Pacific Rim Box-Office Recap

Del Toro, by Gage Skidmode.

- or: The Power of the chinese movie market -

Hey,

back in May 2012 I wrote a review of the Pacific Rim Script. You might recall, that I wasn't thrilled. Now that I saw the movie I wanted to see how well it dit, box-office-wise.

My prognosis was that the movie might bomb. Well, did it?

Thanks to The-Numbers, we know that the movie earned $100mill domestically, which comes as close to bombing as possible, considering the production budget of nearly $200mill. Add to that another $200mill for Marketing and you have a real desaster. 

But why then, is there talk of "Pacific Rim 2"? Sources like Slashfilm hint at a sequel, being written right now.

We have to look overseas for an answer.

Internationally, Pacific Rim earned $300mill. The foreign box-office, especially in China, which is the strongest growing market for movies, can make or break movies nowadays. In the example of Pacific Rim, approx. a third of the foreign box-office came from China. More precisely, $111mill - according to Box Office Mojo. That is more than the domestic market!

Other movies, for example Iron Man 3 earned $120mill, starting a new trend in Hollywood. Usually, movies had to earn back their budget domestically, with the foreign box-office as a nice bonus. Now, Hollywood has to take the foreign box-office - and especially China - into account, when they green-light movies. 

The dependence might actually stem from another problem. As I analyzed in another blog post, genre movies are getting more expensive. Ten years ago, the cost for an average fantasy movie was around $60mill. Today the median budget is $120mill. This means, to break even, a movie must sell twice the amount of movie tickets. Quite impossible, I think, as the population of the USA hasn't doubled in the last 10 years.

In order to make a profit, Hollywood is dependent on the foreign market. 

And it is this foreign market, Hollywood hopes to cater to with a sequel to Pacific Rim.

See you and have a nice day!

World War Z Script Review

Short Review:

The slow-paced script can't balance the flashback heavy sequences with any urgent goal in the present. Unfortunately it drags along like a life-less zombie itself.

Plot:
We meet Gerry and his family, when the script opens with them trying to escape Philadelphia. Zombie hordes run over the town and the military forces try to fight them back.They are headed north in the hopes the cold will keep the Zombies at bay. Two years pass, Gerry and his family return to the destroyed city of Philadelphia, trying to rebuild his life after the Zombie Infection. On page 20 Gerry is offered a job by the UN to write a report on the Zombie War, find out who was responsible. He starts - although his wife is against it - interviewing people to determine the cause of the Zombie infection. The script utilizies flashbacks to convey the individual stories, that are told to Gerry. Quickly it becomes clear, that no government really wants him to finish that report, that they are afraid of his findings. Gerry travels to China, where the infection started. Although the government nuked the infected zones, it spread via illegal organ transplantation to Germany. But even in Berlin most all officials brush off Gerry. In between the interviews, we see flashbacks to the hard time Gerry and his family spent up north. Next stop for Gerry is Israel, where the Mossad figured out first was what happening in China. Finally he finds out, that General Radeker devised a plan to save half of humanity by using the other half as bait for the Zombies. Back in the US Gerry writes his report, revealing that delay, self-centeredness, greed and ignorance caused the outbreak and spread of the Zombie plague. Consequently his report is gutted and censored, after Gerry handed it in. But he takes one uncensored copy and publishes it to show what really happenend.

Observations:
- The movie takes place after everything happened, after they fought of the Zombies. This is an interesting point of narration, but seems a little dull - especially in the second act. Nothing really happens in the plot, Gerry only discovers little clues all over the world about what happened in the past. So, what are the stakes? What is the goal?
- On the final pages Gerry tells us that greed, ignorance, egoism caused the Zombie plague. I am not so sure, that I want to watch two hours of Brad Pitt interviewing some people to come to that conclusion. It might work in the subtlety of a novel, but feels rather forced in a movie script. It may sound strange, but if he had uncovered some really disturbing things, facts that twisted the whole truth, it could have been different. Greed and egoism are themes, weaved into the plot of a story, not something you should talk about so openly.
- The rewrites might be a good thing for the movie as Lindelof knows how write heavy-handed action. While the original premise is rather interesting, a little more lifeblood can turn this into a great project.

The Project:
World War Z will star Brad Pitt (who is also producing) as Gerry. Called a 'genre changing' zombie movie, it will be directed by Marc Foster (Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace). Recently news broke that heavy re-shooting has started, including 7 weeks of shooting and a re-write by Damon Lindelof. Slashfilm.com points to director Marc Foster as the man to blame for the re-shoots. Although he has a good track record with smaller drama films like Kite Runner or Finding Neverland, he seems to lack the skills to direct a massive, action-oriented movie. We will find out June 2013!

Pacific Rim - First Images

Here are the first few images of Pacific Rim, which I gave a so-so review.

 

Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi in their Battle Suits

Idris Elba in his Battle Armor

Pacific Rim - Script Review

Short Review: Paying homage to the Japanese 'Giant Monster vs. Giant Robots' Genre (Wiki: Kaiju) Guillermo del Toro not only takes over the insane fights, but also the flat characterization and linear plots. Unfortunately, the script uses every known cliche available and thus fails to connect with the audience.

Plot: When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes - a washed up former pilot (IMDb: Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (IMDb: Rinko Kikuchi) - who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse. (Official Plot Synopsis by Warner Bros.)

How does it end?
(BEWARE: SPOILERS!)  The B-Story delivers - without making any effort to feel organically to the story - the solution to the problem, when a young scientist discovers that a nuclear bomb will close the rift between the universes. But someone has to bring the bomb to the other side and set it off. This isn't exactly a new idea (especially now that everybody and their mother has seen 'The Avengers', which used the exact same idea recently). Of course, our unlikely heroes have to go into the 'Pacific Rim' and set off the bomb, fighting of giant monsters on their way. But in the end they succed, close the rift and return home.

Guillermo del Toro

Project: Originally, del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy 1 + 2) was set to direct an adaptation of 'At the Mountains of Madness', however, after Universal closed down the project, he switched his attention to 'Pacific Rim'. Originally, Tom Cruise, who was going the play the lead role in 'At the Mountains of Madness', was going to star in the film, but he was replaced by Idris Elba. Ron Perlman, who has worked with del Toro on several occasions, was confirmed to have joined the cast on November 17, 2011. Industrial Light and Magic was chosen to do the visual effects for 'Pacific Rim'. Guillermo del Toro hired Oscar winners John Knoll and Hal T. Hickel, both known for their work on the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' films. Legacy Effects was hired to do the special and practical effects on the film. Shane Mahan, known for creating the armoured suits for 'Iron Man' was hired on as effects supervisor. John Rosengrant was also brought in for his work on 'Real Steel'. Oscar winner Clay Pinney, known for his work on 'Independence Day' and 'Star Trek', was also brought on board. (Source: Wikipedia)

Screenplay Structure: Travis Beacham's 'Killing on Carnival Row' (Read my review) was a fantastical ride into a bizarre and dangerous world. His words made this unique world come alive. Sadly, not much of this brilliance comes to play in this by-the-numbers script.
But the screenplay follows a clear-cut structure, which I will demonstrate for the first half of the screenplay.
In quick succesion we meet: 1. Raleigh, our male protagonist; 2. Mako, the female protagonist; and 3. Flick, the B-Story. After that, on page 9, comes 'The Catalyst' (Snyder) or 'Call to Adventure' (Vogler): Raleigh has to go to Tokyo and pair up with Mako to defend the city.
In the 'Debate' Section, a question is posed. Not 'Will he do it?', but rather 'Can they do it?' - for  few pages the odd couple goes through a training montage, showing how they come closer and closer and finally can work together. The act break comes with the first Kaiju fight showing the audience the massive scale of the monsters coming out of the Pacific Rim. Exactly following Blake Snyders Beat Sheet the B-Story plays a prominent part now, before going into the 'Fun and Games' part: Raleigh and Mako have to complete a few simulated training missions, before - right in the middle of the script - the stakes are raised and the unlikely heroes have to go on their first real mission.
This quick outline shows how the script follows every step in the screenplay book, although this doesn't guarantee a good movie.

Will 'Pacific Rim' bomb like 'Battleship'?

Outlook: In an age of Mega-Spectacle-Movies like 'Battleship', which bombed at the box-office (with $44 mill domestically in its second week for a €209mill budget) - movies need to offer something more. 'The Avengers' had wits and humour in addition to an stellar cast. Big explosions and splashy effects alone are not enough anymore. So, Guillermo del Toro will have to find a way to set his new effort apart from all the other disaster movies.

Robopocalypse Book Review

Robopocalypse Book Cover

From Wiki: Robopocalypse is a New York Times best selling science fiction book by Daniel H. Wilson published on June 8, 2011 (New York Times). The author has a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, and many of the robots in the novel were inspired by real-world robotics research (io9). The epic novel about the human race’s attempt to survive an apocalyptic robot uprising is the next directing vehicle for Steven Spielberg (Deadline, see below).

WHAT'S IT ABOUT?

At the end of the war, one of the heroes finds an archive containing the whole story of the start and course of the war against sentient robots. From this point the fight is told from many perspectives, each overlapping slightly, culminating in the fight against Archos, the master A.I.

WAS IT ANY GOOD?

Well, I liked the visual appeal in Robopocalypse and think this is what attracted Spielberg. The language is clear and precise, while the science fiction elements are believeable and frightening at the same time. Unfortunately, the characters are not as well balanced and thought-through.

But I have a little criticsm with how the story unfolds. Right at the beginning of Robopocalypse it is revealed that the war ended already and the complete story of the war is told in flashbacks. At the beginning the author/narrator pretends to only use the files found in this archive, but slowly drifts into the standard omniscient point of view. That's not that bad, but I find it hard to justifiy most of the perspectives from which the story is told. Their importance is told to us by the retrospective narrator and can't develop organically from the story. Some other perspectives feel very forced and unnecessary, especially the ones not in America, fighting against the Big Bad Robot. The retrospective view forced the reader to cencentrate on the how the story is told, not on the what is told, as we already know the result, which

WILL IT BE A GOOD MOVIE?

Goddard and Spielberg should tell the story more straightforward, without the retrospective view and trim away the unnecessary story arcs. In concentrating on the thrilling story of the Resistance and War against the uprising robots the movie will become a visually-stunning, albeit emotionally-flat science fiction action movie. Perhaps Spielberg will find an emotional angle he can bring into the movie, which would be really good.

FILM ADAPTATION

On October 22nd, 2011, Deadline reported that Spielberg (The Adventures of Tintin, Warhorse) plans to direct an adaptation of this book. Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, LOST) has been hired to adapt Robopocalypse into screenplay. The prolific director has also hired designer Guy Hendrix Dyas (Inception) to work with him and his writers on creating the visual tone for the film and conceptualize its robotic elements. No actors have been cast yet.

The film, jointly financed by 20th Century Fox and Spielberg's DreamWorks, will be released in North America by DreamWorks through Touchstone Pictures on July 3, 2013. Fox will handle the international distribution. Filming will start in January 2012 and take place entirely in Montreal, Canada (Deadline).

Now You See Me - Script Review

The Verdict:
The arrogant Robin-Hood-esque super illusionists playing cat and mouse with the FBI is as thrilling as it is entertaining, unfortunatly the ending can't live up to the expectations and  leaves a bad aftertaste.

What's it about?
FBI agents track a team of illusionists who pull of bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money. (Source: IMDb)

Plot Summary (HEAVY SPOILERS!):
In Las Vegas: Michael Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Santayana, London Osborne (Woody Harrelson) and Alex Hero, forming The Four Horsemen, magically 'rob' a bank in france and give out the money to the audience. Also in attendance, Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a notorius exposer of magicians and their tricks. As it turns out, the bank was really robbed and so FBI agent Dylan Hobbes (Mark Ruffalo) - who is divorced, as we quickly learn - teams up with Alma Vargas (Melanie Laurent), a Las Vegas Police Officer. The Four Horsemen plan to do two more shows in ten days (Ticking Time Bomb!), so the officers bring in the four illusionists for interrogation, but of course can't prove anything. Bradley comes into the offices and offers his services, as Atlas was his student (Emotional Angle), but the FBI agents send him off. But as the time runs out and The Four Horseman are about to perform their second show, the agents ask Bradley back (Bringing Together the Storylines). He explains, that the robbery of the french bank was planned weeks in advanced and only through tricks it seemed like it was robbed as they were on the stage.
Cut to New York: a disguised man breaks into the offices of Mr. Tressler, the manager of The Four Horseman. Soon after that, the disguised man enters the backstage area of the second show and is revealed to be Atlas. At the second show, they expose Mr. Tressler (Michael Caine), who is in the audience, as a fraud and then transfer money from his bank account to the account of every person in the hall. The Four Horseman promptly leave for Los Angeles, as the police can't pin anything on them again. It is then, that Bradley suggests, that there must be a Fifth Horseman, secretly working in the background. But as we see, only Atlas knows the identity of this mystery person. Finally doing a little bit of work, Hobbes and Vargas discover that Mr. Kessler had a safety deposit box in the french bank, that was robbed at the first show. They assume that this was the real target and find out that in that box was a blue print of the Federal Reserve Printing House right outside of LA. Shortly before the third, and final show starts, a masked Alex Hero is chased by the police chase after he tried to slip away from the hotel and dies in a horrible crash. But the tree remaining Horseman still want to continue..
The show starts! Hobbes and Vargas stake out the Printing House and soon an unscheduled truck arrives and three man try to get into the building, as it turns out, the three were hypnotised and can't remember anything. Hobbes, Vargas and Bradley rush back to the show, just in time to see Atlas bringing Alex Hero 'back fom the dead'. Then they magically rob the Printing House and again distribute the money amongst the audience, Hobbes and Varga failed!
BEWARE, SPOILERS: When Bradley returns home, he finds all of the money in his basement. Seconds later, the police storm his house and arrest him. He is quickly convicted as the Fifth Horseman, responsible for every crime, although he claim's he's innocent. Then Hobbes visits him in prison and reveals, that he, Hobbes, was in fact the Fifth Horseman and wanted to bring Bradley into prison for revealing the secrets of magicians.

Observations:

The Robin Hood Effect: With their first act, the script establishes The Four Horsemen as modern Robin Hoods, in the time of economic collapse and depression, they rob a 'evil' bank and give the money out to the audience. Instantly, we like this. It shows the universal and time-less appeal of the Robin Hood legend. Adding to the fun is the special relationship between The Four Horsemen and the FBI: Yes, the magicians and illusionists are arrogant and full of themselves, but we want them to win (at the beginng, that is) and the interrogation scene played with this aspect masterfully.

Bumpy Start: The script throws a lot of characters in our direction on the first few pages and most of them only get a cookie cutter backstory. In fact, the whole 'briefing scene' oozes cliche! I know, the script cares more about action and thrill, so three-dimensional characters are not that important, but why then write so utterly over-used scenes (like Hobbes trying to re-connect to his ex-wife and his daughter)?

SPOILERS: Puppet Master: Approximatly in the middle of the script, the idea of the 'Fifth Horseman' is brough up, for one it raises the stakes (because it could be anyone of the team), but when Atlas explains, that the whole planning and project was his idea, it takes away from the team. Their integrity and position is endangered, when they are just following orders.
SPOILERS: About that End: So, Hobbes planned three shows, performed an impossible break-in, just to bring Hobbes into prison. That seems kind of like over-doing it. To be honest, it robs all the shows, the whole Robin-Hood-thingy of it's meaning and turns it into a petty, kindergarden-fight. Oh yeah, did I mention, that Hobbes is a member of a secret society, sworn to protect the secrets of magicians? I am not kidding!

The Project:
This version of the script was written by Boaz Yakin (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) and Edward Ricourt. For the final film Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and Ed Solomon revised the script. (Source: /Film)

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Akira (Remake) - Script Review

Another Remake: Akira

The Verdict:

Condensing and remaking the story only leaves us with a highly visual movie, without an engaging plot or interesting characters to care for.

What's it about?

A young biker gang member gains uncontrollable psychic power and has to be stopped by his friends and the army.

Plot Summary:

Teaser: An explosions shatters Manhatten, in the crater stands a boy. Colonol Shackleton orders to put Subject 28 and the others into cryo-stasis. 

A text informs us, that Manhattan was sold to Japan, as the US hits a deep recession, following the total destruction of New York.

Meet Travis, orphaned, 11, on his first day of school: He gets bullied and befriends Kaneda, 14, who protects him.

10 years later, New Tokyo has risen on Manhatten. We meet the two again at a Bar, they established a biker gang (the Red devils); After a reckless Stunt, injuring his girlfriend Kaori, Travis goes to a 'mobile rehab van' by Vanguard, as he fears he will do drugs again. He has to wear an electronic band, but is promised to stay clean.

Soon after, Travis, while attacking a rival gang member, runs into Thomas, a little boy looking like an old man and is badly hurt. This strange child is escorted by Kay, who is arrested together with Kaneda, while Thomas is brought into a care facility by Shackleton. Kay and Kaneda are released, while Travis is in a hospital, completely healed already. He escapes, before Shackleton, who is informed that Travis' blood contains the mysterious Compound-A, arrives to get him. But later he gets him, when Travis is hidden away by Kaneda and Kay. So the group breaks into the facility to rescue Travis, who slowly discovers his unimaginable powers rips apart the whole facility. Only three other test subjects can stop him, but not kill him. Finally Shackleton finds out, that the 'mobile rehab' project injected Travis with the Compound, in order to restore America to it's old glory, but decides not to do anything about and continues hunting down Travis. 

Travis reaches the Crater, trying to free Akira, aka Subject 28, who was responsible for the first explosion. Kaneda, Kay and Shackleton try everything in their power to stop him, attacking him with tanks, lasers, solar beams, but only hurt Travis. But when he sees his girlfriend getting killed by bullet, meant for him, Travis goes totally insane and explodes. Shackleton, Kaneda and Kay can escape on board a helicopter in the last second and see New Tokyo falling to ashes. 

Final Image: Akira awakens, steps out of his Cyro-Chamber and Travis bows down before him...

Observations:

First off, of all the script I ever read, this was the most exhausting one. Walls of text littered over the pages, describing the action in so many details, it was like reading a novel. 

The visual detail and  ideas were astonishing. Whitta develops an interesting American-Japanese Hybrid-Culture, painting the co-existence of extreme poverty and wealth in grand pictures.

I don't like it, when the story is just happening to the characters, without them ever taking charge or making their own decisions. Unfortunately, it was like this in this script: Travis gets injected with Compound-A, gains uncontrollable power and runs amok. He isn't the active protagonist once throughout the whole script. I feel cheated and - to be honest - bored, when this happens.

The emotional angle was heavily underplayed, in my opinion. The friendship between Travis and Kaneda should come to a fulminant finale, but it fell flat. The script spends too much time with military personnel and the mythology, but forgot the characters at the heart of the story.

Differences to the 1988 Movie:

Names: Tetsuo = Travis; Takashi = Thomas; Kei = Kay; Shikishima = Shackleton; and so on...

The script adds a little bit of background to Akira's first explosion, explaining why New Tokyo is build on americal soil, but adds nothing significant new or exciting to the story.

The most radical change concerns the ending: Planned as the first part of a larger series (possibly a trilogy...) the movie ends shortly after Akira awakens and leaves most plot points hanging.

The Project:

The script is based on the Manga by Katsuhiro Otomo from the year 1982. A hugely popular anime version of that movie was released in 1988. Shortly after that Warner Brothers bought the live-action rights, but nothing happened for the next 20 years. In 2008, Leonardo DiCaprio was set to produce a live-action adaptation with this script. In February 2010 the Hughes Brothers (From Hell) took over the Director's chair, but left it again in May 2011.
The following month Jaume Collet-Serra (of 'Unknown') was announced as the new director, with the hopes to realize this movie with the modest budget of 90 million dollars. (Source: FilmJunk)

The biggest concern of the studio is to find a suitable actor: many stars were offered the role, namely Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Franco, Zac Efron, Andrew Garfield, James McAvoy or Michael Fassbender, but nobody has signed up so far. Apparently the strongest contender for the role of Kaneda is Garrett Hedlund, the lead of Tron:Legacy. (Source: Movie|Line)

Gary Oldman is in talks to play Colonel Shackleton, while Helena Bonham-Carter is wanted to play Lady Miyako, another test subject and only a small role. (Source: TwitchFilm)

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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Remake) - Script Review

Post based on the remake script '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' by Craig Titley, July 2007, second draft. This is not the final film version!

The Verdict:

The script is a very entertaining, action-packed throw-back to the good ol’ adventure movies, with lacking characterization of the main protagonists and an unclear enemy force.

What's it about?

Ned Land is taken aboard the Nautilus and helps Captain Nemo retrieve the keys to an ancient civilization, which holds priceless treasures and the most dangerous weapon of the world.

Plot Summary [SPOILERS]:

India, 1857: Prince Dakkar tells his son about the wonderful mysteries of life, while his beautiful wife watches over them. Later that night the British general Anson will kill all three of them in cold blood.

10 years later: Rumors of a giant monster frightens the west. Under the lead of Commander Farragut an expedition is send out by the Royal Navy to kill the beast. The Commander forces Ned Land, the world-best harpooner, to join his forces or rot in prison for the rest of his life. Julie Fleischer, the only woman with more than one line in this script – and of course the love interest – smuggles herself aboard the ship, in the trunks of the marine life expert Professor Annorex, because her father was killed in the last attack by this monster. The ship sails to the last attack site of the beast and is promptly attacked by it. It turns out to be a huge iron submersible called Nautilus. The only survivors, Ned, Julie and the Professor, are taken aboard by Captain Nemo and stay there for weeks.

Nemo stole a map from Julie’s father, who was an archeologist, and tries to find a treasure in a Sumerian temple. While Nemo retrieves 6 ancient keys, Ned and Julie try to flee, but are attacked by Ottomans and have to return to the Nautilus.

Captain Nemo takes the ship back to it’s base, an old volcanic island in the middle of the ocean. Nemo reveals that he funded the work of Julie’s father all these years and was a good friend of him. Now he tries to finish his work of finding an ancient, highly-developed culture, but he has to find a missing 7^th key. Coincidentally, Julie has the map of this key memorized and can lead Nemo there. But not before Ned and Julie make out for a bit…

The last key is hidden in the Antarctic ice and soon after Nemo, Ned, Julie and the Professor arrive there, they are attacked by General Anson, who wants the power of this ancient civilization to himself. The wounded Professor is left behind and now helps General Anson to stop Nemo. But he already has found the last key and takes course for the Lost World. Deep in the ruins of this civilization Nemo finds the Eye of Shiva, when bringing it back to the Nautilus, they are attacked by Giant Squid.

Now Captain Nemo reveals his true plan, he wants to use the power of the Eye to kill every human being as revenge for his killed family. He abandons Ned on the open sea and returns to his base. Ned follows them, while the Nautilus is overpowered by General Anson, who discovered and conquered Captain Nemo’s hide-out. To make matters worse, a new expedition under the command of Farragut also discovered the islands and starts bombarding it. While Ned fights and frees Julie, the Professor and Nemo, General Anson activates the Eye. It’s power summons a huge, roaring storm over the small island. General Anson tries to escape on an airship, but is killed by Captain Nemo. Farragut’s attack damaged the Nautilus, so Ned has to go out in a diving suit and de-activate the Eye of Shiva. He succeeds, but the Nautilus – with Captain Nemo aboard – falls down a deep chasm. The End.

Observations:

Unclear enemy force: I feel, there a few too many antagonistic forces at play in this script. On the first page General Anson is introduced as the main evil force. But in the middle of the script, his ottoman henchman does all the work and General Anson is only in the background. After a while Farragut comes into the play, another British Navy officer, whose only job seems to be to be a disruptive factor for everyone else. I wonder why the script writer put him in? In the last part Nemo also develops evil traits, threatening to destroy the world, which makes sense, regarding his personal history. As motivation for the character it is interesting and a nice twist at the end, but the threat is never addressed after the attack by Anson and just vanishes. This feels shallow and lacking.

Lacking Characterization: Who is the main protagonist? It clearly should be Ned Land. He gets dragged aboard in his Call to Adventure, he has the love story. But he only follows Captain Nemo. Ned develops no agenda of his own and no motivation to do anything in this script. Captain Nemo on the other hand gets a tragic back-story, has a clearly defined goal to pursue, but along the way also seems to be evil. So, the script is split between two characters: Ned, the flat archetype of a movie hero and Captain Nemo, the tragic, but ultimately corrupted prince, pushing the story forward.

The Project:

The script is based on the classic science-fiction by Jules Vernes, published in 1870. There were a few movie adaptations starting in 1907 with a silent short film. The most famous adaptation, produced by Walt Disney, came out in 1954, but there are dozens of other movie and TV versions of this tale.

Titley (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) wrote this version of the script for Sam Raimi to produce, but nothing came of it. After McG had a go at it, David Fincher (Se7en, The Social Network) is now directing this Remake/Adaptation, to be released in 2013.

I am looking forward to your comments! Just choose 'Anonymous' and you don't to register just to write a comment. 


Thanks for reading,
- Tristan

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'Ender's Game' - Script Review

Post based on the script "Ender's Game" by D.B. Weiss, 2005.

The Verdict: The well-written script features flat characters mulling through a boring, aim-less movie, that seems to be war-mongering cold-war propaganda!

What's it about?

Sometime in the future, a young boy is recruited by the Space Force to lead the fight against insectoid aggressor.

Plot Summary:

On the first page young Ender has to take a test and seems to fail it. Back at home with his sister, psycho-brother and widowed mother he is suprised by the leader of the Internation Force, Rackham, himself, saying Ender had the highest score ever in this test and he is accepted into Battle School. Due to his high score he is singled out and has to join the unit of Madrid, who tries his best to make Ender's life miserable. Meanwhile, Ender's sister Valentine joins a secret project, proping and testing the larvae of a Formic Queen (it is never explained why they have it). Ender strives at Battle School, soon he wins every game and gets to lead his own unit. Soon Rackham reveals that Ender has to lead the army against the Formics. It is one of his sub-commanders that finds out, that Earth doesn't have to defend itself against an attack of the Formics, but rather Earth started an pre-emptive strike against their homeworld. But he is ordered not to tell that to Ender - and so he doesn't! Ender sacrificies most of the Earth fleet but manages to kill every Formic, except the Formic Queen lying in Valentine's laboratory. On the last page Ender lauches off into space to find a suitable new homeworld for the Formic Queen.

Observations:

No Aim: A huge complaint is visible in the logline: Ender desperately wants to join the Space Force and does so on page 13. After that he plays just along. He trains and fights when other people tell him to train and fight. He kills a whole species when he is told to kill a whole species. But he has no motivation, no goal for the remainder of the script, leaving the viewer bored and uninvolved.

No Character Arc: Ender - or any other character - makes a change for the better in this script. After the shocking revelation of their genocide, Ender and his commanders do not change or reow. The script doesn't seem to be interested in the dramatic conflict the story poses for the protagonists. On the last page Ender starts a space mission to search for a new world for the Queen. But that Ender is the same Ender from the first page. Not for a single moment anyone of them has to struggle with the heavy burden of genocide.
No Obstacles: The point of a story is to see a hero overcoming the obstacles to reach his goal. As said before, the script of Ender's Game features no goal for the hero. Likewike the obstacles are nearly non-present. I re-read it: He doesn't lose one game he plays. Everything he does, he does perfectly. Yes, it takes him 2 pages to learn the art of the Zero-Gravity Battle, but after that no one stops him. Throughout the script Karpov is described as a genius, as the idol of almost anyone. Even he just resign after he lost one Battle Simulation against Ender.
Only the bullying is ever-present. It starts on the second page, when Ender is beaten by his older brother and in Battle School Madrid continues to harass Ender. But this has nothing to do with Ender's genius. It it not on the same plane and as such it is no obstacle Ender has to overcome as he is already genius.

Pointless B-Stories: In theory, the B-Story, starting at the beginning of the second act, should come together with the main plot before the finale and provide the protagonists with the means to overcome any obstacle laid in his way. The first and most prominent B-Story involving Valentine and her discovery of the Formics Queen serves no purpose at all in the story. It feels like a cheap ploy to redeem the characters in the end, after everything they did. Which leads me to:

War Propaganda: To be honest, I have no insight into the ethical discussion of Ender's Game. So reading the script, I despised the ethics, I loathed the presented morals. The world view is so degenerated, so corrupt, that an genocide is easily justified and not one character struggles with the events for very long.

The script is not concerned with questions of blind obedience or of military tyranny. Ender is their puppet and seems to like it that way.

The way in which a deadly war is equalized with a game is sickening! It removes any moral doubt over the actions by placing the intention to "win the game" above everything. The loss of 100,000s of people has no weight in this script, their sacrifice means nothing as it was necessary to win.

The Project:
In 2003 Wolfgang Petersen (Troy, Das Boot) was interested in adapting Enders' Game, bringing in screenwriters David Benioff (25th Hour, Troy) and D.B. Weiss (Game of Thrones). After he left, Orson Scott Card adapted his own novel and brought in Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, X-Men Wolverine), but nothing came of it.
At the beginning of 2011 it was reported that Orci & Kurtzman (of Lost & Star Trek fame) had started prepping this project. Shortly after Summit Entertainment picked up the Ender's Game movie. (References: Wiki)

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