Although optimism is thrown out the window when compiling a list of some of the major disappointments of 2010, it at least serves to highlight Hollywood's need to meet ever increasing demands of an audience that yearns for more than homage heavy indulgence fests.
Inception and
The Social Network demonstrated that smartly made imaginative films, by ambitious talents at the top of their game, could tap into a modern consensus and become hits at the box office. While
Kick-Ass, delivered a clever post-modern twist to the superhero genre and
Let Me In demonstrated that horror remakes could actually be relevant again rather than depredatory. But I would also like to add
Splice which, though bizarre and unconventional, indicated that there is still an opportunity for filmmakers to evoke emotional kudos into the modern science-fiction horror film. No the general disappointments of cinema in 2010 came with the slew of derogative 'eighties are back!' resurrected gems that proved nostalgia can be a very dangerous game to play. This coupled with some initially promising but ultimately disappointing efforts from some cast-iron auteurs of cinema indicated how greatness can never be fully guaranteed. Instead of a Top Ten List, I'm doing something different...
Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps
Timing should have worked in favour for this 23 years later
Wall Street follow up that came about as the credit crunched and those bankers were revealed to be the mean money-hungry antagonists that we always knew they were.
Michael Douglas was back to his iconic Gordon Gekko best and
Oliver Stone, would once again helm, but scripting duties would be left to a different crew (responsible for
Jennifer Aniston rom-com
The Switch and Clint Eastwood's forgotten
True Crime no less). Curiously something was painfully amiss. The pen is mightier than the sword as they say and as a result the lack of directorial writing credit was blatantly obvious from that goddamn awful sub-heading. Then there was an insistence of family emotional plight over political bite and the controversial lead casting choice of
Shia LaBeouf. But perhaps most surprising was witnessing Douglas demoted from former menacing corporate shark to humble downtrodden (read sympathetic) old supporting player - mimicking the resurrected, once smarmy and powerful 80s TV baddie J.R in those bloody awful 90s Dallas TV movie follow-ups. It was left to
Josh Brolin to take over the Gekko helm and for 95 year old pro
Eli Wallach to make an impact in some brilliantly directed boardroom scenes.
Avatar Special Edition
Sure
James Cameron's original film was an aesthetic delight offering hypnotic vistas that immersed the audience into a strange, new and exciting world but there was always something lacking in the non-visual department. And once we get over the visual splendour the cracks of one-dimensional characterisation and simplistic plotting really start to appear. Why are the military portrayed as insultingly gun-ho mercenary types that were already explored in
Aliens 25 years ago? Why is the Colonel your stereotypical crew-cut racist with a grudge to bear? And exactly why are the Na'vi so perfectly formed, sympathetic and Disney inspired? The only purpose this Special Edition serves is to emphasise all of these faults second time around. An extended journey into the Na'vi's forest, a couple of paltry seconds added to a silly sex scene and a visitation to an abandoned school where Grace (
Sigourney Weaver) first taught the Na'vi really adds little to the experience and just makes you turn blue with embarrassment for thinking it would. The film already felt too protracted at 162 minutes so why make it even longer and laborious? Aliens: Special Edition this was not.
Alice In Wonderland
It is almost the norm for material you expect to be a perfect marriage for Gothic master
Tim Burton to ultimately become lame, lazy and boring in transition. It first happened a decade ago when he helmed a reimagination of
Planet of the Apes; in what we were predicting would be an intelligent darker re-working of the classic sci-fi film for modern audiences. Instead it become Burton's first dire effort and resulted in him arguably losing his edge somewhat thereafter. Then there was the match made in heaven that was an adaptation of
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - that would see the 'oh so ideal' casting of
Johnny Depp in the role of Willy Wonka and was surely dark enough material already for Burton to get his teeth into. That turned into an emotionally shallow snooze affair which paled in comparison to the charming Technicolor original - with Depp simply coming across as insanely creepy. So when
Alice in Wonderland was slated for the Burtonesque bleak wide-eyed whimsy treatment I for one could smell suspicion. Burton is someone who works best when challenged and this project was just too obvious and well known to him to animate his imagination. The acting was abysmal, the visuals were lazy, the 3D unnecessary and the storytelling was lacklustre. So please banish any positive premonitions of an eagerly awaited Burtoneque adaptation of stories from The Brothers Grimm or Struwwelpeter and instead look forward to his forthcoming wholly original
Frankenweenie.
The Way Back
It was a seven year itch between
Peter Weir's last movie
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the Earth and this, his 14th major feature. And while
The Way Back isn't an atrocity it certainly falls below the standards we were expecting from the seasoned Australian auteur. When could you ever accuse a Weir film for being long, laborious and emotionally distant? Usually his films concern the struggle of characters within environments they don't understand and how this culture clash ultimately evolves them. The problem is here Weir's efforts are focused on his power for aesthetically pleasing poetic vistas, not on the fact that the journey itself needs to be an exciting survival tale with interesting character development in and amongst deadly surroundings. If it weren't for a brilliantly arresting score the audience would be dropping off like flies too.
Predators
Actually I am somewhat reluctant to include this in my list as it was an efficient actioner that worked as a decent homage-induced follow up to the original
John McTiernan 1987 classic - so mission accomplished on that front. But one could appreciate the general consensus that this was a let down due to all the esteemed talent that was involved.
Robert Rodriguez producers and 'presents' so you expect to see some of his distinctive stamp on the material but this is noticeably lacking, while a beefed up
Adrien Brody takes the lead in what should have given the franchise that much needed star clout -but comes across as a thoroughly unArnie type miscast. As mentioned it works more as homage than re-tooled follow-up. For one there's fitting use of
Alan Silvestri's creepy original theme
throughout, the alien rainforest location is just as eerily claustrophobic, the characters are agreeable eighties throwback types and the creatures are back to there mostly man-in-a-suit best - while the film successfully banishes all memory of those turgid computer game spin-offs. The trouble is we were expecting a little more originality, some dark humour, a few neat ideas and at least one descent scare.
The Expendables
Stallone's 'Dirty Dozen' style actioner was another 80s throwback that delivered little of that era's gusto, excitement and pulsating action sequences and instead simply certified that you need more than a starry cast of current/former iconic action heroes to win the day. Although this had bad movie written all over it from conception you at least yearned for it to be 'so bad it's actually rather enjoyably good' - but not in a
Cannonball Run 2 'you can tell they all had a lot of fun but we didn't' kind of way! It proved just how bad BAD 1980s action movies could be! Better than
The A-Team but self-indulgent overbearing tosh all the same I'm afraid.