For a long time, I've loved to watch a very well-crafted, exciting suspenseful thriller. Especially if there's an element of mystery involved. What better way to get involved in a movie than waiting in cold sweat for what's going to happen next?
But lately, I've noticed some things in newer thrillers that bother me. Does this mean that old thrillers are automatically perfect or that all modern thrillers suck? Of course not. But these are just some recurring things that continue to bother me:
1. The plot is all over the place. Mainly when it comes to The Girl On The Train, The Snowman and Misconduct, there's a great idea involved. But they try to cram in too much. There are so many subplots and unneccessary elements that the films wind up feeling overcrowded, and would benefit from being much more focused, or handled by a writer who knows how to balance several plots and make them equally serve their purpose. I know with The Snowman there were several production problems, but that still doesn't make the issues go away.
2. Not enough character building. As we all know, the best movies contain the most memorable characters. Even 2001 which is more visually driven than dialogue-driven, we have HAL, we have Dave and we have Frank. You remember their presence. In The Girl On The Train, I struggled to care about a single character other than Rachel. Allison Janney was annoying, and the other girls in focus were generic. Justin Theroux is presented as a bad guy, but is given very little focus. Edgar Ramírez' role was just silly. I will not think back fondly of these characters for years, or even days after seeing the movie.
3. Bad plot twists. God, I'm tired of bad thriller plot twists. Okay, here's what makes for a good plot twist: It either is simple, yet so effective and excellently executed, or it catches you offguard, but it still makes sense at the same time. A BAD plot twist is predictable with a predictable execution, or it tries to "wow" you with how unexpected it is, but it doesn't make sense from what we've seen and feels thrown in just for shock. One movie I saw uses both these type of plot twists:
And don't even get me started on "It was YOU who was the killer!"...
4. Too slow build-up. People complain about movies being too fast nowadays, but the opposite sometimes applies as well. Sometimes you are just waiting for a movie to go somewhere for so long that you start checking your watch after a while. A smart thriller usually offers some breadcrumbs or good character development to keep your interest piquing. Hangman had neither of those things, so I was essentially watching a movie that pretended to be "building" up tension when it really just dragged on hoping the audience would be patient enough to stick out for the "amazing" conclusion thereafter.
Thankfully, this does not encompass all newer thrillers, and recently I saw the very well-crafted The Gift, which quite possibly reinvented the stalker genre. But the stuff I brought up are things I wish some directors and writers would take a few notes off and improve upon.
But lately, I've noticed some things in newer thrillers that bother me. Does this mean that old thrillers are automatically perfect or that all modern thrillers suck? Of course not. But these are just some recurring things that continue to bother me:
1. The plot is all over the place. Mainly when it comes to The Girl On The Train, The Snowman and Misconduct, there's a great idea involved. But they try to cram in too much. There are so many subplots and unneccessary elements that the films wind up feeling overcrowded, and would benefit from being much more focused, or handled by a writer who knows how to balance several plots and make them equally serve their purpose. I know with The Snowman there were several production problems, but that still doesn't make the issues go away.
2. Not enough character building. As we all know, the best movies contain the most memorable characters. Even 2001 which is more visually driven than dialogue-driven, we have HAL, we have Dave and we have Frank. You remember their presence. In The Girl On The Train, I struggled to care about a single character other than Rachel. Allison Janney was annoying, and the other girls in focus were generic. Justin Theroux is presented as a bad guy, but is given very little focus. Edgar Ramírez' role was just silly. I will not think back fondly of these characters for years, or even days after seeing the movie.
3. Bad plot twists. God, I'm tired of bad thriller plot twists. Okay, here's what makes for a good plot twist: It either is simple, yet so effective and excellently executed, or it catches you offguard, but it still makes sense at the same time. A BAD plot twist is predictable with a predictable execution, or it tries to "wow" you with how unexpected it is, but it doesn't make sense from what we've seen and feels thrown in just for shock. One movie I saw uses both these type of plot twists:
WARNING: spoilers below
In Misconduct, we are led to believe Al Pacino is a guy you can trust, but it's so ridiculously obvious early on he's a fishy type, and when he's revealed to be a villain it's not only very expected, but also recycles the endings of The Recruit and Righteous Kill. In The Recruit, it was actually kinda surprising. I'll admit, I didn't totally expect that. In Righteous Kill, it could only really be him, and in this movie I knew too soon it was gonna be him, but hoped they would subvert my expectations. They didn't. And then there's the shock of a character being vicious that you didn't expect, but it's completely thrown in just for shock, and makes the story much more confusing.
And don't even get me started on "It was YOU who was the killer!"...
4. Too slow build-up. People complain about movies being too fast nowadays, but the opposite sometimes applies as well. Sometimes you are just waiting for a movie to go somewhere for so long that you start checking your watch after a while. A smart thriller usually offers some breadcrumbs or good character development to keep your interest piquing. Hangman had neither of those things, so I was essentially watching a movie that pretended to be "building" up tension when it really just dragged on hoping the audience would be patient enough to stick out for the "amazing" conclusion thereafter.
Thankfully, this does not encompass all newer thrillers, and recently I saw the very well-crafted The Gift, which quite possibly reinvented the stalker genre. But the stuff I brought up are things I wish some directors and writers would take a few notes off and improve upon.
Last edited by mattiasflgrtll6; 11-14-19 at 08:36 PM.