• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Movies where everything is fantastic...except for the script.

Bronx-Man

Bronx-Man

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,351
You heard me, what are some movies with breathtaking shots, captivating acting, wonderful music....and a script that doesn't work at all. I'll start with two examples from this year.

us_ver3.jpg


joker_ver11.jpg


It's funny because I'd say both of these suffer from including so many themes reflecting modern life but having no idea what to say about any of them. Put spoiler tags for any movies from this year ITT.
 
The Unsent

The Unsent

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,481
A bit unoriginal but Man of Steel I guess. Can't argue with how cool Superman's powers look and the main theme is quite nice and stirring. You likely know what's wrong with the script, too serious, not enough humanity.
 
kvetcha

kvetcha

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,835
Agree with Joker, although there are also some bad directoral choices at play there.

BR2049 to a lesser degree, but yeah, that script is all over the place. Jared Leto, blah.
 
balgajo

balgajo

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,251
I agree about Us but disagree about Joker. What do you specifically dislike about Joker script? Living in a city like Rio de Janeiro I could empathize with most of things it brought to table. Not saying that it's a genius script just that it serves well to a character study movie. Though I'm not the person that thinks that every movie must have a deep reflection about some theme and stuff like that. Parasite for example was a movie that I really liked but I felt that trying to hard to convey a message sometimes hurted the movie.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
Bronx-Man

Bronx-Man

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,351
balgajo said:
I agree about Us but disagree about Joker. What do you specifically dislike about Joker script? Living in a city like Rio de Janeiro I could empathize with most of things it brought to table. Not saying that it's a genius script just that it serves well to a character study movie. Though I'm not the person that thinks that every movie must have a deep reflection about some theme and stuff like that.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I think the general circumstances happening around Joker (trash strike, city burning) and the main storyline of Joker himself have absolutely nothing to do with each other. It could've been cut entirely and still be the same movie.
 
spx54

spx54

Member
Mar 21, 2019
3,273
agreed about Joker for the most part. Joaquin and the score were really doing most of the heavy lifting there
 
kvetcha

kvetcha

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,835
balgajo said:
I agree about Us but disagree about Joker. What do you specifically dislike about Joker script? Living in a city like Rio de Janeiro I could empathize with most of things it brought to table. Not saying that it's a genius script just that it serves well to a character study movie. Though I'm not the person that thinks that every movie must have a deep reflection about some theme and stuff like that.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Lousy dialogue, themes that are loosely sketched at best. It's not without its moments, but it's not nearly as deep or biting as it thinks it is.
 
Foltzie

Foltzie

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
6,816
Suicide Squad.

Amazing stack of acting talent and interesting ideas about a government response to a world with a Superman.
 
wenis

wenis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,148
I see you're making a LTTP Joker thread. What a complete joke In regards to just the script. The rest of it is good to great.
 
balgajo

balgajo

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,251
kvetcha said:
Lousy dialogue, themes that are loosely sketched at best. It's not without its moments, but it's not nearly as deep or biting as it thinks it is.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I don't think that the movie is trying to be that deep with it's themes. My favorite thing about the movie is how visceral it is. You can take almost everything to face value. I don't consider it a genius script but I think it's effective.
 
astro

astro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
57,230

Deleted member 16365

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,127
Matrix Revolutions. Awesome fight scenes, amazing visuals, cobbled together with alegory nonsense and "Neo I believe"
 
Fallout-NL

Fallout-NL

Member
Oct 30, 2017
6,825
I kinda get why you would say Joker, but like baljago above me there I also think it's mostly effective and the connection between (loosely defined) the internal and external themes are solid enough.
 

Deleted member 46948

Account closed at user request
Banned
Aug 22, 2018
8,852
Joker is a good recent example.
Inspired acting, great cinematography, solid soundtrack. Shame about the script, which was mediocre, leaned on tired tropes almost all the time and pretended to have something profound to say while actually being banal as fuck.
 
astro

astro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
57,230
The Alien and Prometheus answers are fitting imo.

The scripts make their characters into utter idiots to further the plot in incredibly lazy ways. The expert mapping the area gets lost... the biologist/animal expert pets the dangerous looking alien... so many moments where everyone's IQ drops just to produce the next "thrill".

kvetcha said:
I'm idly browsing Era during a training, sorry I didn't provide an exegesis.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Apology accepted.
 
spyder_ur

spyder_ur

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,684
Maybe Gravity? Everything else about that movie is top-notch and the movie is still great, but I think the script lets it down from being a classic. It's a bit ham-fisted and too overt in its themes.
 
kvetcha

kvetcha

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,835
astro said:
I was only joking too, and to be fair everyone is doing it. We've probably all talked this stuff to death in the relevant OPs.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yeah, it's true. If I'm honest, I could have written something more elaborate soon after I watched the movie, but with distance I'm mostly left with my general impressions.

I recall the movie being well shot, well acted, well-produced, but having a number of somewhat baffling and/or tropey directoral decisions that felt distinctly less-than the rest of the production. Aside from the well-discussed Sondheim and staircase sequences, I just didn't feel like the script itself was elegant enough to really address the themes of the movie in an interesting way. I didn't come out of it feeling much of anything, because despite the panache of its presentation, the psychology of the characters was still comic-book thin. Phoenix did an amazing about of heavy lifting to make it work to the degree that it did.

I do love the scene where he's fooling around with the revolver in his apartment.

I guess it felt a bit Abrams-y to me, in the sense that Phillips was clearly channeling another filmmaker's general aesthetic but didn't seem to fully grasp all of the minutae.
 

Deleted member 5853

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,725
You nailed it with Joker. I walked away from that film utterly disappointed in how little it had to say, and astounded people actually think this is Oscar-worthy.

Joaquin is fine, but his performance can't save a terribly written character. He just can't bring enough depth to such a shallowly written character.

I'd honestly say Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. I think the world is interesting and the idea of a jaded Batman against a youthful Superman is inherently interesting to explore. But, Snyder and Terrio shit the bed and crafted a plot that is so ridiculous it ruins the interesting elements of the world they built.
 
astro

astro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
57,230
kvetcha said:
Yeah, it's true. If I'm honest, I could have written something more elaborate soon after I watched the movie, but with distance I'm mostly left with my general impressions.

I recall the movie being well shot, well acted, well-produced, but having a number of somewhat baffling and/or tropey directoral decisions that felt distinctly less-than the rest of the production. Aside from the well-discussed Sondheim and staircase sequences, I just didn't feel like the script itself was elegant enough to really address the themes of the movie in an interesting way. I didn't come out of it feeling much of anything, because despite the panache of its presentation, the psychology of the characters was still comic-book thin. Phoenix did an amazing about of heavy lifting to make it work to the degree that it did.

I do love the scene where he's fooling around with the revolver in his apartment.

I guess it felt a bit Abrams-y to me, in the sense that Phillips was clearly channeling another filmmaker's general aesthetic but didn't seem to fully grasp all of the minutae.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I fully agree that the script doesn't explore the themes it plays with anywhere near as deeply as it could. It also treads a fine line between a sympathetic tone and dangerously equating mental health with violence. The latter is pretty hard to avoid given the character, and it does try to contextualize everything, bit it does feel thin at times.

However... I think the central perfomance, visuals, and atmosphere elevate it enough to carry the weight. So it's a film, for me, where the script doesn't harm it in the same way something like Prometheus' does.
 
MrCheezball

MrCheezball

Banned
Aug 3, 2018
1,376
MV5BYWYxZjU2MmQtMmMzYi00ZWUwLTg2ZWQtMDExZTVlYjM3ZWM1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzkwMjQ5NzM@._V1_.jpg


The cinematography, music, even the cast are excellent. Such a tense movie, but most of the lines are throwaway, and Renner's character and other hardly follow any semblance of how military members operate.
 
kvetcha

kvetcha

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,835
astro said:
I fully agree that the script doesn't explore the themes it plays with anywhere near as deeply as it could. It also treads a fine line between a sympathetic tone and dangerously equating mental health with violence. The latter is pretty hard to avoid given the character, and it does try to contextualize everything, bit it does feel thin at times.

However... I think the central perfomance, visuals, and atmosphere elevate it enough to carry the weight. So it's a film, for me, where the script doesn't harm it in the same way something like Prometheus' does.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I think that's totally fair. And I agree the movie is enjoyable to watch. I just remember my nagging thought after watching it was that it felt like a movie convinced of its own importance, unfairly buoyed by a really compelling central performance. I would have loved if it had been as morally and psychologically complex as it seemed to think it was.

It's like the comic-book equivalent of Crash.
 
Dalek

Dalek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,109
Avatar
Prometheus
Star Wars: A New Hope
The Dark Knight Rises
 
Last edited:
Solid SOAP

Solid SOAP

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 27, 2017
8,338
your mom's house
I echo Joker. I honestly love the movie and am happy to see DC getting weird with their characters, but the script just felt... sloppy. Like the reasoning for certain events felt off. Things like:

* Arthur's performance being recorded and going viral... in the 80s.

* Arthur being immediately asked to guest star on DeNiro's show

* Forced Batman lore bits, like Arthur interacting with Bruce and the death of the Waynes

all felt a bit sloppy to me. Regardless, the film was great and I liked a lot about it, but I can't help but feel that it didn't exactly know what it wanted to be.
 
Violence Jack

Violence Jack

Drive-in Mutant
Member
Oct 25, 2017
42,158
41VKmcvHIOL.jpg


The 1977 version of Suspiria is a masterpiece of imagery, sound, and use of vibrant colors within a nightmarish setting. The story and script is barely there.
 
kvetcha

kvetcha

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,835
Violence Jack said:
41VKmcvHIOL.jpg


The 1977 version of Suspiria is a masterpiece of imagery, sound, and use of vibrant colors within a nightmarish setting. The story and script is barely there.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I have yet to watch either version of Suspiria, but horror strikes me as a genre where, depending on the tone, story and script are not necessarily important.
 
MetalGearZed

MetalGearZed

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,933
I know it's not really the point of the films but, The John Wick movies.

It's the main thing setting them apart from the 007s and the Mission Impossibles. They might have a few good lines here and there but JW3 was pretty much just people being mysterious and sliding gold coins to each other until one of the stellar action scenes started.
 
Equippedwithtowel

Equippedwithtowel

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,899
Ontario
MetalGearZed said:
I know it's not really the point of the films but, The John Wick movies.

It's the main thing setting them apart from the 007s and the Mission Impossibles. They might have a few good lines here and there but JW3 was pretty much just people being mysterious and sliding gold coins to each other until one of the stellar action scenes started.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I have no idea how people watch John Wick (and the sequels) outside of the context of ripping on them with friends. They're well made but script wise only memorable when they're memeable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.