What makes a good film? That’s an easy question you might answer and then you’ll reel off a list of good/great films: The Godfather, Inception, Black Swan, The Matrix, Citizen Kane, Back to the Future etc etc. A huge list of films which are truly great and there is no arguing there. But that doesn’t account completely for what makes a good film. I mean, lets honestly think about this- is Star Wars really a good film when compared to the ones I’ve listed there?
Well, no, it isn’t, and I say that as an enormous Star Wars fan. But my point is that just because it isn’t as good as those films doesn’t mean it isn’t one of the best films ever made. The point is that is depends how you define a good film.
I got thinking about this after recently going to see Fast 5 or Fast and Furious 5 or Fast and Furious 5: Rio Heist (depending on whatever the studio are now calling it). Now this film features an appalling script- (written apparently by a 5 year old as shown in this fantastic little spoof http://collider.com/fast-five-onion-5-year-old-interview/87685/), horrendous acting, a plot which makes absolutely no sense, more holes than a golf course and the world’s worst continuity. BUT I couldn’t help absolutely loving it, laughing my head off every time Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson came onscreen, clearly loving this role (one choice line being his demand to his team to get their “thunderpants on”). Furthermore the packed cinema also seemed to love it, laughing at the right moments and, for the most part, staying pretty quiet which just showed how into the film they were. All of which surely adds up to Fast Five actually being a great film doesn’t it?
So then, what does make a good film? My answer would be that it is a film which works, where the sum of all its parts add up to make something which achieves what it sets out to do. In the case of Inception and The Godfather, these are films which set out to make you think, taking you on epic journeys wherein you can lose yourself for hours in somebody else’s imagination. They are a perfect blend of acting talent, visual brilliance and gripping writing which will stand the test of time to remain truly great films throughout history. In Star Wars’ case things are different; this film is great in spite of the flat acting and horrible script. It relies on storytelling and the idea that fairytales can be engrossing whether you’re 5 or 55, as long as you find a way to make them work for everyone. In this case the idea was simple- set it in space. So we have the princess, the scoundrel, the wizard and the demon baddie; all of them elements in stories have been proven to stand the true test of time.
And in Fast Five, what do we have to make it great? I’ve already said that all the things which, for example, make Inception great are departments in which Fast Five fails miserably. And please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that it will stand the test of time and be revered by future generations of film makers and the bench mark for cinema. Instead what makes Fast Five great is that it is pure, unadulterated fun and this is the key. It is the reason that Transformers 2 was terrible- it forgot that the audience was meant to be having fun at the same time. Fast Five is leave-your-brain-at-the-door, no-holds-barred, drag-a-bank-vault-through-Rio, this-makes-no-sense drivel that knows exactly what it is. It takes the audience on a white knuckle ride of things which can only be seen in the cinema. For example, scenes of The Rock and Vin Diesel sparring verbally and physically (both now so big they must have their own gravitational fields and are probably visible from space) can’t help but make you smile. What they are saying makes no sense but it doesn’t matter half as much as the fact I know that in a minute, they’re going to be blowing seven shades of crap out of the bad guys.
What makes a good film then? In my opinion it is something which works and achieves what it set out to achieve. Something which I can sit back and watch in a movie theatre and be transported somewhere new and exciting. I want to be challenged mentally (Inception, Source Code), be shocked and in awe (Black Swan), taken into a world I can never imagine (The Godfather), laugh and feel like a child (Back to the Future, Toy Story) and of course, above all else, I want to have fun. Because after all, isn’t that what cinema is about? That sense of suspending your disbelief and travelling somewhere exciting for the price of your admission ticket. The belief that yes, a man can fly, that Ripley can kick Xenomorphic arse, that Frodo can destroy the ring, that Kane just missed his sledge Rosebud and that The Rock can continually and utterly “bring it.”
Now, bring on Thor!
2 men/planets surely now with their own gravitational fields
Reece's Pieces 