Improvie the Movie

[Asmodeus]

I post the name of a well-known film. You say how you would improve the film. Then you post another well-known film.

For instance, if the person before me posted Resident Evil, I would say...


The supporting characters needed to be stronger. Milla Jovovich worked well as the lead - enigmatic, sexy and with genuine conflicts to overcome. But the supporting cast needed to be as strong as her, with their own fully-developed character arcs and intricacies. The lazer-trap scene removed too many good characters from the board and failed to achieve its intended purpose, which was to serve as an Aliens-style first tragedy. But the device worked in Aliens because you genuinely cared about the characters, who had human flaws and desires. Killing off undeveloped characters serves no purpose other than spectacle - it never helps the story. If we cared about the characters, then that would lead to a deeper sense of fear about the encroaching zombies and the squad's predicament. A tighter script would have brought out the necessary subtext, just as Ridley Scott did with Aliens in the first "locker scene" on the Sulaco. A single scene that focussed exclusively on character would have turned the film around and given the audience a deeper connection to the themes. And if you want to know how easy it is to establish character, then look at the opening 5 minutes of Little Miss Sunshine.


Then I would say...


The Wicker Man, with Nicholas Cage

 

[Palonis]

The main strength of the original Wicker Man movie was the protagonist's calm and careful manner of investigating the cultish village. Nicholas Cage's character, on the other hand, charges through scenes, yelling at people, punching people, kicking people into bookcases, and yelling at more people.

Most people who reviewed that movie placed a lot of the blame on Nicholas Cage for making the movie hilariously bad, and they're probably right. A lot of the other elements of both movies are kept intact, but the differing reactions of the protagonists of the old and new versions to the strange behavior of the village cult makes scenes that would have been eerie and chilling in the classic version downright comical in the remake.

One scene that especially stands out for me was when Nicholas Cage's character was attempting to infiltrate the cult, and decided to do so by dressing in a bear costume. In one of the more well-known scenes (thanks to the Internet), his character runs up to one of the women involved in the cult while dressed in the bear suit, hesitates for a second, and then punches her out. This scene (as shown in one Youtube video), wouldn't have been out of place in a summer comedy.

In short, if you want to make an eerie atmosphere, producers of the Wicker Man, then don't hire Nicholas Cage.

Next Movie: Eragon, with Edward Speleers (whoever he is) and Jeremy Irons.

 

[Diana]

I enjoyed the visual effects of the Eragon Movie, and I thought the actors were just fine. But it's biggest flaw? Cut out half of the story, sped through important moments, and then left you wondering "what the fuck?" when you got to the end and none of it felt resolved. It's not even a LONG book. There was no reason to cut out important pieces of the plot just for the sake of... god knows what! Don't advertise a movie as being based on a book and then not follow the book to the best of your abilities.

Next Movie: Jurassic Park with Sam Neill!