A Treat For Screenwriters In Terms Of Surprises
I'm a Jean Reno fan. He's the kind of movie star that even when the pictures he appears in are uneven efforts, it's still a treat to see him rise above the material. So I rented Empire Of The Wolves the other day, simply because he was in it.
"Empire" starts out as good cop/bad cop chasing serial killers flick and turns into something far more interesting. I don't want to give it away, but it's something Ludlum could've written. The movie itself is good in my opinion, I liked it a whole lot more before my enthusiasm wore off and I had time to chew the plot over. Still, what I still love about it as a screenwriter, is that other than the framework that was necessary for a spy thriller (such as a certain person has to kick a certain amount of ass, a villain has to get away to further the plot, etc...) it wasn't as predictable as most films in this genre.
It certainly had enough surprises to match half a season of "The X-Files" or the original "Mission Impossible." And when it had to resort to the tried and true, it kept you off balance enough that you might not see it coming until it was there.
P.S. The more I mull it over, the more I realize that the script was somewhat predictable, but the director did a good job of keeping me off-balanced.
"Empire" starts out as good cop/bad cop chasing serial killers flick and turns into something far more interesting. I don't want to give it away, but it's something Ludlum could've written. The movie itself is good in my opinion, I liked it a whole lot more before my enthusiasm wore off and I had time to chew the plot over. Still, what I still love about it as a screenwriter, is that other than the framework that was necessary for a spy thriller (such as a certain person has to kick a certain amount of ass, a villain has to get away to further the plot, etc...) it wasn't as predictable as most films in this genre.
It certainly had enough surprises to match half a season of "The X-Files" or the original "Mission Impossible." And when it had to resort to the tried and true, it kept you off balance enough that you might not see it coming until it was there.
P.S. The more I mull it over, the more I realize that the script was somewhat predictable, but the director did a good job of keeping me off-balanced.
Labels: Writing
posted by Writeprocrastinator at 8:42 PM
3 Comments:
Wow, that was weird. I initially misread "Jean Reno" as "Janet Reno." It really gave the 1st paragraph an odd twist.
"Wow, that was weird. I initially misread "Jean Reno" as "Janet Reno." It really gave the 1st paragraph an odd twist."
No, no, it wasn't a horror flick.
I love mature women, but Janet falls under the "suicide is the only option, if we're the last two people on Earth"-category.
Gian Don,
I dug "Wasabi" a bunch. If only for Reno, because I thought the script was a little too by the numbers. I IMDB'd Jean and found out that they snuck a "Crimson Rivers 2" out, complete with Christopher Lee! I know that it will be a half-assed effort, but I'll see it anyway.
"Thanks for all of the nicest comments"
You're welcome, though I don't know how nice those comment were. The blogosphere has been kind of empty without you.
Vicodin and "Warcraft?" That's a bad mix, man. One is bound to make the other more addictive. I was lost last month in "Dynasty Warrior 5: Empires" and have had to give video games a rest.
Post a Comment
<< Home