“If you know the source…” is NOT a good arguement!

Through the years, loyal fans of a much maligned film have thrown out a variety of retorts when someone dares say that the muddled mess of a film that they think is good is actually terrible.  Over the years my favourite up until now has been the, “When the critics/you (delete as appropriate) make a better film…” argument.  Such a lame retort, daring to suggest that the only people who can ever comment on a film are those within the industry – which, ironically, the very same people tend to also be the ones to say the awards are rubbish, even though they are picked by, erm, people within the industry.  Imagine if you used the same reasoning in other walks of life:-

“Excuse me, waiter, but this food tastes like somebody had defecated on it.  In fact, I can actually see maggots crawling in the steak, and the chips are covered with a green fuzz!”
“Well, sir, when you can cook food for a restaurant, then I will listen to your negative comments.  Until then, you can’t know what is good or bad!”

or:-

“I bought a car from you, and when it was delivered it was a rusted slab of metal on bricks!”
“Well, go and make a car yourself.  When you do then you can complain!”

Nonsense, isn’t it?

Well, the popular retort now is, “If you read the comic/played the game/read the book you would know what was happening and it would make sense!”

Basically, what this defence is saying is that in order to get something out of a film, one which took over 2 hours of runtime out of your life, you need to invest loads of money and time seeking out source materials to explain everything.  Only then could you enjoy it!  Somehow this is seen as a good defence for poor film-making, and I have frankly had enough of it!
It is this sildenafil citrate generika levitra that provides the quick and long lasting ED relief and enables you enjoy the love making session. So, cialis 20mg australia consultation is always required. It can be ordered easily via a computer, smart phone or other device generic viagra cheap in the home. Use of foreplay techniques like kissing, viagra no doctor caressing, touching, pillow talk is what is needed to get started.

A film adaptation should draw upon the source material, but be accessible to people who have never encountered the source material before.  It should tell a coherent story, and not rely on you having researched everything in advance.  There is no way that a film studio intended to make a film aimed solely at 6 million gamers, which costs over $150 million to make.  Think about the maths a second.  6 million people, at an average box office take of just under $9 equals $54 million.  Why would a studio want to aim to make such a huge loss?  They need the film to reach the wider audience to be a success, and so when a film is so muddled that the wider audience are left confused and disappointed at the result, then the film has failed in its job.  Yes, the devoted fans will have lapped up every reference to a goblin named Skrag, or will understand why the guy with the mask on is so important to the plot, but they should NEVER be the target audience.

Now, at the risk of being labelled a Marvel fanboy here, I need to use the Marvel films as a positive example.  Before I do let me go on record to point out that comic book wise, DC are wiping the floor with Marvel at present – their Rebirth stuff far outshines the Secret Bores – and Age of Ultron was a turd of a film…a polished turd, but a turd nonetheless.  But what I want to highlight is how openly accessible the MCU has been to the general audience.  Each film tells the story, introduces everything, and plays through without assuming prior knowledge of comics.  There are nod and hints for dedicated fans – the dropping of a name, the glimpse of a figure, and those end credit stings (which if you don’t know the comics, just don’t bother waiting for them…you’ll not get it) – but they aren’t the focus of the film.  Look at Guardians of the Galaxy as the best example.  Damn, half the comic reading crowd had no clue who those characters were (I did though.  I’ve loved Rocket since the 80s), but the film was so accessible that it is considered by many to be Marvel’s best film to date.  Did I need to know that Knowhere is a hollowed out shell of a Celestial in order to enjoy the film?  Heck, no!  It was in the film, but wasn’t relevant.

“But didn’t you say that you loved John Carter because you loved the books?  Doesn’t that make you a hypocrite?”

Yes, I did say that, but I used that in reference to the tone of the film.  The books were pulp sci-fi, and the film was also.  In addition most of the criticisms levied at the film were that it didn’t do anything we hadn’t seen before, but that was because the books inspired the space adventures on film over the decades, so it was never going to be original.  But look at the film, nothing in it requires prior knowledge of the books, and it tells a coherent story (yes, it is corny, cheesy, and isn’t ageing well, but that doesn’t make it any less coherent).

Comic and game adaptations (especially game adaptations) need to stop pandering to the fanboys, and do their own thing.  Spider-Man 3 was a mess because they listened to the fans (“Add Venom…he’s awesome!” – Raimi hated the character, hence no effort made to use him in any decent manner).  Fans have the comics to fall back on if a franchise lets them down, whilst general audiences may just lap up this new thing on screen, and even seek out some of the source material themselves as a result.  Make a film as a film, adapt something and work it as its own thing.  Don’t just take chunks from different comics/games and hope it plays well with a loose story frame around it, it only does injustice to the source when it messes up.

As a final aside, I know it can be done.  I know you CAN make a faithful adaptation whilst hitting a general audience.  Deadpool has shown this, but (again) the story was coherent.  Okay, the story was simple – boy meets girl, boy has cancer, boy seeks cure and gets powers, girl gets kidnapped, boy rescues her – but it was coherent, and the ‘faithful to the comic’element was the humour and 4th wall breaking, which humour is universal anyway, hence the general public enjoyed it.  It’s also worth noting that it was a low budget affair, which meant no studio pressure.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.