10 Biggest Movie Tropes Of 2017
9. There Were A Lot Of Feral Beast-Men Being Particularly Protective Of One Innocent Girl
Seen in: Logan, Beauty And The Beast, Kong: Skull Island, War For The Planet Of The Apes, Colossal
2017 may have given us our fair share of bisexual Amazonian warrior women like the aforementioned Wonder Woman and Atomic Blonde, along with Thor: Ragnarok's Valkyrie, but there was plenty of old fashioned Hollywood gender politics at play as well. 2017 saw a lot of male fierce creatures located somewhere between human and animal that were nevertheless tamed by their care for a dainty, pretty girl, whether as potential lover or surrogate daughter. Yes, the "beauty and the beast" trope was very much alive and well in a year in which the biggest earning movie so far was, well, Beauty And The Beast.
Given the original 1933 King Kong coined a spurious "old Arabian proverb" to prompt it's "beauty killed the beast" closing line, it was probably expected that 2017-vintage Kong would retain an eye for the ladies. His complete lack of earlier bonding with Brie Larson's photojournalist did make his protective attitude toward her come somewhat out of nowhere, though.
Kong's ape brethren in War For The Planet Of The Apes, meanwhile, also demonstrated their growing humanity (just as the humans became more beastly) by taking a nurturing attitude towards the reboot's child version of the mute Nova.
Some movies at least tried to shake up the trope a little. In Logan, an even grumpier than usual Wolverine retained some of his humanity in taking the innocent Laura under his wing, but - having the same power set as him - she had her own feral beast side and an ability to handle herself in a fight. Meanwhile, Nacho Vigalondo's intriguing curio Colossal extended the connection between the monster and the girl by revealing its city-crushing kaiju to be a reflection of Anne Hathaway's damaged psyche.
The ultimate accolade for the beauty and the beast archetype, however, may be yet to come with the growing awards season momentum behind Guillermo Del Toro's fishman romance The Shape Of Water.