Let's talk for a moment about Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, possibly the biggest disappointment of the current season of television. And it was the biggest disappointment because the expectations were set high: take the biggest hit of big screen of 2012, a movie which successfully integrated the worlds of multiple movies to create a mega-star movie, and have the acclaimed and beloved writer/director of that movie helm a new show to explore the deeper nooks and crannies of the greater Marvel cinematic universe that a movie couldn't take the screen time to do.
How could it fail?
If I may be so bold, I'd suggest that it failed with its hooks. Namely, it treats its characters as its biggest hooks, when those characters are not hooking the audience at all. And it feels like it considers it's big hook-- its setting-- as more of an albatross than advantage. One of the executive producers was even quoted saying something like, "You shouldn't be looking for easter eggs".
Now half a season in, its somewhat clear that what we are seeing is not the "growing pains" of a genre show finding its feet. Rather, we're seeing the very show the creators want to do: in essence, a brighter, less skeptical* X-Files.
And that isn't hooking.
Now that's always the challenge a writer faces: that the characters that you love, these hooks that fascinate you... well, that it's just you. No one else is going to invest in it like you do.
And this is especially true with genre writers. We spent hours upon hours drawing maps and hashing out centuries of history. We are deeply, deeply invested in our work, even if the quality of the work itself doesn't match the passion behind it. I can't tell you how many manuscripts I've read for critiquing purposes that, while the writing didn't hold up, the love was practically pouring off the page.
I didn't get into the story, but I knew that the writer was utterly in love with it.
And, frankly, the craft can be improved, if the love is there.
---
*- By "less skeptical", I mean when they're investigating hovering bodies or apparent telekinesis, they approach it as you would in a world where superheroes beat off an alien invasion in downtown New York: as the sort of thing you have to accept happens now.
Showing posts with label Avengers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Avengers. Show all posts
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Hugo Nominations: Best Dramatic Presentation
Confession: when I was younger, and not really noting what was going on in the SF/F literary world, all I would pay attention to among the Hugo nominees was the "Best Dramatic Presentation" award. I've always felt it was something of a problematic award, with things getting nominated that were... less than worthy. This year's batch isn't as problematic as past years'-- there's nothing that pops out as a "Really?!?!" In fact, it's mostly good stuff.
So let's dive in.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Easily my favorite here is The Avengers. I'm a big superhero fan, and with The Avengers, I got the big team superhero movie I had always wanted. There's one shot that makes this movie for me: the one long tracking shot that follows from Hawkeye taking out flyers to Cap and Iron Man on the ground to Black Widow riding one of the cycles to Thor and Hullk on top of one of the behemoths. It's clear, bright, vibrant, and it doesn't have hand-held cameras or quick cuts. It's the cinematic equivalent of a splash page.
Cabin in the Woods is a close second. Clever, fun, and with an explosive third act.
Hunger Games was a solid movie, very enjoyable, anchored by Jennifer Lawrence's strong performance. And also a very solid adaptation of the book. I've no problem ranking it third.
Hobbit was weaker than I wanted it to be. There are great parts in it-- the Riddles in the Dark sequence stands out-- but it doesn't add up to a greater whole.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
"Blackwater" was the high point of the second season of Game of Thrones, and it's my only nominee that made it to the list. Game of Thrones is probably the most interesting genre show on right now, in that it's got so many balls in the air and manages to keep them up most of the time. It's a show that's taking the through-line of what the medium can do that was started with Babylon 5 and continued with Lost, and made itself into the closest thing genre fans* have seen to being a novel-for-the-screen. It might have been challenging to pick a single episode to stand out, given that, but "Blackwater", with its laser-like focus on one specific area of the plot, jumped out ahead of the rest.
I've made no secret that I'm not crazy this category has become the de facto Doctor Who category, as it's dominated the category every years since the series was relaunched. In fact, 2009 is the only year Doctor Who did not take three of the five slots. And I'm a big fan, but even still: really? It represents 60% of the best of the best of SF/F television and other short form? So much so that shows like Walking Dead or Alphas or Arrow get snubbed? I mean, "The Snowmen" was fine, but nothing extraordinary, with almost the whole episode held up by the charisma of Jenna-Louise Coleman. The same could probably be said about "Asylum of the Daleks". I'm a little more fond of "Angels Take Manhattan", even though it does damage to the Weeping Angels as neat threat, and it forces a major amount of suspension of disbelief along the lines of, "How can someone be lost forever to a man who travels through space and time?" Still, it hits emotional resonances with Amy and Rory, and fits as a farewell for them. So I'll rank it above the other two. Of them, I'll give "Asylum" the edge.
That's all for this batch.
---
*- Not genre, but I'd argue that Mad Men and Breaking Bad are also doing that.
So let's dive in.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
- The Avengers, Screenplay & Directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios, Disney, Paramount)
- The Cabin in the Woods, Screenplay by Drew Goddard & Joss Whedon; Directed by Drew Goddard (Mutant Enemy, Lionsgate)
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro, Directed by Peter Jackson (WingNut Films, New Line Cinema, MGM, Warner Bros)
- The Hunger Games, Screenplay by Gary Ross & Suzanne Collins, Directed by Gary Ross (Lionsgate, Color Force)
- Looper, Screenplay and Directed by Rian Johnson (FilmDistrict, EndGame Entertainment)
Easily my favorite here is The Avengers. I'm a big superhero fan, and with The Avengers, I got the big team superhero movie I had always wanted. There's one shot that makes this movie for me: the one long tracking shot that follows from Hawkeye taking out flyers to Cap and Iron Man on the ground to Black Widow riding one of the cycles to Thor and Hullk on top of one of the behemoths. It's clear, bright, vibrant, and it doesn't have hand-held cameras or quick cuts. It's the cinematic equivalent of a splash page.
Cabin in the Woods is a close second. Clever, fun, and with an explosive third act.
Hunger Games was a solid movie, very enjoyable, anchored by Jennifer Lawrence's strong performance. And also a very solid adaptation of the book. I've no problem ranking it third.
Hobbit was weaker than I wanted it to be. There are great parts in it-- the Riddles in the Dark sequence stands out-- but it doesn't add up to a greater whole.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
- Doctor Who, “The Angels Take Manhattan”, Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
- Doctor Who, “Asylum of the Daleks”, Written by Steven Moffat; Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
- Doctor Who, “The Snowmen”, written by Steven Moffat; directed by Saul Metzstein (BBC Wales)
- Fringe, “Letters of Transit”, Written by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Akiva Goldsman, J.H.Wyman, Jeff Pinkner. Directed by Joe Chappelle (Fox)
- Game of Thrones, “Blackwater”, Written by George R.R. Martin, Directed by Neil Marshall. Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO)
"Blackwater" was the high point of the second season of Game of Thrones, and it's my only nominee that made it to the list. Game of Thrones is probably the most interesting genre show on right now, in that it's got so many balls in the air and manages to keep them up most of the time. It's a show that's taking the through-line of what the medium can do that was started with Babylon 5 and continued with Lost, and made itself into the closest thing genre fans* have seen to being a novel-for-the-screen. It might have been challenging to pick a single episode to stand out, given that, but "Blackwater", with its laser-like focus on one specific area of the plot, jumped out ahead of the rest.
I've made no secret that I'm not crazy this category has become the de facto Doctor Who category, as it's dominated the category every years since the series was relaunched. In fact, 2009 is the only year Doctor Who did not take three of the five slots. And I'm a big fan, but even still: really? It represents 60% of the best of the best of SF/F television and other short form? So much so that shows like Walking Dead or Alphas or Arrow get snubbed? I mean, "The Snowmen" was fine, but nothing extraordinary, with almost the whole episode held up by the charisma of Jenna-Louise Coleman. The same could probably be said about "Asylum of the Daleks". I'm a little more fond of "Angels Take Manhattan", even though it does damage to the Weeping Angels as neat threat, and it forces a major amount of suspension of disbelief along the lines of, "How can someone be lost forever to a man who travels through space and time?" Still, it hits emotional resonances with Amy and Rory, and fits as a farewell for them. So I'll rank it above the other two. Of them, I'll give "Asylum" the edge.
That's all for this batch.
---
*- Not genre, but I'd argue that Mad Men and Breaking Bad are also doing that.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Avengers and Twelve-Part Structure
I had been thinking about movies and the studio-system's somewhat slavish devotion to "three act structure", which more and more I'm seeing as a big problem in modern cinema, and too often I'm seeing that same advice being given to novelists. And that's a shame, because three-act structure is bad advice for movies, and it's downright horrible for novels.
That's partly because "three act structure" is more or less another way of saying "beginning, middle and end". And that's where a lot of screenwriters and novelists get into trouble: "Act 2 problems" or "the murky middle". It's because, when you come down to it, "rising action" doesn't really give you a lot to go on. It's a fancy way of saying "more stuff happens until the finale", but that tends to get translated into wheel-spinning and "refusing the call" (in Campbellian terms) as a way to mark time until the finale happens.*
This is the problem in using tools of deconstruction and analysis and trying to use them for construction and creation. They aren't meant to be used that way. Now, admittedly, I did use deconstruction and analysis to create the Twelve-Part Structure, but I did it as a means of making a tool of construction and creation.
I could probably go on for a bit on the perils of three-act structure and using analysis tools for creation, but I won't. I will, however, point out how things that succeed at being at engaging don't use three-act structure. And when I saw the Twelve-Part Structure so evident in Avengers, I was pretty damn gleeful.**
Some spoilers from here on out.
Establishment: Loki shows up out of the Cosmic Cube, enthralls Hawkeye and Dr. Solveig, SHIELD fails to stop him. With this, we establish the world and the stakes-- namely, this is a world where stuff like this happens.
Incitement: Gather the Team sequences: Fury talks to Cap, Natasha shows her skills and recruits Banner, Coulson talks to Tony.
Challenge: Loki begins his "distraction" plan in Germany, where Hawkeye does the real plan. Cap fights Loki, and then Tony shows up and subdues him.
Altercation: Thor shows up to take Loki, and then Tony and Thor and Cap all fight each other over essentially jurisdiction issues.
Payback: Loki is locked up, but all the Team squabbles with each other over petty tings. In other words, Loki's subtle discord is sewn.
Regrouping: Natasha gets info out of Loki, the Team gets a better sense over what's actually happening.
Collapse: Intergroup squabbling reaches a fevered pitch, as they discover SHIELD's plans for the Cosmic Cube. Hawkeye attacks the Helicarrier.
Retreat: Hulk smash, Tony and Cap work on keeping the Helicarrier in the air, Loki escapes and kills Coulson.
Recovery: Tony and Cap fix the Helicarrier, Natasha smacks Hawkeye's head back together, Bruce wakes up with Harry Dean Stanton.
Investment: Coulson's bloody Captain America cards, Tony gives his Big Speech to Loki, and the portal of Alien Destruction opens up.
Confrontation: BIG. DAMN. FIGHT.
Resolution: Hulk smashes the puny God. Tony throws a nuke at the aliens. Natasha closes the portal. Loki is captured, Thor brings him home. Fury gives a speech. Shawarma.
Yeah, you could break that into "three acts", but you'd be being pretty reductive about what actually happens. Whedon was essentially given "three acts" by the studio people (namely, "Heroes come together, then they fight each other and split apart, and then they come together for Big Damn Fight"). With a lesser script that could have ended up as more wheelspinning non-action-- or worse, some kind of Plot Coupon collection in lieu of an actual story in the middle.*** Instead, with a more complicated structure, you get a FAR more engaging work.
--
*- Another superhero movie example: Green Lantern. That's just full of wheel-spinning until the third-act turn where Hal Jordan, the supposedly fearless guy with near-limitless power, finally decides that maybe he should try and do something. And by "do something" I mean tell a bunch of people he previously blew off that they should do something.
**- I am NOT claiming that Whedon is aware of my Twelve-Part Structure, or that he necessarily used it or a similar framework. It's more that Twelve-Part Structure fits as a framework quite nicely.
***- I'm looking at you, Percy Jackson movie.
That's partly because "three act structure" is more or less another way of saying "beginning, middle and end". And that's where a lot of screenwriters and novelists get into trouble: "Act 2 problems" or "the murky middle". It's because, when you come down to it, "rising action" doesn't really give you a lot to go on. It's a fancy way of saying "more stuff happens until the finale", but that tends to get translated into wheel-spinning and "refusing the call" (in Campbellian terms) as a way to mark time until the finale happens.*
This is the problem in using tools of deconstruction and analysis and trying to use them for construction and creation. They aren't meant to be used that way. Now, admittedly, I did use deconstruction and analysis to create the Twelve-Part Structure, but I did it as a means of making a tool of construction and creation.
I could probably go on for a bit on the perils of three-act structure and using analysis tools for creation, but I won't. I will, however, point out how things that succeed at being at engaging don't use three-act structure. And when I saw the Twelve-Part Structure so evident in Avengers, I was pretty damn gleeful.**
Some spoilers from here on out.
Establishment: Loki shows up out of the Cosmic Cube, enthralls Hawkeye and Dr. Solveig, SHIELD fails to stop him. With this, we establish the world and the stakes-- namely, this is a world where stuff like this happens.
Incitement: Gather the Team sequences: Fury talks to Cap, Natasha shows her skills and recruits Banner, Coulson talks to Tony.
Challenge: Loki begins his "distraction" plan in Germany, where Hawkeye does the real plan. Cap fights Loki, and then Tony shows up and subdues him.
Altercation: Thor shows up to take Loki, and then Tony and Thor and Cap all fight each other over essentially jurisdiction issues.
Payback: Loki is locked up, but all the Team squabbles with each other over petty tings. In other words, Loki's subtle discord is sewn.
Regrouping: Natasha gets info out of Loki, the Team gets a better sense over what's actually happening.
Collapse: Intergroup squabbling reaches a fevered pitch, as they discover SHIELD's plans for the Cosmic Cube. Hawkeye attacks the Helicarrier.
Retreat: Hulk smash, Tony and Cap work on keeping the Helicarrier in the air, Loki escapes and kills Coulson.
Recovery: Tony and Cap fix the Helicarrier, Natasha smacks Hawkeye's head back together, Bruce wakes up with Harry Dean Stanton.
Investment: Coulson's bloody Captain America cards, Tony gives his Big Speech to Loki, and the portal of Alien Destruction opens up.
Confrontation: BIG. DAMN. FIGHT.
Resolution: Hulk smashes the puny God. Tony throws a nuke at the aliens. Natasha closes the portal. Loki is captured, Thor brings him home. Fury gives a speech. Shawarma.
Yeah, you could break that into "three acts", but you'd be being pretty reductive about what actually happens. Whedon was essentially given "three acts" by the studio people (namely, "Heroes come together, then they fight each other and split apart, and then they come together for Big Damn Fight"). With a lesser script that could have ended up as more wheelspinning non-action-- or worse, some kind of Plot Coupon collection in lieu of an actual story in the middle.*** Instead, with a more complicated structure, you get a FAR more engaging work.
--
*- Another superhero movie example: Green Lantern. That's just full of wheel-spinning until the third-act turn where Hal Jordan, the supposedly fearless guy with near-limitless power, finally decides that maybe he should try and do something. And by "do something" I mean tell a bunch of people he previously blew off that they should do something.
**- I am NOT claiming that Whedon is aware of my Twelve-Part Structure, or that he necessarily used it or a similar framework. It's more that Twelve-Part Structure fits as a framework quite nicely.
***- I'm looking at you, Percy Jackson movie.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Avengers Assemble: But more women next time, hmm?
This past weekend The Avengers went down in comic-book movie history. It broke box-office records, making over $200 million in just one weekend. More importantly, it was a success in terms of its goals-- bringing together the Big Damn Heroes of the Marvel Universe from their individual movies and teaming them up in a big, satisfying way.
So it goes without saying that Avengers 2 is a lock. They even threw in the obvious Sequel Bait in the credits sequence. I'm just hoping they lock down the details relatively soon, because I'm already excited. Unfortunately, I can't see them getting it together earlier than Summer 2015.
If I have one complaint about Avengers, it is that it comes too close to the Smurfette Principle: the team is Black Widow and five guys. This is not Joss Whedon's fault, I'm sure. Knowing his work, he probably did a lot of fast talking just to get Maria Hill in among the cast. But I know that the team of the movie was essentially handed down by studio edict. So, hopefully, Avengers 2 is going to rectify that. Though, reasonably, there are only so many New Avengers that can be added, and they aren't all going to be women.
It seems like they really might get the Ant-Man movie off the ground,
so he would be a likely add. With him, it's pretty easy to add Wasp to
the team (if she isn't a key part of the Ant-Man movie, which she
totally should be). And it wouldn't hurt to maintain her original background, if for no other reason than to be a counterpoint to Black Widow: a socialite heiress with a solid head on her shoulders. She's not Paris Hilton; she's Ivana Trump. If, you know, Ivana had superpowers.
My other key choice would be Ms. Marvel, aka Capt. Carol Danvers. Since it's looking like Avengers 2 will be going cosmic, her origin of being an Air Force pilot who is empowered when exposed to alien technology would fit in quite nicely. Plus Ms. Marvel ought to be (but isn't really) Marvel's equivalent of Wonder Woman: the universe's most notable female hero. Frankly, the Marvel Universe doesn't have someone would quite fits that bill. Black Widow isn't it. Nor is Invisible Woman, Elektra, Phoenix or Storm. Let's give Ms. Marvel a proper showcase.
I would personally love to see Mockingbird show up in Avengers 2, and she has the advantage of fitting into the world of the Marvel movie-verse quite easily. SHIELD agent turned hero, with strong emotional ties to Hawkeye, and like Hawkeye and Black Widow, she's a highly skilled "normal" instead of superpowered. Though it works best if she and Hawkeye are married, so unlike having a
strong professional bond that he and Natasha have in the movie, they can
be a hot couple who kicks ass. The Mr. and Mrs. Smith of the Marvel
Universe. Of course, her actual comic-book background is pretty damn close to movie-verse's background for Black Widow. So close as to seem redundant. And while I'm a big fan, she's a bit too obscure. (Though, apparently, they are considering an Alias-like show starring her for ABC Family, that will be tied to the Marvel Movie-verse. So, you never know.)
Those would be my choices. Many fans seem to be pushing for Scarlet Witch, though I respectfully disagree. I understand the reasoning: she was the second woman to join the team, she's a long part of Avengers history. But given her backstory is entangled with elements that the Marvel Movie-verse can't use (mutants and Magneto), and you'd HAVE to bring Quicksilver along with her... eh. It seems too much.
So it goes without saying that Avengers 2 is a lock. They even threw in the obvious Sequel Bait in the credits sequence. I'm just hoping they lock down the details relatively soon, because I'm already excited. Unfortunately, I can't see them getting it together earlier than Summer 2015.
If I have one complaint about Avengers, it is that it comes too close to the Smurfette Principle: the team is Black Widow and five guys. This is not Joss Whedon's fault, I'm sure. Knowing his work, he probably did a lot of fast talking just to get Maria Hill in among the cast. But I know that the team of the movie was essentially handed down by studio edict. So, hopefully, Avengers 2 is going to rectify that. Though, reasonably, there are only so many New Avengers that can be added, and they aren't all going to be women.
Those would be my choices. Many fans seem to be pushing for Scarlet Witch, though I respectfully disagree. I understand the reasoning: she was the second woman to join the team, she's a long part of Avengers history. But given her backstory is entangled with elements that the Marvel Movie-verse can't use (mutants and Magneto), and you'd HAVE to bring Quicksilver along with her... eh. It seems too much.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)