Making movies is an interesting game, because everything that you make is always going to directly influence the viewers expectations for what you will make next. Take Peter Berg for example it’s pretty safe to say that as he made more films he became better and better at delivering solid action with a good story. With his last movie The Kingdom he brought life back in to the government action thriller/drama which hasn’t been present since Harrison Ford played Jack Ryan. Then you can look at X-Files and go wow they brought life back in to the dying sci-fi movie genre with a great transition from television in to movies. The first movie was everything you wanted in an X-Files movie while faithfully moving along the backbone story. So when you hear that Peter Berg is making another movie or that they finally decided to make another X-Files movie the excitement generated seems legitimately warranted. So why don’t the people making these movies take this as an opportunity to up the ante with action, story, and character development?
Hancock is a great original concept for a superhero movie. The Hancock character is a lonely hero driven to the bottle, but is he lonely because you tell us this or because you showed us this? This is where proper character development helps. He is hated by the public and yea that sucks, but does that make someone lonely? I think it makes someone feel rejected but not necessarily lonely. I look at Hancock and think John Coffey from the Green Mile. Two individuals gifted with powers beyond normal man who find themselves all alone in the world. I believe that Coffey is lonely in every sense of the word and not because he was rejected by society but because he hasn’t had anyone there with him ever. So that leaves us with Hancock, a character that is underdeveloped so we never develop a strong attactment to the emotions he is feeling thus never growing with the character as the movie moves along. If you haven’t seen the movie skip to the next paragraph cause here is a spoiler. The twist with Charlize Therons character was very predictable so I don’t see why people are saying its a big twist. The love between them doesn’t really amount to anything except for a way to get to the ending. I really didn’t care that they loved each other before because I didn’t connect with either character enough. Instead I kept saying there is no way they’ll get together because Jason Bateman’s character is too good of a guy and this movie will be crap if they do. So what’s really important? The love interest or the idea that he isn’t alone in this world? They give you just enough to get by so that the story holds together without making any real statement about either. What we end up with is a mediocre superhero movie with mediocre characters and a mediocre love story.
Thank goodness for the X-Files right? WRONG. Here’s how the pitch went for this movie: Ok I want to revitalize one of the most successful television shows of all time and one of the best science fiction movies made in the last decade. My plan is to bring back these iconic characters and place them in a storyline with one interesting character and subject so boring that if it was an episode directed for television it MIGHT pass for ok. I don’t plan on doing anything that will reflect or continue the compelling storyline of the last movie. I also don’t really want to focus on anything to do with paranormal activities. What I really want to do is take Scully and Mulder and not give them a reason to grow as characters. I want them to kind of revert to the way they were before when she was super skeptical and he was super obsessed even though they ended up in love with each other and being together, which makes any normal person grow. Oh and I’m going to have a cameo in the end from one of the series most important characters just so the loyal X-Files fans have a reason to lean over to their friends, who didn’t watch the show but appreciate and respect it’s success, and say oh that’s so and so and they did this and I feel really nerdy right now. I know you’re probably wondering what I want to call it. I will call it X-Files: I Want to be MEDIOCRE.
Hey next time you want to create or improve on a franchise like I don’t know say DUNE or further X-Files movies or shows really think it through. You are killing the fans and potential fans which is even worse. Don’t destroy something in an attempt to make big box office dollar, because in the end you’re only destroying yourself and the things you love.