3. “It’s a summer blockbuster, it just needs to entertain”
This reason ties into the last one. The idea behind the argument is because a film is a “summer blockbuster” then all it needs to do is have big explosions and flashy effects to be considered a ‘pass’ by the masses. This train of thought isn’t helped by those who make decisions with movies.
In 2011, when talking about Alice in Wonderland and tentpole movies in general, Disney’s chief technical officer Andy Henderickson said “People say it’s all about the story. When you’re making tentpole films, bulls***. The story isn’t very good, but visual spectacle brought people in droves, and Johnny Depp didn’t hurt”.
That is truly concerning. What Henderickson is saying is that studios don’t need to try with summer blockbusters or tentpole movies because audiences don’t care. And with Transformers: Age of Extinction raking in $300 million on its opening weekend, he appears to be right.
Let’s look at a summer blockbuster that counters that argument – Jurassic Park.
Jurassic Park is a movie about dinosaurs escaping from a theme park and running amok while a group of people escape from the island. The spectacle of Jurassic Park are the dinosaurs, not Sam Neil. But, we want to see Sam Neil survive and make it off the island alive. Why? Because we’re given a reason to care about him and the rest of the human characters. They drive the plot, not the dinosaurs. The first scene with the T-Rex is one of the greatest moments in cinema history, but Jurassic Park is about more than just that one scene. It’s a movie that is about more than just being “a spectacle”.
Originally published July 1, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
