Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Uncertain News
I figured it happen someday, but it seems to imminent now: The Transformers will be part of a new, big-budget, live-action movie. As if that wasn't big enough, it seems that Spielberg himself was a big part of the deal-making. A few years ago this would have been exciting news, but frankly, I'm smarter now. I know that there's no way in hell this movie will be as cool as I know it could be. First of all, they already made a fantastic Transformers movie back in 1986. The emotional impact it had on me has yet to be defined. Secondly, the movie will attempt to please older fans while catering to today's children at the same time. This is an impossibility. Back in the 80's, the Transformers was downright edgy. Since (almost) all of the characters were robots, they were allowed to do things human characters couldn't. They could shoot each other as much as they wanted (unlike those suckers in G.I. Joe), even killing one another in the movie. They often traded some vicious PG-rated insults, and in the aforementioned movie, they even cursed a little. And in the ultimate (current day) taboo, the evil leader Megatron transformed into a realistic-looking toy gun (a Walther, I believe).
Today's mass-appeal blockbuster cannot do any of this. No one will make a toy gun anymore. I doubt we'll hear anything words stronger than "hell." Whatever "story" their monkey-team of writers concoct will not resolve in order to allow for sequels. I can't even fathom what kind of celebrity they'll try to insert to draw a bigger audience. The best possible outcome is the movie will re-kindle interest in the original products. If you want to learn more about this project, there's an interesting message board discussion going on at a website attached to the production.
In other suspect movie-adaptation news, it seems the long-rumored Watchmen movie is destined for a 2005 release. I am a fan of the attached director, Darren Aronofsky, but the book had so much going on I don't see how it's going to work.
I wish I didn't love movies as much as I do. Then it would be easier to hate them.
Today's mass-appeal blockbuster cannot do any of this. No one will make a toy gun anymore. I doubt we'll hear anything words stronger than "hell." Whatever "story" their monkey-team of writers concoct will not resolve in order to allow for sequels. I can't even fathom what kind of celebrity they'll try to insert to draw a bigger audience. The best possible outcome is the movie will re-kindle interest in the original products. If you want to learn more about this project, there's an interesting message board discussion going on at a website attached to the production.
In other suspect movie-adaptation news, it seems the long-rumored Watchmen movie is destined for a 2005 release. I am a fan of the attached director, Darren Aronofsky, but the book had so much going on I don't see how it's going to work.
I wish I didn't love movies as much as I do. Then it would be easier to hate them.
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