In the second part of my Overhauling The World Of Cinema I’d like to build on Part one. With a year off from Reboots, Remakes, Sequels and Based On’s it’s now time to raise the stakes as far as forcing new and interesting content out of the studios. My idea here is to eliminate five different movie premises that seem to have become the default setting for movies.

Unlike the year off of Reboots, Remakes, Sequels and Based On’s I want this idea to be a constant fixture on the movie scene. Don’t get me wrong I understand the need for escapist filmmaking and I’m not trying to turn everything into serious art I just feel like a balance needs to be restored. If these five premises were only used in 3 movies per each studio there would still be a fair share of them but they wouldn’t be such a dominant force.  

This would elimination or reduction might motivate the studios to turn to other types of films, market them and get them into theaters. Sure we would have to still contend with the eye candy special effects movies but without a simple premise to build on even those films would have to get better. Again this isn’t to eliminate all escapist cinema just trying to even the playing field.

The first movie premise that’s long overdue for retirement is the Troubled Anti-Hero.

It never ceases to amaze me how many movies, especially really bad action films, rely on this premise to get them through. No matter what the battle is or how the film ends up the premise is always the same. A guy/girl (usually guy) who was once the best at what they do has retired under a cloud.

Sometimes it’s something the protagonist couldn’t help but still cost lives. More often it’s some mistake they made that cost the protagonist his or her family or somebody close to them. The protagonist of these movies is usually regulated to making snappy one-liners and long shots of them looking at photos of their lost family. To add some “depth” to the film the audience also gets to see the protagonist drinking heavily and perhaps even crying.

Along comes Antagonist A, who is either a new and deadlier type of enemy or an old enemy of the protagonist responsible for the horrible turn of events. In some films this enemy is more of a mental blockage e.g. going back to a job the protagonist screwed up, having to face an area or specific place where the original crime happened, etc. Whatever the problem is some old friend or captain or boss of the “troubled anti-hero” tries to get them involved but our hero refuses.

Only through an action aimed at him or a huge speech given by the hero’s boss does the protagonist return to glory. On many occasions the anti-hero is paired with a plucky partner or friend who represents the hero’s chance to make good on his past failure. At the end the hero overcomes the odds and is triumphant.

Imagine that premise being wiped away from most of the films made each year. Action movies would be forced to figure out new ways to present the hero, as would any film using the anti-hero ideal. Perhaps a hero who is anxious to prove himself or one who left just because he got tired of it or maybe even one who didn’t retire, is still top of his game and gets plugged into an adventure. Whatever happens we’d be spared the same gratuitous anti-hero overcomes great adversity movie we get spoon fed today.