[Perry] Wherein Not All Things Need To Be Ambitious
So I recently caught the Judge Dredd movie and it was about six hundred forty seven thousand times better than the original Judge Dredd movie done with Stallone all those years ago.
It’s a very simple story at its heart. In a dystopian, crime-filled future, the Judges are all that stand between all-out chaos and a semblance of order.
The main character, Judge Dredd is tasked with the assessment of a new Judge, and on that day, they end up in a mega-block called Peach Trees ruled by the sadistic drug lord (drug lady?), Ma-Ma.
When the building is locked down, they become embroiled in a desperate struggle to survive.
When I got home later that night, I did what I usually do after seeing a movie. I hopped online and browsed through a few reviews.
The reason I do this is pretty simple.
I want to know if other people felt the same way I did about various aspects of the movie. I also want to know if there were maybe things I missed that other people caught.
The reviews…were about what I expected. Most praised it for being a decent watch with good pacing and functional characters.
Others…well, here’s where things get interesting.
Some other reviewers blasted the movie, saying that it was nothing but a series of contrived meetings between the good guys and the bad guys so they could have some sort of shootout.
Umm…have you SEEN the trailer to the movie? What part of that screams out character depth and subtle plot development to you?
The people who made this movie knew exactly what sort of story they were trying to tell and they knew just how to do it.
Dredd is a straight action movie where the good guys are good guys, the bad guys are bad guys, and buildings are buildings.
See, what confuses me about the negative reviews is that nothing about the premise or the trailer really tries to pretend that this movie will be something other than it is.
If they showed me a trailer like the one for Cloud Atlas and then gave me Judge Dredd instead, I could understand the disappointment and the feeling of being let down.
The point I’m trying to make in a very (VERY) roundabout way is that sometimes, it’s perfectly okay to NOT reach for the stars. It’s important to know the limits of your material so that you don’t stretch it to the point of breaking.
Not every story needs a far-reaching plot full of intrigue and twists and turns. Not all good guys need to have a tragic past with a fatal flaw that they overcome just in time to emerge triumphant at the end of the tale. Not all bad guys need a note of sympathy to play their part in the story.
Some stories are small in scope and it’s a perfectly wonderful thing to be.
I’d far rather experience a focused and tightly paced small story instead of one that tries so hard to be something far-reaching and consequential that it just ends up buckling under the weight of its own expectations.
19 Comments
Yes! Totally agreed. All things should be judged within their own sphere, and based on the expectations of the audience.
Expectations can be managed. That’s why movie trailers EXIST. They give you a taste of the plot and feel of the movie. If you don’t like the trailer … well, don’t watch the movie.
An (embarrassingly accurate) example of this was The Dark Knight Rises. After the shockingly fantastic Dark Knight, Rises, just … fizzled. It felt lazy. Rushed. Uncoordinated.
Would it have felt like that if it weren’t held up to its predecessor? I don’t know. I don’t think so. I think it might have simply been a fun, if not-completely wonderful movie. The expectations, however, had raised the bar far beyond that of the normal comic book movie, and it failed to rise within those boundaries.
Yeah.
It frustrates me when people go into a movie with expectations that are clearly too high.
At the same time, though, it frustrates me when a movie tries to present itself as more than it is.
With the example of Rises, I think it would have felt as faltering even if it wasn’t held up to The Dark Knight.
It tried to do too goddamned MUCH. Like Bruce’s character arc was to start broken, turn badass then get broken, then get kind of badass again.
I feel like if they’d just stuck to one cycle of it, it would have been a much more coherent and focused piece.
*shakes head* uh uh. We are SO not getting into a discussion on that movie. It’d go on forever, and I have photographic evidence to bring to the judge and … yeah. Staying on topic. *cough*
I agree with you.
^_^
And I also want to see Dredd.
Dredd was a LOT more fun than I thought it would be.
I was expecting a completely mindless popcorn flick but ended up with something else entirely.
My only issue with it is that near the beginning, they get a bit heavy-handed with the whole ‘explain the worldbuilding to the audience by having Dredd explaining it all to the rookie (who should already know these things?)’.
But it was still a hell of a lot of fun.
And Lena Headey makes a wonderful quiet villain.
As a fan of horror movies, I wholeheartedly agree.
By any objective standard, the vast majority of horror movies suck. I know that. I admit that. And I still like them.
My mother believes that all movies should be deep, noble, and uplifting. She can’t understand how I can stomach ‘trash.’ I’ve tried to explain that sometimes I like turning my brain off and just having fun. That there are small joys in flawed movies that often make them delightful.
Mom believes this is a sign that she raised me badly…
Trailers matter. I took one look at the Judge Dredd trailer and thought, “Hmm… looks like a couple hours of mindless, slo-mo graphic violence. Not interested.” Maybe some day I will be in the mood for that. Until I am, however, it would be silly to show up and kvetch because the movie wasn’t something OTHER than what it advertised itself to be!
*grin* Whereas Tucker and Dale was EXACTLY as advertised. Fantastic “horror” comedy. <3 (which is about as close to REAL horror as I can stomach. I am weak.)
I’ve tried to explain that sometimes I like turning my brain off and just having fun. That there are small joys in flawed movies that often make them delightful.
^
That. All KINDS of that.
Not EVERY movie needs to be taken so seriously. A whole lot of bad movies are actually REALLY enjoyable if you can learn to turn off the critical side of the brain for a while and just enjoy what it has to offer instead of harping over what it DOESN’T have.
This may sound a bit strange, but I wanted to say that everything I read by Perry leaves me impressed with his skill and knowledge.
Great addition to the blog!
(a team of Tami and Perry isn’t really fair to all the other blogs)
I agree. I’m glad Perry is under the misconception that he couldn’t carry the weight of his own blog. /evil cackle
Though I am NOT going through another redesign to name it Taperven.com or something. Nuh uh.
*cackle.
Thanks Willy! Means a lot ^^
I look at some of Tami’s posts though and the whole thing still makes me nervous =P
I feel like I have to step up my game a little more haha.
And the name thing…lol. That just sounds utterly bizarre.
I’m just happy to have a little corner to call my own…even if it IS the closet under the staircase >.>”
*Disclaimer*
Not complaining in the least. Ever since Harry Potter came out, my friend Noah keeps looking at me very seriously now and then, intoning, “you’re a wizard, Perry.”
And now I can’t NOT think of all the “Harry” lines and replace them with “Perry”.
Now you have me curious. Which posts make you nervous? (or, to phrase differently, which are some of the best posts I”ve done?)
In terms of recent things?
Off the top of my head, the self-editing one was FANTASTIC.
The Muse not being a fairy bit was very perceptive. And I remember you did one a while ago about how being a writer makes it that much harder to be a reader.
A lot of your posts that I consider being fantastic are ones where you teach, you know? I just remembered another good one, oddly, the bra-shopping one haha.
A lot of mine just feel like observations I’ve had…like I’m not endeavoring to teach, per se. Just sort of standing up on a soap box going, “here’s what *I* think…” ^^”
Is it bad how much better that makes me feel? Sometimes I get all nervous like, what the hell am I doing pretending to each anyone ANYTHING, right?
So that is good to know. <3
Oh, I agree with Perry – your teaching posts are extraordinary. I enjoy all of your posts, but you have a special knack for teaching.
@Perry – maybe you are only writing observations, but I really enjoy reading them. Keep it up! You don’t need to teach like Tami to be a successful blogger.
Agreed, Bill! I love Perry’s posts, they always encourage so much interaction!
*preen ^^
I’m glad that I’m contributing meaningfully XD.
Haven’t seen Rises; won’t, because I’ve read enough to know I’ll hate it. Want to see Dredd, just for the reasons Perry liked it. On the flight home yesterday, watched the last 30-40 min of the new(er) Spiderman flick: Liked it about 1000% better than any of the earlier series. (Why did I only watch the end? Because on a United B767-300, all movies start at the same time, and there’s an unspecified break before they start again, and . . . just because; it wasn’t my fault. I watched “Brave,” instead, and enjoyed it immensely. Especially since I’d just been in Scotland.)
Oh! Brave is still on my to-watch list. I can’t wait!
Also, Rises actually has a lot of very good things going for it, not the least of which is fantastic supporting actor/actress skill. Just to be clear, I don’t think it was awful or bad … just that it in no way lived up to the DK hype.