Good Premise, Bad Development

I have seen many movies that started off great but just developed down right poorly. Movies that makes you go "Hey thats such a good idea" after watching the preview but only to say "I expected more" or "I didn't get it" or "why didn't they stick with the plot" Several movies that comes to mind are:

28 days later : they took the scary thought of "last man on earth vs. zombies" idea and turned it into a movie trying to explore moral complexs about what people would do if there were no laws. (trying to be vague to not give away ending). In my opinion I felt that was poorly done, I would have rather just watched a predictable but clear-cut action movie.

Mulholland Dr. : I agree with the statement that the first 3/4 of the movie was good, memory loss victim trying to rediscover her identity... then it just gets confusing - leaving a whole lot of things unexplained and the facts that are explained do not make any sense. In my opinion those who oohhh and ahhhh, praising the movie is a classic "Emperor's New Clothes" example.

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I disagree, I feel that they did the best in recent times with this plot, there are far too many ****e action films out there, and this isn't one of them.

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Serial Killers

Yeah, I disagree about 28 Days Later too. I liked that the third act was something other than more running away from monsters. It's also of course a nod to Romero's Day of the Dead (1985).


But the first thing that popped into my head reading the topic....

Desperado (1995 - Robert Rodriguez)
Not an overly ambitious film, but a great set-up, filled with tons of amazingly fun action sequences. Then in the last third of the flick, the plot catches up with it, and wow, what a stinker! It's like a middle school pre-teen writing himself out of a corner: oh, it's his brother! Wuh? The first half of the movie had some very clever stuff about myth built into it, something akin to what John Huston did much better with a more complete satire in The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), and an idea that Ford basically defined in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). The finale was just a bad soap opera with gunplay. Unfortunately it's a weak screenplay that peeters out early. Very disappointing flick, because it starts out with so much promise.

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Wow. Most people I know hated 28 Days Later, but I absolutely loved it. I disagree as well. The film was strong because it was a breath of life for horror movies, and it showcased once again the variety director Danny Boyle is capable of. It didn't concern itself with the scientific or political reasons for the outbreak, but focused more intimately on the characters and how they cope, versus how other individuals would maliciously take advantage of the situation (although the themes at the end concern human nature). In addition, 28 Days Later was stylishly real, and didn't glorify the gore and violence to compromise the story. I loved it, and I wish more horror films follow it down whatever path it has taken.


Well said, but I disagree with some of your comments about Desperado. I mentioned in another forum that Robert Rodriguez makes films with a style all his own, and it's tough to understand sometimes. From what I understand, Rodriguez focuses mainly on character development, aesthetic imagery, and hidden "serial" themes to present his work, and concerns himself less with what is actually going on in the story and, frequently, how it ends. He's very much a student of the old Man of La Mancha-style spaghetti western films that establish vague, but heroic characters doing extraordinary things. He includes a flavor into his work that is part-old Hollywood and part-silent film satire (in the way his characters are often stereotypical, and his protagonists and antagonists are frequent romantics). As for his story pacing and finales, all I can say is that Rodriguez (who has stated himself) feels strongly about writers getting too attached to the story and its characters, and believes that any writer must objectify his work to keep himself fresh and inspired. Frankly, I don't really know what that means, but I must commend him being honest. Because while his work is never perfect (but who's work is?), he has consistently released varied, inspired, and original material throughout his career.

I enjoyed Desperado quite a bit and, while the story is far from perfect or meaningful in any way, the entire composition is stylish, experimental, and very fun to watch.

My pick would be: The Ninth Gate (Johnny Depp, Frank Langella); and incidentally, it was just on cable. To me, the entire story is extremely compelling, in the way that mysteries are linear and compelling; and the actual concept of the story is deep and intriguing. The characters are very well done, especially the cryptic "Balkan", and the shady "Green-eyed Girl" (who's identity is rather interesting). However, in the waning minutes of this film, the story rushes to a close, and doesn't provide any closure to the details that so vividly emerge throughout the film. It simply ends, and it leaves you out to dry.

wow so far I'm the only guy that thinks 28 days later developed badly... at least "sleezy" (above) mentions that most other people didn't like it either so I don't feel that crazy. ( I don't know how the quote function works sorry)

Desperado I totally agree with you there and can't really think of anything to add.

However, I remembered today that

THE MATRIX RELOADED/REVOLUTION
should be on this list here. The 1st one I found very astonishing, so perhaps it had set the bar so high that I went in with high expectations so it had more to live up to. Whatever the reason for my dissapointment, (and there are many reasons why I feel this movie is developed poorly and equally as many great suggestions of what "could have been done". which I'm sure is elsewhere on this forum ) I apologize in advance for offending any matrix trilogy lover but that is my opinion.

Although don't be mistaken: I loved 28 Days Later. I just mentioned that quite a number of people didn't like it at all.

Oh, and the quote function is pretty simple:

Instead of clicking "Post Reply" on the bottom-left, click "Reply" on the right side of the page next to whichever post you want to quote. Then it will forward you to a screen with the entire post you want to quote in the box, and you can delete what you don't want to quote from there.

Or you can just use the manual markups, like this.

Type: [quote=Sleezy]My quote here.[/QUOT]

I put the spelling error on the last "QUOTE" so you can see the formula. Just make sure you spell it right. And obviously, swap usernames for who you want to quote, and make sure you copy-and-paste the exact quote so you don't misquote anyone.

Star Wars Episode 2: The Attack Of The Clones


To many retarded actors in my opinion, but i still liked the movie, its pretty underated and i think its because of the actors they chose. I still liked the movie but it isnt like the same as the classics, yes i know they cant just start useing the old actors but something is missing in the new ones.

I enjoyed the old actors more than the new ones as well, but in my opinion that wasn't the only flaw in it. I thought it was a boring plot with less adventure tan the other four. Maybe its just me, but I think they concentrated too much on the love portion of the film.

the Ninth Gate: I basically rented this because of Johnny Depp, but I was soooooo mad because this movie really sucks big time.

Episode I: Really really wanted to see this, and hated it.

Episode II: See above

Matrix Reloaded: Exact same thing as my Star Wars ratings.

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Not to mention the whole political aspect, which is just boring. The characters are wooden, and not likeable at all (unlike Luke, Leia, and Han Solo...all three). Even some of the sets (if you can call them "sets") just don't seem to fit into the Star Wars universe, which really succeeded in seeming big (since they speak about planets you never see), but looking small (because of the compact 70's/80's sets). Now, it's just the opposite: everything looks too big (since you see planets you've never even heard of), but seems to be getting smaller (because of plot decisions, like Boba Fett being the template for Stormtroopers).