Just because fans love their Fast & Furious flicks, even the occasional GI Joe or Mummy movie, does not mean they have completely lost all sense of reasoning, or stopped caring about story. Yes, fans will show up en masse to see the newest and prettiest in special effects every summer, this does not mean Hollywood needs to stop trying altogether. Do we all, as lovers of the medium, deserve the best effort possible into a product we spend countless hours and finances on? Please, Mr. Studio Executive, do not let your fans obvious love for The Diesel or their affection for big-bang special effects lead you to believe that - we are still a culture that loves to understand what the heck is going on. Every time you feed us one of your more insane plot devices (think of any 5 movies, 3 of those will have them), we have to wonder what your opinion of your audience truly is? Remember when you thought just putting John McClane in a movie, without a script to speak of, would sell? How did A Good Day To Die Hard work out for you? How about White House Down? Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx are both on fire as actors, no script needed here, and then that movie crashed quicker than the Nixon administration. We do not even really need to spend time on The Lone Ranger, 47 Ronin or The Internship, because each of those recent disasters speak for themselves. Maybe it is because you have to churn these films out like butter to make your stockholders happy. Or maybe it is because you have a hard time finding writers with real talent and are forced to work with the minuscule talent pool you are subjected to. Whatever it is, please stop it. We might love a little mindless trip to the theater now and again, but we still want, no DEMAND, a story that makes sense. That is all we as film fans truly want. So take a breath, think it through, and deliver us what we all deserve: A fleshed out story with characters and situations we can all get behind. We'll be waiting.
Husband, father and a lover of all things film, Aaron strives to see a movie from a fan's perspective, not just a critic's. He is also the producer and co-host of The Hollywood Outsider, a weekly movie & TV podcast. Follow him on Twitter @H_Outsider
