See, Hollywood made a very awesome decision on choosing William Shakespeare as a model for new stuff.
See, William Shakespeare is THE playwright. He would write so much, that we are STILL debating whether or not stuff is his or not.
But, if one thing that good ol' Bill did was sticking to his ideas.
Most of his comedies are... well... the same
Now, before all of you Shakespeare lovers come hating... (actually, if you really know Shakespeare... you would know this), it is true. His tragedies, on the other hand, is where all of his real genius came in.
And we can sort of see that with Hollywood.
Why?
The feel good movies (and here I am talking about Rom-Coms) are all the same... and follow the same kind of formula... and the dramas... well... the dramas... they really show the best of people...
Now... after the insulting over-simplification of Hollywood, I do want to say that every once in a whille something amazing happens.
Someone comes along with a new idea.
Usually, new ideas are very rare and the concepts of these new ideas are way to strange to understand and then you have Independant films. UNLESS your idea is so good, that it will be made and then you have Taken.
I want to imagine the pitch for this movie
Pitch guy: I want a movie where Liam Neeson is just killing people
Pitch guy: I want a movie where Liam Neeson is just killing people
Hollywood: Like a video game?
PG: Yes... but with basically all kinds of methods to get what he wants
H: Like a god?
PG: Not really... because he can get hurt... but no matter how hard people try.. he will kill them...
H: That sounds like it's really not possible
PG: But it will be possible... because Liam Neeson needs to change his image from old sage but kinda badass Qui-Gon Jin and Ras-Al Ghul to only badass Liam Neeson.
H: Can you make a meme out of it?
PG: We will deliver the most badass line of all time after Jaws' "Smile you son of a %^&*(
H: You are hired!!!!
Now... I really like this movie.... When I saw it, I was just rooting for Neeson to save the day... and he did. Then everyone realized that it was one of the best ideas of all time... kinda like having a batman only fighting henchmen and no one could stop it (and he DID train batman). This movie made 24,717,037 at the box office (barely breaking even with a budget of 25 000 000). But the money is not the issue... but the cult following that it got... People were so excited about this film, quoting it, using it for memes etc...
Now, this made hollywood realize that they just found a golden goose and were going to exploit it...
But I am not talking about the trilogy... no... the formula of the badass who just kills everyone in their way..
Watch this
and this
AND THIS
Are we seeing a pattern?
All of these films have the same formula... and in a way... it's good. People should be able to create more without really hurting the original formula...
But the problem is that most of these are a little bit too similar to the original, and so they just fall flat...
It fails to deliver a good movie... because they want to see Neeson, not Mel Gibson, or even Keanu Reeves.
Why? Because it is the portrayal of Neeson that made this movie into a special kind of movie... Neeson was able to portay determination, and while I haven't seen the John wick one, the idea of just heading for your goal with 100% determination and focus is something that I've only seen in John Wayne...
Now... can the formula change for the better? Yes... Are these other movies bad? I don't think so... But Liam is a special kind of guy that can pull it off...
I do ask Hollywood that I hope soon the formula changes and something new comes along... After all, isn't that what cinema is all about???/
