Just got back from "The Wolverine."
Aug. 2nd, 2013 09:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
agilebritAnd, you guys know I love Hugh Jackman. I would watch that man read the damn phone book. I have looked up YouTube ads where he dances because of tea. Hell, I liked "Wolverine: Origins," which everyone else hated. And I really wanted to love this movie.
Alas.
I liked it. But I didn't love it. I won't spoil it for you by telling you anything plot-wise, I'll turn this into a Writing Thing instead.
There's a trick that writers do called Scene/Sequel. Basically, you have a big set-piece (either physical or emotional or some combination of the two), and then you give both the characters and the audience time to actually process that, and give the characters time to decide what they're going to do next. It makes for a richer, more emotional, more satisfying story.
And you don't exhaust your audience.
If all you have is Scene/Scene/Scene/Scene/Scene, yeah, okay, that's exciting, but... that's all it is. If your main character is just being swept along by events but never actually makes a damn decision, they're a weak character, and they're hard to root for.
And, I'm sorry. I like my protagonists to actually Protag. "Stuff happens" is not Plot and should not be mistaken for such.
On the plus side, we got to see a lot of Shirtless Hugh Jackman, and that's never a bad thing. I give the movie a B/B-. If it shows up in the $5 bin at Walmart, I may buy it just to be a completionist, but I do not have a Burning Need to see it again.
Alas.
I liked it. But I didn't love it. I won't spoil it for you by telling you anything plot-wise, I'll turn this into a Writing Thing instead.
There's a trick that writers do called Scene/Sequel. Basically, you have a big set-piece (either physical or emotional or some combination of the two), and then you give both the characters and the audience time to actually process that, and give the characters time to decide what they're going to do next. It makes for a richer, more emotional, more satisfying story.
And you don't exhaust your audience.
If all you have is Scene/Scene/Scene/Scene/Scene, yeah, okay, that's exciting, but... that's all it is. If your main character is just being swept along by events but never actually makes a damn decision, they're a weak character, and they're hard to root for.
And, I'm sorry. I like my protagonists to actually Protag. "Stuff happens" is not Plot and should not be mistaken for such.
On the plus side, we got to see a lot of Shirtless Hugh Jackman, and that's never a bad thing. I give the movie a B/B-. If it shows up in the $5 bin at Walmart, I may buy it just to be a completionist, but I do not have a Burning Need to see it again.
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Date: 2013-08-03 04:05 am (UTC)But yeah, this movie was pretty weak. And I swear the man must have developed an allergy to shirts. The few times he did have one on, he lost no time in ripping it off. I'm not saying he didn't look good, but when even the ladies in the audience are thinking, "Geez, enough pandering already," it's time to lay off.
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Date: 2013-08-03 04:11 am (UTC)And, you know, I'll take pandering if I'm missing out on character development. From the link about Scene/Sequel, I think this sums it up perfectly:
"...it's also both how and why your character goes from passive to active, because the sequels are where they think, and establish short and long term goals--instead of running around aimlessly while the story happens to them."
It's that moment in IM3 where Harley says "You're a mechanic; build something," and Tony gets AHA Face. That's where he starts Protagging. Logan does this once, early in the movie, and then is swept along by events the rest of the time. Gyah. STOP THAT. The last thing the freaking Wolverine should be is passive.