Wading into Deadpool

D E A D P O O L

Premise: The origin story of the Marvel comic Deadpool

About: Deadpool is known as the “mercenary with a mouth.” He is mentally unstable and has a disfigured face as the result of scientific experimentation/torture. He is most well known for his twin Katana’s and his filthy humorous mouth. Deadpool was ranked 182nd on Wizard magazine’s list of the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time and ranked 45th on Empire magazine’s list of The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters (Barely made it?) The character was played by Ryan Reynolds in X-men Origins: Wolverine (and killed) before being spun off into his own role.

Genre: Comic Book Action/Comedy

Writers: Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick of ZOMBIELAND fame.

Details: April 12, 2010 draft (This is an early draft of the movie)

Plot: Origin Story and revenge tale

Theme: revenge

Dialogue: Comical and self-reflexive

Character Development: It’s an origin story, so it’s all Deadpool. Secondary characters are not well developed and poorly motivated.

Concept: Well, of all the comic characters left, Deadpool is unique, I guess.

Tension: Lacking/Very little at stake.

Conflict: Standard Hero/Villain comic fare. No inner conflict, no societal conflict, little to no inter-personal conflict.

Related Viewing: X-men Orgins: Wolverine, Wanted, Iron Man 2, Hell Boy, Zombieland, Scott Pilgrim, Kick Ass, Shrek, Hancock

Preface: Full disclosure: Have never read a single Deadpool or X-Men comic. I enjoyed the hell out of the Nolan Batman films and the first Iron Man movie, but not really the second one.  All I care about are the movies.

Synopsis: The movie opens ‘In medias Res’ with a teaser, with a frozen moment in the midst of some brief action. We get a glimpse of the title character, fragments of what he can do and a narrative voice over that takes us back 48 minutes:

A caravan of Escalades and motorcycles leaves a Super-Max prison. Deadpool takes a taxi to the freeway and mouths off along the way. His words are comical and pop referential. Deadpool ambushes the caravan and we see the action set piece escalate to the moment the movie opens. Deadpool has impeccable aim with his few bullets. He is seemingly invincible in action and leaves carnage of escalades and motorcycles in his wake. Before the scene can finish we flash back again, 5 years ago.

We meet Wade Wilson, the beautiful muscular Ryan Reynolds like mercenary on a paid mercenary job that he accomplishes in a charming, dickhead, sort of way. We see Sister Margaret’s School for Wayward Girls, which acts as a social gathering for fellow mercenaries. It’s an odd bunch that take odd jobs. We meet a smoking hot hooker VANESSA with whom Wade engages in clever dialogue, which in turn, leads to sex, lots of it.  They get hot and heavy, are seemingly made for each other, may go all the way together (over the course of year), until we find out that Wade has terminal cancer, and it’s spreading rapidly (end montage).

Back to the present, still amid the same action set piece: Deadpool is now in the midst of a motorcycle chase with FRANCIS, the man who has been let out of SuperMax (for no seemingly good reason). Their fight isn’t allowed to finish however, as COLLOSUS breaks it up (for no good reason) long enough to cut away again to the past.

Were we see Wade seek out various cancer treatments around the globe, poking fun at the extreme measures people take to try to cure a terminal disease. The cancer may have slowed down Wade’s body, but hasn’t touched his acerbic tongue. When all seems lost (even though we know he survives), a RECRUITER offers him the chance of a lifetime: to become a Super-Hero (End montage- We’re at page 40 here).

Back to action set piece on the freeway: Back in the throws of a tête-à-tête with Colossus that finally resolves this extended action piece (in an awesome way), but leaves many questions to be answered in terms of their relationship. (Why was Colossus there, why did he stop the fight, how did he know about the fight, what is his relationship to Deadpool?)

Act 2 finally takes over here completely on page 45, when Wade is wheeled into the experimental laboratory and we find that all is not as it seems. Wade could never have known what he signed up for. Wade is warned “cancer is not removed painlessly” and “super-human powers are not given painlessly” and Wade is now a pawn in their demented scientific experiments. Let the intense torture and physical maiming scenes begin and intercut with the present (these scenes are fantastic).

We see Deadpool’s “Lair” (think of a college dorm room) and his roommate the old lady “BLIND AL” whom Deadpool is a complete ass too at all times (cause that’s who he is). Her only contribution to the story is as comic relief as Deadpool forces her to put together IKEA furniture (cause she’s blind, get it?).

We then see how Wade escapes captivity, how Wade copes (or doesn’t cope) with being hideously tortured, and how he learns of his Weapon-X ability  (which, like Wolverine, allows him to regenerate super quickly).  We see how he decides on a costume. We get a MONTAGE of various Deadpool COMIC BOOK COVERS, a FIVE YEAR 60 issue MONTAGE (seriously) that brings us up to the present.

Francis is out and about, looking for Wade and consolidating the criminal underworld. Deadpool is out and about looking for Francis and his henchman of stock comic book villains. Vanessa comes back into play as a plot device, as she formulates the motivating factors of the third act.  Deadpool has his final stand off with Francis after some lobby shootouts and some help from Colossus (who shows up out of the blue for no reason whatsoever to help) and we are finally set up for a sequel and a series of false endings.

Comments:

Things I liked in this script:

1)   Masochism and torture.

2)   Unwavering tone of snarkiness and nihilism.

3)   Snappy Dialogue

Things I hate in the script:

1)   Breaking the fourth wall & other moments of self reflexivity.

2)   Heavy camera direction in action lines.

3)   Musical call outs in the action lines: DMX, John Denver, ect..

4)   Excessive montage and flashback

5)   Scripted use of bullet time and slow-motion

The Byronic Anti-Super Hero:

What we have here is an R rated Marvel property that is a bit of a misnomer. It’s an origin story about a Super-Hero that isn’t a hero. Deadpool is sort of an anti-hero: A central figure in a work that repels us by his actions and morality, yet who is not a villain and with whom the audience identifies. The former is most definitely true, but the latter leaves much to be desired as there is little to no way to sympathize/identify with a character that is devoid of empathy and humanity.

Deadpool has no idealism, little to any courage, and stands for nothing. There is something to be said for the character that revolts against traditional moral and social virtues, but there is also something to be said about having to watch a movie in which the best scenes (arguably) are the ones where the main character (a masochist) is tortured.

Marvel’s most prolific anti-hero is perhaps The Punisher who engages in vigilante justice to right the wrongs by any means necessary. Deadpool is no vigilante however, and his call to action is not in the face of society’s injustices, but for his self-serving desire to fix his horrific visage (plastic surgery?).  In this regard, Deadpool, represents more of a Byronic Hero whose arrogance, troubled past, self sense of exile, dark attributes, and complete disrespect for everything, defines his existence. There is nothing heroic about Deadpool and that’s part of the problem (or some would say the point of it all).

As a former mercenary, it’s certainly possible to make Deadpool into a reluctant hero, but it never happens.  Revenge for the sake of revenge gives little context to the world or the character.  He may have been wronged through torture but his desire for revenge hasn’t transformed him in any way. It hasn’t corrupted his idealism (cause he never had any) and as a result his existence is aimless and without purpose. His goal is to fix his face or kill Francis and bonus points if he can save his hooker ex-girlfriend at the same time; who he misses, who he loves, who is simpatico with his sexual perversions.

Why should I care about this guy? He can regenerate and he’s a dick? There is nothing for him to learn, no unstoppable force for him to overcome, no joy or happiness…just an asshole with a dirty mouth that has no respect for anyone including himself, which is why watching him get tortured is the best part.

On Origin Stories:

Origin stories are hard to keep interesting. No matter how inventive your setup, audiences will invariably want you to cut to the chase. Spider-Man did a great job of this, showing the audience who Peter Parker is, where his powers come from and why he chooses to fight crime. Then it’s off we go for the rest of the movie that has it’s own plot and story to tell. The point of Spider-Man wasn’t how he came to be, that was all utilized in the first act as setup to tell a story. Spider-Man does not dwell on the origin story, perhaps it’s because it’s not as drawn out and fun as watching Deadpool’s torture, but Spider-Man, at its heart, is a PG-13 romance movie with superhero trappings. The story told in the present is what is important and moving it forward via plot devices is what keeps the audience along with it.  Deadpool has none of this. It is all back-story chopped up through flashbacks and strung together via assorted montages and feels fragmented as a result. There’s plenty to laugh at, but there isn’t much of a story to follow. It’s fairly superficial and uninteresting.

Generally speaking, the origin is NOT the interesting story; it’s background information. Give me an exciting, engaging story right off the bat, in the present, so I’ll *want* to know more about the back-story, and this is exactly what is missing from this script. The story in the present is just Deadpool engaged in a long, elaborate, drawn out action set piece on a freeway to capture Francis, so that Deadpool can be pretty again. Francis is essentially hiding in plain sight as well. No question as to where he is, how to find him, and walking through the front door strapped with guns of pure imagination seems to be the best way to go about getting to him.

There is no story in the present. It has no plot. It’s all back-story and action sequences that excessively utilize bullet-time stop motion (scripted that way) and mo-cap special effects to try to wow you into complacency.  The thing is, we’ve seen this all before. The glory of Michael Bay like car crashes on a freeway, The Matrix like lobby shootouts where the barrage of bullets manages to miss a main character that is seemingly indestructible (like Neo) and shoots crazy guns like a character in Wanted. His only real injuries are all self inflicted and there is a complete lack of suspense as a result, because there is nothing at stake, EVER. None of the challenges of this movie affect Deadpool’s life in any way. Deadpool as a character is never in harm, never in danger, and never in trouble.

The Post Modern Deconstruction of a Super Hero movie:

So the best part of the movie is the dialogue, the acerbic wit and motor mouth cleverness that Wade represents. I’m the first to admit that I laughed, a lot, especially within the first 30 pages but the joke a minute self-reflexivity began to tire on me.

The script is chalk full of self-reflexive moments: Deadpool at one point puts his own action figure in the trash and watches the first 45 minutes of the movie in fast forward over the DVR on his television (like Yogurt does in Spaceballs) to get us caught up on what’s happened, then breaks the fourth wall to let us know we’re all caught up. Deadpool breaks the fourth wall several times actually (as the comic does too) and his voice over is cognizant of the audience and panders to its fanboy audience at every chance. This is a movie so caught up in it’s own cleverness that it forgets to be a movie for general audiences, none of whom care about the cinematic recreation of 60 issues of Deadpool comic covers.

The script seems to hold a personal vendetta against Amy Winehouse and Hugh Jackman who are lampooned at every opportunity. Deadpool wears a Hugh Jackman mask stapled to his face and has a Jackman fanboy poster in his room (among other instances). Amy Winehouse isn’t just mentioned over and over again, they’ll actually have to cast a role dedicated to her, as one of the only sub-plots in the movie is when and if she’ll die and the stupid things she’s done. The writers have a particular affinity for tranny jokes as well. Let me say this: They really know how to write clever dialogue but they also know how to beat a dead horse.

The scripts jokes at: IKEA , Ed Hardy, Rosie O’Donnell, Gallagher, Tuesday with Morrie, The Smurfs, Facebook, Verizon, Craigslist, iPhones and others.  The movie mentions movies like Caddyshack, Rocky, The Hangover, Monty Python.

This is how they chose to give Deadpool context? How they try to root him in a contemporary reality?  No, I don’t think so. I think they’re just meant to be jokes that serve their own end and will tragically date the movie once it’s made. Jokes are a tough thing to analyze though. Comedy is so based on performance, timing and execution that they could end up being far more charming than I’m giving them credit for. Having said that, I doubt it.

The problem with pop referential jokes is that you have to be familiar with all the references to get all the jokes. Not since the original Shrek, and perhaps Scott Pilgrim, has there been a movie that is so based in contemporary pop culture as this Deadpool script.  This is great for fans of the material, but as Scott Pilgrim showed it’s bad for general audiences.  I couldn’t relate to or enjoy Scott Pilgrim, whose narrative is constructed exclusively of inside jokes that I just didn’t get. This is probably because it wasn’t meant for me, but rather the person that reads the comic, understands the mythos, and chugs it’s cool-aid like Mountain Dew. To those who really like “hyper-kinetic pop-culture pastiche,” feel free to wade right into the shallow waters of Deadpool.

The Marvel Universe:

I have issues with the Marvel universe. On the one hand Marvel wants you to believe that their worlds are all inter connected, that The Avengers could exist in the same world as each of the individual super-heroes that make up it’s existence. For this reason Marvel meddles in the narratives of each individual story to try to cross-pollinate it’s various heroes. They want you to believe that all of these disparate heroes can come together at some point in the future without having to break continuity. Hey, it worked in the comics, it’s got to work in the movies, right?

On the other hand, they can kill off Deadpool in one movie and then say “forget about that,” we didn’t mean to make Deadpool a panty waste and kill him at the end of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we want to take that exact character and give him his own movie now. Marvel then wants you to ignore this complete break in continuity.  But not only are you supposed to forget the last Deadpool, we’re going to try and cross pollinate Colossus, because he’s been under utilized and only briefly shown in the X-Men: The Last Stand.

Colossus as a character is thrown in as a convenient plot device and tongue in cheek foil for Deadpool. He shows up without warning on the freeway to break up the fight between Francis and Deadpool and then randomly show up again in the third act to help Deadpool defeat Francis. Why does he hinder one event only to help in the other? Colossus, as a character, creates more questions than he answers: What does Colossus have to do with Deadpool? What is their back story and relationship? Did the X-Men send Colossus? Did Deadpool invite Colossus to the third act? Were they best friends at some point in the past that was never mentioned or showed to us in the already excessive back story?

The Marvel universe is so convoluted that it doesn’t matter. The whole point of the Marvel universe is to have random characters show up at random times to help sell individual toys/comics and spin off new characters like a back door pilot.  Colossus in this script is nothing more than a hat tip to fans and poor plot device to everybody else. Colossus even references a time when Deadpool was at Professor Xavier’s academy, which makes no sense whatsoever in the context of the film they’re making.

Deadpool lacks all types of context. The world at large (our world) is irrelevant except for pop cultural jokes and the Marvel universe exists only as a way for Deadpool to try and make fun of it, and this makes my suspension of disbelief impossible. All secondary characters have no motivation, arc, back story, or conflict. They’re stock marvel characters that shoot weapons out of their retractable hands and blow stuff up without real world or super hero world context.

Industry Analysis:

I feel a growing sense of resentment for this genre of filmmaking. I go to movies for story, plot and character in addition to “just being entertained.”  Many people will say I need to lighten up, that I need to take what they give me and be happy about it, but as a fan of movies I’m sick and tired of seeing comic books on screen that’s all style and no substance. For those who love the Deadpool comic, I’m sure, without question, you’ll love this movie.

This is an 80 million dollar R rated comic book movie that’s going to have a hard time appealing to larger audience, considering everyone under the age of 18 can’t go see it (think Kick-Ass).  If you think the “Deadpool Brand” is going to overcome this limitation you’re greatly mistaken. The brand has no public awareness outside of the insular Marvel universe and unlike Wolverine, Deadpool has no redeeming qualities and possess the fart joke maturity of a Ren & Stimpy episode. This severely limits your appeal. You’re taking a HUGE risk when making an 60-80 million dollar movie that doesn’t appeal to the Four Quadrant demographic. A lot of people don’t want to see an R rated movie, period, let alone a vulgar comic book one. Can they do this movie for 30-50 million dollars? Daredevil was sitting pretty at 78 million so I highly doubt it. Scott Pilgrim, another 80 million dollar plus budget, certainly appealed to it’s base, generated HUGE buzz among it’s constituency, but was an epic failure for the studio that made it, only grossing 43 million globally. Good for fans, bad for general audiences, and worse for business.

If they decide to make this a PG-13 movie you loose everything that makes it special and remove any reason I might consider watching it.

If you’re not experiencing the same “comic book fatigue” that I am, just wait. This movie is scheduled for 2012 and here is just a sampling of what you get to see before its release:

2011

Green Hornet – January 14, 2011

Priest – March 4, 2011

Thor – Released: May 6, 2011

X-Men: First Class – June 3, 2011

Green Lantern 17 June, 2011

Spider-Man Reboot July 3, 2011

Batman 3 – July 20, 2011

The First Avenger: Captain America – July 22, 2011

Cowboys And Aliens – 29 July, 2011

R.I.P.D.

2012

The Avengers – May 4, 2012

Ant-Man

Wolverine 2

Ghost Rider 2

Flash

The Runaways

Green Lantern 2

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Live Action

Judge Dredd

Fantastic Four: Reborn

Super Man: The Man of Steel

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S A F E H O U S E

‘Safe House’

Premise: The action-espionage- thriller tells the story of a YOUNG CIA agent who becomes the only survivor after a CIA safe house attack, and must help a dangerous prisoner avoid being killed as they escape to a second safe house, “outmaneuvering various forces that want them both dead.”

About: Universal purchased David Guggenheim’s spec Safe House for $600k against $900k, winning out against two other movie studios in a bidding war. He’s the brother of two other Hollywood players and would seem he’s making his own name for himself. He just sold ‘Puzzle Palace’ to Summit for similar money and also has another project with McG titled, “Medallion.” Universal nabbed the spec after a multi-studio bidding war. Scott Stuber (The Wolfman) will produce. Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds have signed on to play the leads. Daniel Espinosa set to direct.

Genre: Espionage-Action -Thriller

Writer: David Guggenheim

Details: 117 pages (undated)

Related Viewing: Wanted, Spy Games, Midnight Run, Eagle Eye, 3 days of the the Condor, Enemy of the State, 16 blocks.

Synopsis: We open on a bedroom and see MATT WESTON (an eager 25 year old) waking up in the best way imaginable – by making love to a 23 year old Brazilian Beauty (ANA). He’s got to go to work; she doesn’t want him to. She figures out a way to get him to stay a little bit longer and most people can relate to the situation (minus the Brazilian). They’ve been together 6 months and they are in the prime of their lives.

We see Matt go to work in the slum of Rio De Janeiro. On the way he calls his family back home: Mom is terminally sick, they need more money for her treatment and everybody wishes he’d come visit.

Matt arrives at a run down building, filled with run down people and uses a special key to enter a magical room: sound proofed, no windows, bare walls and floors, bottled water, red bull and packets of blood in the fridge. This is his ‘Safe House.’

Matt is an underling for the CIA, the lowest field position available. He’s a “housekeeper” who manages the place and makes sure it’s in order when CIA operatives come calling. We see him call into his “Landlord” to see if there are any bookings: No new company to speak of.

Matt works out, assembles his pistol and calls his recruiter BARLOW to chat about an intel paper he wrote. Matt is striving to be something other than a housekeeper but no opportunity has presented itself. Barlow reminds him of his place in the pecking order: at the bottom.

At a strip club on the other side of town is TOBIN FROST, a 55 year old ex-CIA field officer. He’s now a free agent but was one of the best (A Legend). He’s a great foil for Matt. He’s there to see MILAN MAXIM a 33 year old Serbian to buy some intel with some dirty names on it (you find that out a little later).  Across the street a shady, ex-paramilitary – EMILE VARGAS waits to shoot Frost upon leaving the building. Frost inject himself with what will later be revealed to be the intel and pays a man to walk out the front door with the briefcase. As soon as he does, his head explodes.

Bullets fly, foot chase ensues into public, more bullets fly, Frost is shot, put between a tree and a hard place. Vargas has him pinned. Just a few blocks away is the American Embassy. Frost makes a dash for safety. Upon getting inside, facial recognition software picks him up with a match and Frost is brought into custody. The Americans send Frost over to Matt’s safe house with an interrogation team. End of Act 1.

The interrogation team wants information from Frost.  In the only way it knows how, the CIA tries to electro shock it out of him. Matt is uncomfortable with this but his eyes are about to open even wider. The lights shut off and mercenaries compromise the Safe House. Everyone inside is killed, except for Matt, who escapes with Frost, through a hatch in the floor. Matt has a backpack with money, passports and gun and he throws Frost into the trunk of a Yugo. Frost breaks out of the trunk and attacks Matt with a seatbelt. They crash.

Matt hot wires another vehicle, handcuff’s Frost in the passenger seat and calls BARLOW. Barlow will hook him up with a key, let’s Matt know the CIA wants him to come in. Matt drags Frost to a soccer stadium next to pick up the key to the next “Safe House” (Why would the CIA put the key THERE of all places?) Frost escapes, Matt is captured by local police. We find out that Matt is now a wanted terror suspect. Matt breaks free, finds Frost and continues onward with Frost in tow. The CIA sends in a couple “freelancers” to take both of them out and Vargas has not stopped chasing them either. Frost tries to escape every opportunity he’s given but Frost and Matt are in a dog fight for their lives as they try to make it to the second Safe House several hours drive away. Frost is impressed with Matt’s resolve and Matt is secretly looking for Frost’s affirmation.

Money has been deposited into Matt’s account. He’s being set up by someone on the inside, someone that knows where the Safe Houses are and all the players involved. As we move from one action set piece to another, the banter between Frost and Matt centers on how wet behind the ears Matt is. This is his first rodeo and it shows. Frost argues with Matt on how idealistic he is, how the world of espionage isn’t cut and dry and how Matt needs to look at the bigger game going on, a game that he is just a pawn in. This begins to sink in over time.  Frost might very well be cynical, but in many ways he’s also right. Matt has convictions and he sticks to them. That’s an admirable trait.

The 2^nd act consists of action and more action. There’s nothing wrong with that but it does seem a little tedious. There are lots of great guns and hand to hand fighting, lot’s of carnage and stuff blowing up as well. Frost escapes and Matt follows in several trivial ways. Obviously action descriptions are very dependent on how it’s filmed, which allows a director to bring his own touch and feel to the movie. This could be either good or bad, just depends on the ability of the director. Is it Tony Scott or is it James McTeigue?

As the two of them make their way into the final act there a couple twists to find out who is pulling the strings. CIA operatives from Langley fly over night and the question remains: Are they friend or foe? The 3^rd act begins when everyone reaches the 2^nd Safe House and people’s loyalties are made known. It’s not very surprising however when it all does finally shake down and Matt’s choice in the end seems suspect to me. I was hoping for more of a ‘Mission Impossible’ (the 1^st one) style ending that never comes.

Analysis:

The point of this story is the character arc of Matt. He starts out naive and a perfect “Company Man,” but as the training wheels come off, we see him grow into a much more aware operative and realistic of both his employers and his job choices. His character is perfect for Hollywood which is clamoring for more roles for actors in their early  20’s. The role doesn’t require him to act much either, which is a bonus for the exact same reason. However his arc never comes to it’s fruition due to the very lame ‘cop out’ in the end.

The secondary and supporting characters need a little work. This can come through added dialogue as well as character traits to flesh out their mannerisms. Vargas is a perfect example. While he isn’t the *true* villain in the story, he should represent a much purer evil and ruthlessness. He’s reduced to being a rogue element used to suddenly show up and complicate action. That’s OK, but it does diminish his potential a bit.

Frost’s character as well left me a little under satisfied. His dialogue is great but his actions do not prove to me that he is the badass he once was. Sure he can handle a weapon, but his “escapes” from Matt do not verge on the “Bond Like” person he should be. This man is supposed to be a legend but the script never treats him like one, especially when being held captive by a kid. I also feel like Frost represents a missed opportunity to teach and instruct Matt along the way. More information should be imparted to Matt, the tricks of the trade that can only come in the form of real world espionage experience. Matt knows all the stuff in the manual. What he lacks is the resourcefulness of what’s not. He KINDA gets that though.

Matt wrote his thesis paper on Frost. This comes into play only ONCE and it should come into play more. Matt wrote a SECOND paper on Key Surveillance Threats.  It’s planted early but never pays off and it should. Matt can take apart and put together a pistol in 30 seconds. This also does not pay off.

The relationship between Frost and Matt should also resolve around WHY Frost turned into a rogue agent. Everyone makes Frost out to be a bad guy. We ultimately realize he’s not and I personally want to know what the straw was that broke the camel’s back.  This should be a revelation for Matt. Matt thinks he knows everything about this man, only more proof of how naïve he is. This relationship needs to go both ways and Matt needs to impart or impress Frost enough to justify the events of the 3^rd act when Frost saves his butt. Frost needs to get something or learn something about himself through Matt, if nothing more than redemption. Even secondary characters need an arc.

I also would’ve liked a few more twists before the final act. Specifically the issue of WHO is behind the scenes in the CIA. The script does a bait and switch over this, but the payoff is very easy to figure out. By the time we hit the 3^rd act climax we already know who it is. We should find this info out at the very last minute, at the same moment our main character finds out. There’s no reason to show your hand to the audience.  All in all, however, ‘Safe House’ is a pretty safe bet.

So why did it sell? – These aforementioned issues are easily addressed and are by no means deal breakers. The script is still fast-paced – balls to the wall action. There are several of these types of scripts making the rounds. ‘Abduction’ sold for a million with a similar but different take on how to turn a 20 year old into a future action star (Tayler Lautner.) It’s now going into production with John Singleton at the helm. This script is better than that one however.

The best thing to take away from reading this script is how lean and mean it is. The action isn’t wasted or bogged down by overly wordy exposition. Guggenheim is not a verbose writer. This is to his credit. Descriptions do not sell scripts (especially action scripts) characters, plot and structure do. This script is a fast read for fast action that has developed characters, raising stakes and complications that affect plot. There’s a clearly defined goal and moral choices along the way. Having said that however, Ryan Reynolds is too old to play the young buck needed for this movie and I’m not sure Espinosa can get the action done right as he’s an unproven director in this medium. I haven’t seen his ‘Easy Money’ which is from Sweden but everybody has raved about it. A rewrite was just announced with Terry George taking on the rewrite. So we shall see how it evolves.

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All You Need is Kill

‘All you Need is Kill’

Genre: Science Fiction

Writer: Dante Harper

Details: 4/1/10 – first draft – 118 pages

Date: 5/5/10

Premise: Mysterious creatures called ‘Mimics’ have laid siege to Earth. The storyline puts a ‘Groundhog Day’ plot device into a futuristic alien invasion storyline as a young inexperienced private gets killed in action only to be reborn the day before to suffer the same fate. Eventually, he becomes a better warrior and that other circumstances are changing, which might be the key to altering the outcome.

About: Warner Bros paid low-7 figures against a purchase price near $3 million for a Dante Harper-scripted adaptation of All You Need Is Kill, a Japanese novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Warners execs Jon Berg and production president Greg Silverman moved preemptively for the property and made a deal with an aggressive progress to production clause that will likely get the film before the cameras within 12 months. This was a big sale in April and at 3 million a record price for the year.

Related Viewing: STARSHIP TROOPERS, Ground Hog Day, District 9, Full Metal Jacket, Doom.

Synopsis: We start “in medias res” on a United Defense force drop shop. These soldiers wear futuristic exo-jackets and acrylic like faceplates. We meet PVT BILLY CAGE and PVT YONABURU and other kids heading into certain death. These “soldiers” are no older than 20. They’re afraid, they’re nervous and they don’t want to jump out of a plane.

In a visual splendor the drop ships take fire, careening out of the sky as the kids fall out the back and hit the beach in “The Battle of Ruby Tuesday!” A ‘Saving Private Ryan’ like storming of the beach ensues. Mass confusion, explosions, and lot’s of shaky hand held camera most likely follows.

The kids are surprised to be alive and awkwardly move in their exo-jackets towards a large trench, where they await the onslaught of the enemy horde. A soldier is speared by a “projectile javelin” that is “other worldly” and “bio-mechanical’” in nature.  The MIMIC HORDE swarms the trench; a glistening Bio-Mass of insect like creatures (Starship Troopers anyone?) lays waste to lots of people.

As all seems lost, DOG COMPANY SOLDIERS led by SERGEANT MAJOR RITA VRATASKI (AKA THE FULL METAL BITCH) spring into action. They’ve been to battle many times, their exo-jackets dented and splashed with graffiti. Rita is a God like entity that wields a large TUNGSTEN CARBIDE BATTLE AXE and she shreds the Mimics like a girl possessed, a natural killing machine with grace and skill unmatched on the battlefield. She is, at most, 23 years old.

As Rita fights, CAGE runs in the other direction, screaming like the child he is. Yonaburu chases after him. They run into a group of MIMIC scouts that send Javelins into both of them. Cage goes down fighting, but bleeds out. He wakes up later, a Mimic standing over him. Cage fires on this “special rainbow colored” Mimic, his bullets well placed between the Mimic’s amour, “SILVER BLACK TENDRILS” drizzle onto Cage’s exposed body at 600 degrees, it’s a horrible death. (12 pages in)

In a rush we’re in the barracks, Cage sits up in bed SCREAMING and everyone in the barracks wonders what the hell is going on. Cage is confused. That was one vivid nightmare, right? Cage finds himself the day before the battle, the morning before the night liquor raid, and sluggishly going through an ordinary day as an infantryman. Each detail here is important because the audience is going to see this day play out over and over again.

SGT. Farell barges into the barracks catching everyone off guard. He gives everyone a hard time, playing the role Stephen Lang championed in Avatar and R. Lee Ermey championed in Full Metal Jacket.  He’s a big hard on for protocol and this group of slackers is in for a world of shit. It’s obstacle course time for them.

In the midst of the obstacle course Cage can’t shake his déjà vu. Cage tells Yonaburu that he knew everything that was going to happen and everything that Farell was going to say. Yonaburu is skeptical but Cage proceeds to list off everything that’s going to happen on the obstacle course before it does so.  This is more than coincidence. Cage does not predict The Full Metal Bitch showing up, we see her in plain cloths, a small delicate girl unlike the Amazonian killing machine we know her to be. Cage is in awe/love with her (how can he NOT be).

We’re in “battle readiness debriefing theater,” the calm before the storm. We finally see some STAKES (never really enough btw) and realize the Mimics have swarmed most of the known world and the upcoming Battle of Ruby Tuesday is really the WORLD’s last stand. Sgt Farell offers “in jacket training” that none of the kids want, they’re too busy planning a liquor raid, to get faded the night before battle. They succeed in getting wasted later.

Everybody gets ready for battle in the morning, CAGE is strapped with as much ammo as he can carry, and we relive the Battle of Ruby Tuesday a second time, with the gift of hindsight. Everything is exactly as before, except the weather has changed. It will ALWAYS change.  There are more Mimics than the last time, they seem to have LEARNED something. Cage saves Yonaburu, but get’s a 90mm round blown through his chest, immediately followed by Yonaburu’s head being blown off. End Scene.

And we’re back in the Barracks as CAGE wakes up in a cold sweat screaming, everybody staring, same as before.  Cage goes a little nutty this time round, tries to explain this LOOP he’s in to medics and the sergeant. They think he’s section 8. Cage runs away, going AWOL towards the beach. A old man and girl are there, a MIMC AQUA SCOUT emerges from the water and kills them all.

Wake up again in the morning. He’s crying, but not out loud. Get’s up as normal, grabs a gun, and blows his head off. Wakes up again the morning. Leaves silently. Writes a “5” on the back of his hand and as he tracks his many lives. We go to the Holovid Library to get some much needed back story on the Mimics and the battle. Several pages of exposition in “Why we fight” style news reels and back-story on Rita. She’s really good because “she plays lots of video games.”

With every new life, Cage begins to learn and ask questions. He takes SGT FARELL up on his offer to teach “in jacket” fighting. Cage gets better. Cage begins to use his knowledge to affect the outcome of events. Cage gets better at sparring and more fearless in battle, dying each time but taking more and more mimics with him. Cage begins to play battle games, seeing how far he can go before dying. After intense fight training, Cage wants to know how Rita is so fast. Sgt Farell obliges by modifying his fighting suit, taking it off “auto balance” and allowing his mobility to equal that of Rita’s. He now has 187 on the back of his hand, that’s how many times he’s died.

Cage barters for a BATTLE AX. This is round  203 now. Cage is in battle and it’s no hold bard. Everybody is amazed at his grace and skill as he takes off the head of a 30 ft Mega Reever. Everybody cheers as this stage of the battle is finally clear. He dies at 4:19 each time however, never quite making it to 4:20 (insert joke here).

Cage with a 214 on his hand now. He’s pissed that he “times out” before finishing his mission. This time Cage get’s really drunk. Does some crazy stuff, stops caring about his task and goes through the motions. He CLEAVES mimics every where he goes, but there is no longer emotion in him. Rita joins him in a fight. Back to back they fight, a perfect team of Mimic destruction. Rita finally asks, “How many loops is this for you?” At which point a Mega Reever shows up as the clock turns 4:20, game over.

On the 329^th time Cage figures this little game out. He finds a way to get back to Rita, to ask her questions and gets some answers. But Rita does not recall their conversation nor does she experience the same loop that Cage does. She did of course, but found a way out of the loop, after 411 cycles.

I’m not going to ruin the the 3^rd act here or give away the ending. The 3^rd act consists of Rita helping Cage and their love interest blossoming. There are many more “loops” for Cage but his purpose is now falling for Rita in addition to figuring a way out of the loop. In many respects he’d rather stay in the loop to be with Rita. The “rainbow colored Mimic” plays a crucial role and does Rita herself. In the end Cage is what you would expect him to be towards the end of a video game, after leveling up many times and having explored the battle field time and time again in this Sci-Fi RPG adventure. The “answer” to the narrative puzzle leaves much to be desired and the personal STAKES for Cage are always low. He get’s to go again if he fails.

General Comments:

The 3 million dollar spec script? Really?

First of all, I’d like to say there’s nothing inherently wrong with this script. It boils down to style and taste. It’s well written, at 118 pages it’s not too long, it’s filled with eye popping action, violence, special effects and it screams to be filmed and released in 3D (Thanks WB!). There’s a highly quotable “mentor” character in Sgt Farell that acts much like a Morpheus to Neo in the Matrix or the aforementioned Colonel Miles Quaritch from Avatar. This character, tough as nails, speaks in a philosophical prose that feeds the current military industrial complex. So this script is, in many ways, everything Hollywood is clamoring for. It’s based on source material (a heavily illustrated Novel) that’s grounded in anime/manga roots and acts as a vehicle for protagonists in their early 20’s.  The fact that many elements, locations and events are repeated, will certainly help keep costs in check as well (less sets to build, repeating visual effects). And finally, the whole narrative mimics (pun!) a video game and as such, represents a potential franchise.

It’s the age old Hollywood battle between style and substance, the former at the expense of the latter, which seems par for the course in today’s market place. WB would like you to think that “All you need is Kill” but, personally, I need a plot with purpose and actual character development in addition to all the “kill.”

Analysis

Story: The Video Game Dilemma

This is NOT a video game adaptation but it’s sure as hell written like one. We go to battle, we die, we get to start over, we get better strategy and better in battle. We get farther and farther each time until we beat the level of the Battle of Ruby Tuesday.

I’m not a huge gamer but I did my fare share of RPG games.  This script could easily be a Starcraft adaptation with the Mimic’s just being the Zerg Swarm. There’s really nothing more to the story than that: it’s a rambling episodic narrative puzzle that fails to relate (as a human interest story) to the characters. The point of the story is not the arc of the character but the violent destruction of it’s faceless, insect like antagonist and the constant “leveling up” of the main character into a well oiled fighting machine. There is certainly pleasure in playing that person in a game, but how much pleasure is there in watching it? Without that first hand involvement it has a boring and repetitive tonality to it that begins to get old around page 50.

The pitfalls of video game adaptations are in the shallow depth of character and overly simplistic plot. The “fun” is derived from the endless game play and multitudes of options that exist in exploring the “world” of the game and killing as many Mimics as possible in as many imaginative ways as possible. I’m not invested in the character when I’m not playing the game. The story of ‘All you need is Kill’ is just that, and lacks the sense of discovery you get while navigating the world for yourself.

The “narrative puzzle” that I mentioned earlier comes in the form of a temporal loop plot device that fails to deliver the requisite “understanding” as to why he’s stuck in the loop in the first place and doesn’t seem to learn anything about himself in the process. The whole story lives by this “narrative puzzle” and as such also dies by it.

Plot: The “Ground Hogs Day” Dilemma

This script utilizes the time loop narrative made popular in ‘Groundhogs Day.’ There are several other spec scripts from the past year that did the same thing. “The Day Before” by Chad St. John and Ben Ripley’s “Source Code” (currently in production) are 2 such examples.  Both were worthy of Black List mentions. There are others as well , “Shadow 17” comes to mind. Ironically, WB has the rights to 2 of the 3.

A time loop or temporal loop is a common plot device dating back to Greek mythology. This situation resembles the mythological punishment of Sisyphus, condemned to repeatedly push a stone uphill only to have it roll back down once he reached the top, and Prometheus, condemned to have his liver torn out and eaten by an eagle each morning. The plot is advanced by having one or more central characters retain their memory or become aware of the loop through déjà vu. Stories with time loops commonly center on correcting past mistakes or on getting a character to recognize some key truth; thus allowing them to escape from the loop.  That last point is crucial to the device (and missing from this story).

‘Groundhog Day’ is considered a tale of self-improvement that emphasizes the need to look inside oneself and realize that satisfaction in life comes from benefiting the lives of others rather than the selfishness of one’s own wants and desires. The phrase also has become a shorthand illustration for the concept of spiritual transcendence. Buddhists see such themes of selflessness and rebirth as a reflection of their spiritual messages. This concept plays out in Hindu faith as a form of reincarnation and also, in the Catholic tradition, seen as a representation of Purgatory. ‘Groundhog Day’ found great success as an existentialist comedy in large part to Bill Murray as an actor and in large part to the message it gave.

This applies to “All you need is Kill” because that final message of spiritual transcendence and self-improvement is somewhat misplaced. The only form of self-improvement Cage makes is how to become a better and more efficient killing machine. Only when you have nothing can you truly succeed as a soldier, only when you no longer care about life and risk everything can you succeed in overcoming the limitations of the self in war. This script reinforces the fight to win mentality of the military at all costs and offers no form of self-discovery or purpose in the end. There is no “key truth” to speak of.

The plot “thickens” here and there but essentially, ‘All you need is Kill’ utilizes this plot device to no end. This is why we find the ending so hollow and bereft of meaning. Once we’re clued in to WHY Cage is caught in the Loop, it doesn’t really make any sense. We just accept it as a ‘Fait Accompli’ that needs no logical explanation.

Post Script: The “tone” of this movie will be very, very important. The filmmakers and studios have the task of distancing themselves from Starship Troopers, which is quite similar in a lot of ways. Cage is the young Johnny Rico of the future!

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The Navy Doesn’t Build Character: Universal’s Battleship™ Adaptation

Battleship™  Script  Review

Premise: 200 million dollar plus adaptation of the Hasbro game Battleship™, where the U.S. Navy defends Hawaii from an alien invasion (sounds just like the game).

About: Universal’s adaptation just began filming in Hawaii. Project stars Liam Neeson, Brooklyn Decker, Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgaard and Rihanna.  It is directed by Peter Berg (Hancock, The Kingdom). This is the first Universal/Hasbro partnership since signing a five picture deal.

Genre: Summer Blockbuster

Writers: Jon and Erich Hoeber (of the upcoming RED comic adaptation) with revisions by Paul Gross & John Krizanc and current revision by Peter Berg.

Details: May 5^th 2010 draft 114 pages

Plot: Alien Invasion

Theme: Survival

Dialogue: Laughable

Character Development: There is none.

Concept: Worthless

Tension: Lacking

Conflict: Purely Superficial.

Related Viewing: Pearl Harbor, Independence Day, 2012, Deep Impact, G.I. Joe

Synopsis:

We open in a Cesna, flying with father and son over Hawaii. A sudden and unexplainable “storm” causes them to crash on the big island of Hawaii. Everyone should be dead, but ALEX HOPPER, the young boy, isn’t even harmed and his father is GONE. Alex Hopper is adopted by his father’s best friend, Lieutenant Hopper (Yes, Alex Hopper is adopted by Lt. Hopper who isn’t related to him).

Alex (Hopper) becomes best friends to his step brother STONE. Through montage we see these boys grow up. We see the unique bond they share which boils down to Hopper going crazy whenever someone threatens Stone or his adopted family. Hopper will pick a fight in an instant and has a thirst for big action. Hopper is a thrill seeker, constantly endangering himself and others. The boys have a partner in crime in SAMANTHA (SAM). They all grow up together and Hopper and Sam fall in love. When they are all in their teens LIEUTENANT HOPPER dies. The boys become Navy men like their father.

Before shipping out, now in their late 20’s, Hopper does some BIG wave riding.  Sam is not impressed and gives him an ultimatum: Hopper must stop doing stupid/reckless stuff or she’s gone. Sam wants him alive when they finally get married. Hopper promises to stop, but it’s tough to change one’s head strong ways.

On the deck of the USS Missouri, at Pearl Harbor, the Admiral reminds us of all the sacrifices our Navy has made and the honor that comes with service. The American and Japanese Navy engage in joint fleet exercises. Hopper and Captain Yugi Nagata have choice words with each other and have some hatchets to bury. The Admiral doesn’t think much of Hopper and his brash ways, he’s also not a fan of him marrying his DAUGHTER SAM. Three destroyers and an aircraft carrier cinematically sail out of the harbor.

Ext. Space – under the cover of a meteor shower, six fireballs streak to earth. SATCOM picks them up. FIVE splash down in Hawaii and one DESTROYS Hong Kong, ALL of it. The Chinese, in their infinite wisdom, think the Americans did it and mobilize their army, creating a global threat.  End of Act 1 (page 31).

The aliens are called REGENTS.  They’ve come to suck up water and marine life samples.  As a race they communicate via touching. From the samples they can tell we’ve been polluting our ocean but they really, really, like it. However, their DAMAGED REGENT COMMUNICATION TOWER is unable to unfurl properly, making phoning home difficult.

Samantha works in the Navel Robotics lab overseeing a marine, Mick, and the rehabilitation of his new bionic legs.  She’s his physical therapist and to test his legs they hike to a sweeping vista over looking Pearl Harbor.

The Regents block all forms of communication with a jamming device that also creates a giant wall of water and inclement weather (dark clouds and lightning) to surround Hawaii, creating an impenetrable barrier. With the radar dead, Hopper’s destroyer, the John Paul Jones (not named after Lead Zeppelin), makes visual contact with the Regent ship and attempts to hail it, then attempts to board it, but is rebuffed.

Three monstrous regent war ships (STINGERS) rise from the depths. An EMT burst kills Hopper’s ship, now a floating paper weight. A Stinger battleship JUMPS in the air and lands between American ships.

The U.S. Navy engages in frantic action to get into battle ready condition. The U.S. aircraft carrier shoots a warning across the Regent’s bow. The Regent ships return fire with PEGS that rip through the aircraft carrier. Americans exalt when it “misses” and are distraught when it “hits.” They are over matched however by alien technology and jumping boats. The aircraft carrier is breached; STONE’S destroyer is destroyed. Hopper watches, his silent rage escalating with the death of his beloved adopted brother. Hopper is now in charge.

Alien vs Navy sortie and battle. Aliens launch flying SHREDDERS that attack Oahu, destroying active targets but not killing innocent bystanders. From the top of the mountain Sam can see the Shredders recreate the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Regent Air Transport lands at the top of the mountain and begins constructing a new communications tower RIGHT NEXT TO MICK AND SAM! Regent Foot Soldiers are called THUGS and they have a LAND COMMANDER. We see “Thug Vision” which lets us know if a target is “green” (safe) or “red” (a threat to destroy). Everyone agrees it’s not the Chinese (really).

The Navy fishes out an alien from the water (from a crashed Shredder).  Hopper touches it; thereby transmitting it’s thoughts (cause that’s how they communicate) and sees a glimpse of their waterless world they come from and the coming onslaught. The Regent is alive (of course it is) and other Thugs come to rescue him (no man left behind). There is hand to hand combat on the ship with our supporting cast. Hopper and Nagata join forces, the Japanese and Americans work side by side to get the John Paul Jones working again. They fire some torpedoes, essentially guessing the Stinger’s location, where they again, shout, “hit” and “miss” this time with more enthusiasm and I quote “Holy Shit! Hit! Big Hit!” and “Hit! Sink! Big Hit! Big Sink!” End of Act II.

There is more aquatic posturing that “escalates” the action and tense moments for sailors as Stingers and Navel ships trade blows, maneuvering, counter maneuvering and the sinking of battleships both Regent and Navy ensues.  The third act culminates in the final show down between the Regent Flagship and the U.S. Navy. Somehow Sam and Mick are able to single handedly deal with the issue of the communications tower. While the US Navy gets it’s back against the wall, how could it not succeed against an advanced race of aliens that has traveled across space and time to get to the sunny shores of Oahu?

*******************************************************************************

General: Battleship is a CGI laden albatross of an idea that should have been aborted long ago. The script is quite literally a retelling of Pearl Harbor where the Japanese are our best friends and ally against the invading alien Regents. The pace is flat and suspenseless and it’s filled with lazy, uninventive, writing that lacks any form of narrative ambition. This is a totally joyless exercise that paints with the broadest strokes imaginable.

Act 1:

The first act is a bid of mystery to me. Why take the time to show a back story of children growing up together if there’s no conflict or sense of history between them later in the movie? Seems like there should be a wealth of drama between these 3 people that could be exploited, but never is. Was there ever a love triangle? How did their love blossom? Was it strained or love at first sight?

Why bother making Alex adopted? What’s the point of this exactly? There are so many places you can go with brothers and they chose go nowhere with them. You make one of them a hot head and the other a cool customer?  Where’s the conflict in that?  It’s much better if they’re competing against each other, driving each other. I’d rather they be locked in constant conflict or Batman and Robin fighting side by side, than a generic wonder bread family.  They kill off the brother far too soon (in act 2) to make it meaningful, as there is no repore between them.

Act 1 is obviously a hat tip to a future movie with a “strange cloud” that causes a crash where nobody is hurt and the boy comes out unscathed. The assumption is that Hopper’s father has been abducted and that it will play out in a sequel. Instead of planning for the future they should be building a solid foundation in the first movie that isn’t here.

We could very easily just cut out the beginning of the movie and pick it up modern day, on the beach in Hawaii, watching Hopper surf his way into danger and feign love towards Sam. Their whole relationship is founded on a couple looks, kisses and a convenient pregnancy.

Act II

Stupidest Aliens Since Signs:

It’s going to be hard to top the Aliens that die if they get water on them, but the Regents are sure going to try. For all their advanced technology they’re still no match of an antiquated U.S. Navy and ultimately destroyed by the most ridiculous turn of events. If their boats can “jump” in the air then I don’t see how any torpedoes can work on them. They’ve just flown through space and yet their space craft has no form of protection from our guns and ammo. They’re certainly not as menacing as the Independence Day aliens, as they were able to destroy much more than Hong Kong. The Regents never threaten the world at large again. Though superior in number and strength, they can’t even manage to defeat Brooklyn Decker (Sam) and a marine with bionic legs on top of an isolated mountain.

The alien “threat” is never threatening. What happened to global conflict going on outside of Hawaii? The Chinese are mobilizing, the Russians are menacing and everybody is blaming the U.S. Where is the President in all of this? What is our military doing? You’d think they’d at least try to send some aircraft over the storm or a submarine under it to help out their stranded battleships. They should at least ATTEMPT to circumvent this obstacle instead of waiting for it to pass. Shouldn’t the stakes go up in the second act with the threat of a world war breaking out? We would never know, because they never address it.

Act III

While all may seem lost to our navel officers it never really is. We have no character arcs to complete and our saving grace is a piece of American Naval History. Act III is as perfunctory as it gets.  The only goal it succeeds in is posturing the ending for a sequel. It’s evident this is just meant to be the starter course, like some rubbery chicken wings to wet the appetite. Why invest 200 million in a property like this without the guarantee of multiple films? Each film in a series should stand on it’s own and it’s obvious they wanted to gloss over the details and didn’t want to put in the effort to make the characters and story interesting.  Instead they invested in pixel pushers to wow audiences with the alien technology.   A typical sleight of hand for a studio that wants to play games, not make real movies. This is Hasbro after all, the same entity the developed G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra so I’m not surprised.

Characterization:

Isn’t the Navy supposed to build character? Well not on a battleship it would seem. All we’re given is assorted archetypal characters that are introduced, followed, saved or left for dead. Not a single secondary character has any type of back story or arc.  They’re just random officers that I could care less about. If they have any personal issues, we’re never aware of them. If they have an emotional center, we’re never showed how they get to it. Characters are supposed to make choices and face consequences. War is a time for moral ambiguity and people showing their true nature. Moral choices are what define character and here we are left with hollow shells. Hopper isn’t remotely heroic.  While he answers the call to action, he doesn’t have a hero’s journey or any type of arc. His “hot temper” and “disregard for orders” should be a character flaw but is never exploited for dramatic effect. Other examples:

Riahana: Plays Weapons Officer Raikes: “No stranger to mayhem, she’s got an acerbic tongue, tats and has been pumping iron since her high school prom.” And yet I wish I knew more about her. She’s the most unlikely weapons officer around and speaks laughably comedic dialogue without a touch of her ‘acerbic’ wit.  She has no goals or motivation, she has no past or future, she’s only able to say “mahalo” and shoot an alien.

Brooklyn Decker: Plays Sam, the physical therapist, the admiral’s daughter that’s in love with a bad boy navel officer whom she’s trying to tame with passive threats. She helps the marine with bionic legs defeat the enemy THUGS and destroy the Regent Communication Tower atop a peak in Hawaii, while pregnant. Her best line is when she asks if the aliens are Chinese.

When things get nasty, it’s the officers and enlisted men that are supposed to step up their game and answer the call. Where are the every day heroes in this script, the role models to look up to? The great HUMAN moments, that exist in moments of great tragedy? They don’t exist and by this movie’s example, they especially don’t exist in the Navy.

What this story is missing is the human element. It’s missing the sacrifice and determination that creates heroes on a battlefield. This should have been a Navy recruitment movie, about CHARACTER, but instead it’s about aliens. This is inherent to the adaptation of a game that has no characters, no heroes, no villains, no conflict and a lazy studio that wanted to develop it accordingly.

The adaptation itself begs the question: Why?

Why bother? Why choose this game, that has no story, no plot, no characters, no visual correlatives, pictures, medallions or baubles? Why bother licensing the game at all? Hasbro essentially sold Universal a noun they’ve trademarked. The plot and story were conjured up in thin air and requires no loyalty to the game itself. Why give first dollar gross for the privilege of making a Battleship movie when you could have just put any title on the cover page? Brand awareness? The brand itself isn’t very compelling, quite a boring game to be honest. This flick is entirely dependant of the visual wizardry they conjure up. Why does Universal think we want to see this? What insight or intelligence am I missing here?

Conclusion:

I really wanted this to have the sentimentality of Top Gun and overt characterizations of Star Trek, but on water. The opportunities are there. Space is the ocean, the John Paul Jones is perhaps the Enterprise, and the aliens could be as menacing as any of the numerous aliens they may encounter. Hopper is even described as “Kirk-Like” but he certainly doesn’t warrant the analogy.  Take a look at what Star Trek did to establish Kirk’s character and give him context. There’s stuff going on all over the place, between main and supporting characters, villains and vice-a-versa. While we’re familiar with Star Trek characters, the reboot still managed to re-familiarize us with them and show them as people capable of independent action and the wherewithal to succeed against all odds.  They were (fairly) well defined. We’re rooting for Kirk, we’re smiling at him and in love with him for his brazen recklessness. Hopper is the anti-Kirk, and the story is detrimental as a result.

Of all the generic summer tropes to choose from, Universal chose to sample the worst elements they could find (2012, Deep Impact, Peal Harbor, Independence Day). They went the route where you pour money into special effects and draw attention to your mastery of pushing pixels not the mastery of story telling.

With an idea like Battleship you can construct anything around it. What they should have done, like you do when you start any tale, is define your characters, find a hero and build from it a solid foundation and franchise.

Does it Matter?

At 200 million plus, without any well known stars and drivel for plot and character, I find it hard to believe it can turn a profit. I would have said the same about the below films as well, and I would have been very, very, wrong. Ultimately it’s up to America. If this is released on Memorial or Independence Day (and seriously why WOULDN’T it be) I can sense a good amount of patriotic rebel rousing to get people in their seats. I can only hope, however, that there is a valid alternative.

Deep Impact:             $314 million worldwide gross

Pearl Harbor:            $449 million worldwide gross

2012:                          $769 million worldwide gross

Independence Day:  $817 million worldwide gross

There are no Goal Posts

Fitting that my first post is in response to another. This via Seth Jarret, manager to one of my higher-ups. On his blog http://stateofthebiz.com/2010/03/14/dont-move-the-goal-posts/ he blogs on the frustration of deal making.

“Clearly defined parameters” only exist as part of each step in the deal. It can’t be carried over outside of that. It’s the perils of work for hire agreements on open writing assignment in a studio system that doesn’t know another way. It’s the age-old riddle of “What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?” We expect the studio system to change given new market forces and new advances in technology, yet the very people who make decisions are reticent to change. They resist it at all costs and would much rather hedge their bets and wait for approval than be trailblazers setting precedent. You see that with 2D to 3D and their pre-occupation with branded content. Studio’s are bandwagons, more than happy to be late to the table as long as they get to have their cake and eat it too. They like to have projects on the back burners while waiting to see what the market will bear.

A “measurable criteria for success” in this industry is grasping at straws and spaghetti on the walls. Understand this argument in the context of  baseball where a hall of famer has a career batting average of 3 out of 10 with some walks in between. It’s about longevity, duplicating moderate successes and playing every day.

It’s an issue of middle management that knows nothing about production and lacks the passion in developing material. What you are left with are serial procrastinators that only care about discretionary accounts and personal relationships to guide them through their career and a golden parachute in the form of a producing deal at the studio when they’re finally run out of the executive ranks (Alex Young anybody?). Rinse, Recycle, Repeat.

Studio’s have the luxury of wasting time and money. They have the luxury if “burning” relationships because they know they hold the pocket-book and the keys to distribution. They know that there is an infinite amount of “talent” that wants to be in business with them and they know that they can treat people as slaves or indentured servants for the privilege of being in business with them. If you’re burned once, you’re more than happy to be burned twice, so long as you see a “Green Light” at the end of the tunnel.

Logic is something that doesn’t apply to the Studio System. Having clearly defined goals would imply that they had a larger business plan in place, a strategy for attacking the market and for developing material to enter into said market. You’d think they want to be ahead of the curve, not behind it. But they don’t. It’s herding cats, its gold fish like attention spans and it’s 100% ego. Is it frustrating? Absolutely, but at least you’ve been paid each “step” of the way. You’ve been denied the elusive “Green Light” but that’s a variable you can never control. Rational individuals realize this is a game with constantly changing variables but in all honestly, it’s still the only game worth playing.