a bad movie. Pass it on.
There, now you know I’m an old codger. I care about plot. I want good writing. I love to see talented acting. Drama is important. Spontaneous humor is engaging. Excessive violence, on the other hand, kills my interest.
Otherwise good movies have turned me off repeatedly in the last 5-8 years as they’ve strung the viewer along with explosions, multiple machine gunnings of bad guys, buildings crashing, massive noises and all the other sensory incendiary devices.
I think the writers/producers/directors/editors, for some unfathomable reason, must believe we want this. Maybe you do, but I don’t. It numbs me, and turns me off, and makes a good movie bad.
When “Transformers” came out, I was enthralled. What a great tale it told. Spectacular music. Some great subtle humor. A coming of age story in many ways. I couldn’t wait for the sequel.
Then it came out and I barfed. As we exited the theater, I ran into a friend of mine I hadn’t seen for years. He enthused about the movie. I looked at him like he’d grown a third head. I know he is a comic book fan, as am I, and we both “wanted” to sing the praises of the Marvel universe. But I couldn’t.
So I started pointing out how plot-less the movie was, how it relied far too much on unnecessary and senseless violence to make up for the lack of a story line. I give him credit because he listened to my rant. Afterwards, he went, “You know, you’re right.”
I wasn’t trying to be right or wrong. I only wanted to point out how much I expected the movie to be better and was disappointed as it chose to bombard my senses instead. I lost all interest in the characters, plot and finally the movie itself.
When the most recent remake of “Superman” came out, our younger daughter wanted to go see it because she had never been to a Superman movie before. I dreaded it. I’d seen the previews and knew what was in store: Long scenes of repetitive violence.
I wasn’t disappointed in that. It was so totally unrealistic and over-the-top once we watched it, that I couldn’t tell you anything else about the movie. “Hey, it had Superman knocking down every building in New York City and no one died from that,” would have been the sharpest comment I could make afterwards.
Recently, my wife, older daughter and I saw the newest Triple X movie. The first Triple X was incredible. Vin Diesel was perfect in the role. The opening scene with him vaulting off the bridge and escaping the authorities is an all-time classic. His tongue-in-cheek humor throughout helped move the plot along and break up the action. The bad guys were losers. You rooted for Diesel to take them down.
Contrast that with the one in movie theaters now. The current Triple X is decent, don’t get me wrong. You go to see Diesel and the action. That doesn’t disappoint.
It does disappoint when it comes to the over-reliance on smashes, blow-ups and shootings. When a plot drags, that’s the easy fall back.
And I think that’s the heart of the problem – if you can’t tell a decent story, then the writers fall back on the old familiars, which is smashing and shooting to take your mind off the rest of the movie deteriorating.
Too much violence makes a bad movie. Pass it on.