Film Courage: Why do popular franchises fail?
Erick Weber, Editor-in-Chief of Awards Ace/YouTuber: I think that it gets back to when
the filmmaking turns inorganic and I think that that's hard to describe when that happens and
what that is but it's it rings true or it doesn't and when a popular film goes in a direction that
doesn't feel authentic to the characters and who they are and their motivations as we've seen over
the years then that's where the franchise can be derailed and that is why Top Gun maverick's a
great film is because it's very true to everyone from the 86 version to now the 2022 version
to the to the sequel is that it is organic and it's grounded in who these characters were so
that's how you do it right and then we've seen how it's done wrong where you just watch and you go
wait that character would never do that or what was that decision and it it almost always just
comes back to something that feels inauthentic inorganic and often ungrounded and and that's
I think tr what happens a lot of times a lot of filmmakers try to do too much
I think there's value in not doing a lot I look at the Dardenne brothers and talk about their style
of filmmaking is just so raw and so rough no score just just here it is almost documentary style that
is there's value in that I think that if every filmmaker found some value in that bringing
everything down it's rarely about bringing things up it's usually about bringing down the level a
little bit right even in Hustle that I watched last night there's a scene where Adam Sandler
has to talk to somebody who's trying to save his career and you're watching Adam Sandler and I'm
going he's doing his comedic thing where he's out of control almost he's yelling and I'm like
if he would have grounded that just bring that down here then it's better and I think that's
obviously up to the director to do that because they they're in charge of the actors but as a
screenwriter your job is to again just keep the motivations of your characters as authentic as
possible and I think ultimately for me it's always about bringing things just a little bit down it's
rarely about ramping up it's bringing things just down sometimes a lot but let's just say even that
much just that much is significant right so if it's very often I see that it's usually less
it's always less is more almost always 99.9 of the time less is more in everything in film
which franchise is in the worst shape right now I think Marvel's in trouble listen
Dr. Strange too multiverse of madness is not a great film okay and again when I watch that film
I see times that I see Sam Raimi and then there's other times I don't it's almost like there's two
films right and it feels like it was cobbled together and nothing in that film ever rises to
a level you can watch so many films and you have some that really pop something in the movies just
like oh my god and and then we've had plenty of films that you really are pinging that top right
Dr. Strange never even pings it's just a flat line and and you go back to eternals and and what
Chloé [Zhao] was not allowed to do with that film clearly I think Marvel really needs Thor Love and
Thunder to be essentially a home run I think that people are the brand is starting to feel to feel
devalued and I think that also speaks back to the Disney + shows there's too much product remember
less is more it's it always just comes back to that essential core less is more and now we've got
more is more and you've got all these shows Miss Marvel and She-Hulk and what's in a moon night
all these shows I don't watch the Marvel shows I just stayed with the cinematic universe but
when you start asking your audience to watch shows as homework in addition to everything
else you're starting to make your audience right you're starting to bring your audience down and I
don't know what the I understand they want to have a bunch of successful shows but the more you do
the more work you require like Dr. Strange if you didn't watch one division you're like what
right you it was required viewing to watch one division and I don't think that's the best
path so they're marvel's in this state where they're trying to figure out how do we work
our Disney + shows into our cinematic universe organically and I think it's a challenge for
them because not everybody's watching the Disney + shows and therefore the impact of your film is
going to be lessened because the people don't have the experience that they need to really value the
film at the level that it needs to be to be truly appreciated because you don't have they haven't
watched it it's like watching a sequel to a film you never watch the original you're not going to
have the same reaction at Top Gun Maverick as you did if you'd seen Top Gun versus you've never seen
it you're just not it's the two in combination that is where that comes right that's where you
have that experience that is next level because they work in symphony with one another and and
that is I think marvel's problem right now is that they have their Disney shows and they're trying to
combine them with their cinematic universe and it's not really going that well it's I'm sorry
Strange too is not a good film eternals it's very mid and then you're sitting here on Thor
love and thunder and let's just hope Taika [Waititi] went batty with it because if he did
then maybe we could get back on track the fact that guardians are back in this film is
obviously a win for them this is pretty much we're getting back to that core avengers group right
Thor and the Guardians you're back to the Avengers more so and I would also argue going back to Dr.
Strange is a supporting character he's not a lead right not [Benedict] Cumberbatch is a badass okay
a great actor but as a lead I feel like Dr. Strange supporting very much as we saw him in no
way home he's not the focal point and I feel like Thor is more of a focal point focal point so Thor
Love and Thunder should be better off that way [Chris] Hemsworth and Thor more of a focal point
as a main character for me than Dr. Strange but there's a lot of pressure on Thor Love and Thunder
so having a film where the audience needs to catch up on prior episodes or or universes or whatever
is is a recipe for disaster you're asking listen anytime you ask anybody to do more work they're
largely gonna probably not I'm good I don't want to back to Downton Abbey I haven't seen abby one
or abby two and the reason cause I never watched the shows someone said well you don't need to Abby
two is a really nice gets you up to speed right off the bat when you go into it I'm like I don't
care I don't watch the shows so you're asked you're limit you're restricting your audience
and again you have if that's what you want to do that's that's your decision but again
if I'm making a film I still want to try to make a film that is as accessible as possible to the
widest group of people not every film is going to be that but for a Marvel film it better be
right that is accessible to everybody at better be so when you ask them to watch for homework
Wandavision or Moon Knight whatever that is you're asking them to to sit through eight episodes
plus go to the movie I don't know I think that's the challenge for Marvel right now is again how do
you do that so you are limiting your audience when you ask them to do homework outside of the film
are there any franchises right now that can do no wrong I feel like Jurassic Worlds run its course
so I don't know we're gonna find out here with dominion that's a good question what franchise
we obviously have Marvel we have DCEU I can't think of any franchises that i'd have to have a
list in front of me because I can't off top of my head I can't even think of a franchise and think
like could this be in trouble Mission Impossible if you look at Mission Impossible seven obviously
great trailer you've got Tom Cruise who's coming off of Maverick it's going to be a huge hit next
summer but at the same time have we run the course with Mission Impossible it feels more
so the answer to that is yes but Tom Cruise puts his heart and soul into every film and he can't
help but like the guy so I imagine it'll be still a winning enough film but for me I still want to
see something original ultimately i'd rather see a really good original film that is self-contained
and doesn't require extra homework I can just watch this film get caught up in this universe
this world that the director created the writer director came up with this film
and I get lost there and I don't have to do all the homework I can just watch this film
so I think that's where my head is i'd rather watch one singular vision of a film that is
start finish one thing one project and not have to have like a franchise I'm more into those things
why does Spiderman do so well Spiderman No Way Home did did the numbers it did almost
2 billion worldwide because it delivered everything that you want out of the film
and some people call it fan service fine there's fans out there and they need to be serviced
it's not a bad thing again if it feels organic and it doesn't feel forced if the fan
service feels like oh we just threw all the stuff in here because we want to do it but it
has to have a purpose and I think no way home is a very good film at delivering what the audience
wanted to see from that film everybody wanted to see all three spider-man right and not only did
you get them you got them in a large amount you expected them to be a cameo right you expected
both of them to come back and Andrew [Garfield] and Toby [Maguire] to be in the film for
maybe five minutes but no they're on the whole back half of that film and that was a great very
smart move by Sony and Marvel is is allowing them to be back because people didn't just want a cameo
they really wanted them back and they now created a universe where they could actually make films
with both of them again if they really wanted to you've got the spider verse you could do almost
anything with it now and Top Gun Maverick same thing same same thing as no way home
it gives the audience exactly what they want and there's nothing wrong with that again if it feels
grounded organic and doesn't feel forced and just thrown in there to be thrown in there it feels
like it's actually part and really legitimately deserves to be there like Top Gun Maverick and
like no way home those are both 100 crowd-pleasing home runs and there's nothing wrong with giving
the audiences exactly what they want why is Dr. Strange the best movie of 2022 so far
that's definitely not true that is 100 false Dr. Strange and the multiverse of
madness is definitely not the best film of 2022 and for the reasons we've discussed
listen Dr. Strange feels like multiple directors in here it feels like almost like a test screen
movie right where multiple audiences sold and said I like this this let's put these things together
it doesn't feel cohesive there's no moments in Dr. Strange that ping the top not one Dr. Strange is
definitely not the best film of the year the best film of 2022 thus far is a tie it is x tai west
horror film and it is Top Gun Maverick and for the for the different they're very different films but
very clearly it's about direction for both for me it's Ti West there and it's [Joseph] Kosinski on
Maverick anytime you have a strong directorial footprint on a film I'm going to like it and
that's probably why I don't like Dr. Strange as much as some no one by the way has said Dr.
Strange is the best film of the year there's nobody if you if you have said that reevaluate
all of your cinematic decisions from here back because there's no way that that's the best film
of the year no chance okay so if direction is so important to you yeah then let's talk about just
quickly the safety brothers yeah oh goodness so you have one film that you absolutely love
by the Safdie brothers oh yeah which I would praise as well but you have another one that I
love probably just as much which you say needs to be fixed in some areas okay so Good Time is
listen if we're gonna pick two safety brother films obviously they're they're most the ones
they are the most well renowned for one Good Time and two Uncut Gems Good Time is here uncoachement
is here and here's for a number of reasons one the one of the big ones for Good Time is
I don't remember the last time I saw a film that was it's about 90 minutes but at the end of Good
Time it's over and you literally the credits start rolling you're like my god the movie's over
I don't think i've ever had that feeling where you expect the film to keep going and it literally no
no we're done he's in the back of the squad car the movie's finished it's tight it's dirty it's
raw it feels like raw New York conversely when I go to Uncut Gems I look at that film there's so
many things wrong with Uncut Gems for starters the length the length is bloated it's two hours right
bring that to the 130 135 better film and here's how you do that first of all I know you want to
do the mining stuff I get it I understand you want to do the gem mining that goes on the colonoscopy
does not work okay I would completely eliminate that is gone from the film you can start with the
mining but you don't need to do the colonoscopy okay that's out and I think even if you don't
even want to do the mining you can even get rid of that the film opens on Adam Sandler
on his phone which is where the film really brings in right that's the start and I think if you make
that change that film is better also the fact that the Safdie brothers are huge NBA fans I get it
Kevin Garnett actually is very good in the film but it feels like and with the weekend as well
that it's like hey we have these people that are big and successful like the weekend and or Kevin
Garnett we gave him a big part but the weekend like this just because he wants to be in the film
let's put him in it doesn't fit organically in the story it feels forced it's like hey we need to put
the weekend in the movie right it's like let's put the cameo in there but it's not really needs to be
there and I think the safeties got lost from from uncut from Good Time to Uncut Gems the Safdies
got too much of like hey let's put more in our film when remember it all comes back to less
is more and that's why for me Good Time it's not even a contest if you go back and clean up
the things I said about Uncut Gems I think it's actually all there the film Uncut Gems is there
it needs to be literally carved down and then you're going to get a film that's
better that's those are the worst films too when you see a film that has the elements all there
and you have extra pieces strapped on that don't service the movie as well as they should and
or frankly aren't needed that brings your film down it's like wow I can't believe you actually
brought your film lower you lowered your film by doing more less is more almost always.