5. Jodie
Ive never really understood the obsession with Ellen Page. Yes she is a talented actress but I always found her to be a little dull on screen. Seeing the words Starring Ellen Page dont normally have me rushing to the cinema. But she does a good job in Beyond: Two Souls, even though the Jodie character is one of the most boring protagonists ever written. Jodie is a damaged girl that has had a troubled life over which she has no control. She is like a Carrie lite, never been given the chance to be a normal girl and form normal relationships. There is a lot to play with there but sadly, the more Jodie grows up, the less you care. When she is a child, you cant help but want to look after her. Its not nice to see her be called a witch by other children or be too scared to go to sleep at night. Even if you are not a parent, you want to make sure she is ok. As she gets older and she suddenly performing stunts that involve fighting armed attackers on her own or jumping from moving vehicles, she moves away from being a character you want to look after but instead becomes someone performing stunts in a bad action film. Any affection for her goes because the leaps and progress in her life have been so badly told. You dont care about Jodie finding out about her real mother, or being homeless and eating fish from a can. You dont care because why should you? As a child, you had to look after her, but adult Jodie can look after herself. And as the control scheme gives you no illusion that you are controlling Jodie, you are merely watching this woman do stuff. That is why the ending is so anti-climatic, you are enabling the next cut scene in adult Jodies life without any control over where her path goes. But unlike a good film where you are invested in a characters well being, there is none of that for Jodie.