Whedon is so Predictable (Spoilers) by FREEWILL

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Whedon is so Predictable (Spoilers)

POSTED BY: FREEWILL
UPDATED: Saturday, October 22, 2005 14:37
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Saturday, October 22, 2005 10:13 AM

In case the title did not give it away I aim to offend....not on purpose, only because people seem to get offended if you say anything bad about Serenity or Whedon. If you are one of these people you may not want to read anymore.

I did not learn of Whedon's MO until after I was a dedicated Firefly fan. But, even knowing his MO, I went into Serenity hoping I was wrong. GOD, I HATE TO BE RIGHT.

WHEDON MO:

1) KILL THE GOODGUYS - if you want more information on this movie cliche click on this link to Justin's Guide to Elimination Movies http://www.mutantreviewers.com/relimination.html (I have no affiliation with this site)

2) MAJOR BADDIES GET TO LIVE.

3) BUFFY EVENTUALLY HAS TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE

Boy, did he live up to his MO and then some.

1) KILL THE GOODGUYS - Question is who and how many?

a) Even before seeing the movie I knew the Preacher was probably going to get it. That's a gimme. See Elimination movie formula link above.

b) About 45min to an 1hour into the film I knew Wash was getting it. In case you missed them here are the cliche tipoffs:

-Wash's character might as well have been named Crewman #6 (but then most of the supporting cast was so this didn't necessarily give it away)

-Wash and Zoe's marriage barely registered on the radar screen.

-Jayne had all his lines. Wash was relegated to the voice of reason.

And then it was a matter of when. As soon as I heard "I am a leaf on the wind" I knew it was any moment now. GOD, I HATE TO BE RIGHT.

2) MAJOR BADDIES GET TO LIVE

a) Of course, I am talking about the OPERATIVE living. I don't think I need to remind you of Niska, Early, Badger, and Saffron to name a few.

3) BUFFY EVENTUALLY HAS TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE

a) And.....she did in the form of "River the Reaver Slayer" (as so many fans are calling her these days).

To say I was disappointed with Serenity is an understatement. Although, I remain a loyal Firefly fan.

If Whedon ever wants to be in the ranks of Spielberg, Lucas, Cameron he needs to change his MO or at least make it less detectable. Cheesy gimmicks do not a long movie career make. Character & Story development do - like Firefly. Maybe he had too much control on Serenity and his genius needs to be tempered to make it awesome.

My opinion only....

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Saturday, October 22, 2005 11:04 AM

GROUNDED

So, in other words, the only way to make the film unpredictable would be to have all the good guys live and all the bad guys die?

Having said that, I do agree a bit about River. The shot of her with the axe and sword was eerily reminiscent of one of Buffy from Anne at the start of S3.

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Saturday, October 22, 2005 2:37 PM

DREAMTROVE

Bump.

I disagree completely. I think that this is the opposite of what hollywood does, and that's why Whedon does it. However, in a desire to not be predictable like hollywood, Whedon may, as you say, have fallen victim to what Orson Scott Card calls "Personal Cliches."

I don't think so. But this is the sort of constructive critism which Joss and Co. need to hear, which is why I bumped this thread.

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