Relating to Characters: Part I
The premiere of The Rise of Skywalker (2019) nears. Scuttlebutt around plot leaks are discouraging. One of the scariest is that test audiences laughed at how easily Rey disposed of the Emperor. Sigh. Even if that’s not true, or it is true but has been corrected, I’m not expecting much. Disney’s Star Wars movies have featured an array of unrelatable one-dimensional characters. They have no depth and take no real journey (unless, like Rey, it’s to discover who they are). They’re flash and style with little substance. Just because these characters belong to an extraordinary sci-fantasy premise doesn’t mean they have to be unrelatable. You can create relatability in characters…
Mad Max vs Fury Road
The Mad Max reboot, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), is different to all the other reboots taking place, because the same person is behind both the original and the remake: George Miller. Who could possibly know the character of Max Rockatansky better? Miller was behind the original three movies, and between the last Mel Gibson movie, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and the reboot, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), surely would’ve at times contemplated new stories for the character. Fury Road plays out like a contemporary blockbuster that sparkles with genuine vision, while trying to remain true to the originals. That’s laudable, because it’s something a lot of reboots are missing. Christopher…