Alright, so I got an obserd amount of sleep last night so I’m finally thinking clearly for the first time in a week. This morning, I checked the early reviews of this weeks releases on Rotten Tomatoes and saw that Ghost Rider 2 has no reviews yet. For those not familiar with the film critic review aggregate that is Rotten Tomatoes, it is an awesome site where you can see what every important critic in the industry thinks of a film.
Until it is proven otherwise, there is a general rule of thumb regarding films that don’t allow reviews to be released before the film is released. The rule is, these movies are shit and to avoid bad publicity and early word of mouth, they don’t allow reviews to be published until the release date of the film (when they can’t supress them anymore). For anyone who knows this, they know not to hold out hope when it comes down to Thursday afternoon and there isn’t a review in site. Odds are, that movie is a hot mess and the studio already knows they’re going to lose money.
I bring this up because this week Ghost Rider 2 is due out (tomorrow). I noticed there were no reviews and it is a day before it’s release. This angers me because the first Ghost Rider hardly covered it’s budget and was horribly received. They had no justifiable reason to make a second film, except maybe for the fact that Nic Cage was in decent form. In fact, maybe one of the only films he didn’t overact in (which is arguably the best part of a Cage film).
Now, we’re down to the wire and it looks like the film they promised would be a vast improvement on the lackluster origin film will be an even bigger bust. Here is where I have the problem and ask the question.
Do studios think American’s are dumb?
Do they not think we can tell a piece of shit from a good flick? Apparently so, seeing as Michael Bay made a similar promise that Transformers 3 would be worlds better than the garbage plate that was Transformers 2. What did we get? The worst movie to ever have robots in it and arguably the worst film of the decade. You can say you like Transformers 2 and 3, but by admiting that, you might be admiting that you are in fact, an idiot. Say you like the graphics and the robot melee and that’s a fair statement, but to claim the story was “good” or “engaging” is like saying a paper cut feels good or getting punched in the face makes you happy (not applicable to Ed Norton).
Consider what was promised by Columbia and the makers of Ghost Rider 2. They said it would be an improvement. They said we would not be disappointed. Here we are, years after the first and we’re set up to sit through another piece of trash that should have been buried under the brutal reviews of the first film. What does that say about Hollywood? That they can make so many promises and have no ability to even consider keeping them. They would much rather make the film, collect the cash and make excuses later. It’s easier, isn’t it?
At least with the Twilight franchise, they never claim to be anything their not. That is the only good thing about the series, which is just pulp teen fodder force fed with puppy dog eyes and diamond sparkled skin. They give audiences exactly what they want and make no promises that the next will be the best or be “good”.
Is it really that hard to write a good script? As a screenwriter myself, the short answer is no. A good script should take a decent writer a few months, a good writer a few weeks and a great writer a few days. A great script can take significantly longer and cannot come from the pen of a hack no matter how hard they try. That isn’t what Ghost Rider is meant for. It’s popcorn action for fanboys and comic kids. The script doesn’t have to be jewel encrusted, but no script should ever end up like Punisher: War Zone or Grown Ups (to which will get a garbage sequel).
I guess the bottom line is most people in Hollywood either don’t care what they are making, don’t realize what they are making or are too scared to stand up and say something constructively negative. An old co-worker once asked me if people in the industry read screenplays before they made the film, because he couldn’t understand how something like Transformers 3 could make it out into circulation. I told him I wasn’t exactly sure since I’ve never really made it past pre-production (on account of my own laziness and inability to push my writing like a drug). I also told him what I did know. The Executive Producers (the money men) behind a picture don’t care what it looks or sounds like as long as the money they put in is returned with interest. Kind of like how the Oakland A’s don’t care about winning championships because they’re a small market team (Moneyball, anyone?). As long as their making money, the math adds up.
I believe that is what is really wrong with Hollywood. The willingness to plaster things with money instead of strong concepts. After Vince Vaughn made Wedding Crashers and was a bankable star, he stopped making good films. It’s not because he isn’t talented, it’s because he didn’t have to get noticed anymore. He was famous, he was A list and so he was going to get that big check even if he starred in Couples Retreat and The Break Up.
I guess, in the end when you only see green you don’t really see any other color. Of course, the only way to stop this is for us, as a collective protest, to stop going to see these overpriced, thin plotted movies. Then Adam Sandler would stop making Jack and Jill and go back to making Punch Drunk Love or Reign on Me. Case in point, Tom Cruise. Once he stopped being bankable, he had to waive his own fee to get a great project (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4) off the ground. The result was the best action film of 2011 and a HUGE box office number. Tom, who everyone had written off, now has a giant pile of money from the back end sales and finally broke out of his celebrity slump. I could care less how crazy he is, the man knows what a good film is and he was willing to fight for it. Passion. That’s what producers and big studios lose when money comes into play; passion.
