Jul/091
Superhero Movies
As I pack for Comic Con tomorrow I’m naturally thinking about comics and movies. I am not a comic book fan, but I love superhero movies. I’ll go see any movie about a superhero, even if I have never heard of the character. I may lose some of my movie geek cred to admit that I had never heard of the X-Men or Ironman before the movies, but still I was in the theater opening weekend. What is the draw of superhero movies? They have ready made ingredients for entertaining stories with emotional hooks. First, the stakes. These movies are always about good vs. evil. The bad guys are really bad and the good guys are really good. The rooting interests are clearly defined with strong protagonists and antagonists. Secondly, superheroes have issues. How do they deal with their superpowers? How do they fit in with ordinary people? Do they have anything resembling a real life? How do they handle the responsibility that comes with the job?
With all of these juicy elements why do some superhero movies succeed and others fail?
The biggest mistake filmmakers make is concentrating on action at the expense of character. Yes these movies are effects laden with cool fights and lots of explosions. However, none of these bells and whistles work if they are not connected to the emotional story of the characters. What do these guys want? Iron Man is a despicable arms dealer who experiences first hand the damage his weapons do and has a change of heart. While he spends the rest of the movie trying to make up for his past indifference, he doesn’t shed his playboy persona. Batman has lots of baggage, having witnessed the death of his parents when he was a child. Now he must fight evil without becoming dark himself. He pretends to be a playboy to cover up his agenda. Spiderman can’t be with the woman he loves because his fighting evil keeps getting in the way of their relationship and putting her in danger. These stories are full of conflict and heartache, giving the films a strong emotional core. All of these movies have amazing action and special effects, but what makes them stand out is what the heroes are going through – all relatable, watchable stuff. Furthermore, these characters’ issues are complex enough to sustain more than one film.
Jul/091
Public Enemies
Your protagonist and your antagonist should always be just as interesting. If your hero isn’t dynamic enough, often it’s because your villain is lacking charisma as well. They each need the other to push against. If the main character has no one to react to, he can feel flat. This is especially important in a movie like Public Enemies, where you’re spending equal time with both. Public Enemies is about a ruthless FBI agent, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) tracking the gangster John Dillinger (Johnny Depp). In this story the roles are reversed. The criminal John Dillinger is actually our hero and the lawman Purvis is the bad guy. However, John Dillinger is much better developed than Purvis. Consequently, when Purvis is on screen the movie is a big snooze. Here is what we know about John Dillinger: he’s loyal, an adrenaline junky, charming, cocky, and in love with Billie. We even know how he became a gangster. A small robbery as a youth landed him ten years in jail where he met his gang and learned how to be a better criminal.
Here is what we know about Purvis: he’s an FBI agent. We see killing and torturing, but we never know how he feels about any of it. It would have been a much more gritty and compelling picture if we knew that he was haunted by his actions. If he were a man doing terrible things for what he thought were the right reasons. If he struggled with his choices. For example, when he carries Billie to the bathroom after she has been tortured, he expresses no remorse or disgust about what his underling did. He is like an automaton, which is very off putting. Purvis has the head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, asking him to do corrupt things and he never blinks. What does he think of these orders? How does he feel about taking orders from a publicity hungry politician who has never arrested anybody in his life? The movie goes out of its way to tell us that Hoover isn’t qualified to be running the FBI, but we never know what Purvis thinks of him. John has Billie. Does Purvis have any sort of personal life? How does his career affect it? In the final crawl we learn that Purvis committed suicide in 1960. I guess we’re supposed to take from this that he was troubled by his actions. It would have been a stronger film if we had seen his mixed emotions or any emotions all along.