So why exactly is Blake Snyder's book called Save The Cat!, anyway? Guy never wrote any films about cats, so far as we know. We can't even think of that many films about cats, besides That Darn Cat, The Cat From Outer Space, or Catwoman. And we hope to glob that the current crop of Hollywood blockbusters doesn't take any sort of inspiration from that last one (we would, however, welcome a gritty reboot of the second option, perhaps with Christopher Nolan directing). Save The Cat! is actually another of Snyder's vital "story beats", and it doesn't necessarily have to involve a feline. Hollywood loves a good hero, but you know what they love even more? An anti-hero. A guy or girl who's kinda flawed, who has to convince you that, deep down, they're a good person. The obsession with anti-heroes comes from another misreading of most screenplay textbooks (that you should make your character rich and interesting, which usually translates as "he's a bit of a douche" or just "y'know, Han Solo"), but the way you make those anti-heroes likeable? Pure Snyder, baby. And you see it in every single movie going. It's a single scene which exemplifies the protagonist's virtuous soul, despite all evidence to the contrary. It's Aladdin sharing some of his stolen bread with orphans, it's young Peter Quill defending a frog from some kids who wanted to squish it, it's James Franco being the only scientist who's nice to the monkeys in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. It almost always comes in the opening scene, to ensure a proper set up for our protagonist. Like the rest of the Save The Cat! beats the particular timing and delivery has become so routine that you can practically set your watch to it by watching any big budget movie. And routines start to get a little boring after a while, don't they?
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
