tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post4272571588976463919..comments2024-01-23T13:41:41.463-05:00Comments on The Forager Blog: Screening Log: NovemberJon Hastingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030406521787423155noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-29074198893078944302009-12-01T11:07:17.387-05:002009-12-01T11:07:17.387-05:00I think it's a different quality of stupid, th...I think it's a different quality of stupid, though, from that of your standard effects-heavy action movie (like <i>Transformers</i>, say). They're taking a genuine risk on two levels:<br /><br />(1) They're adding a whole new <i>kind</i> of action sequence to the <i>Matrix</i> universe. Up until that point, the action has been derived from wuxia, John Woo, anime, and super-hero comics. But the battle on the docks is an attempt to outdo James Cameron. (I think it looks beautiful, too: all the sparks and machinery and explosion!)<br /><br />(2) They're focusing on not even secondary characters but tertiary characters. And in doing so they're trying to play against the idea that they built up in the previous two movies that everything is dependent on "The One". It's an attempt to fold the kind of work that, say, the Star Wars expanded universe stuff about Wedge Antilles does into the center of their trilogy proper. I don't think they manage to bring the audience with them, but I think that's because they reach the limits of the kind of story you can tell within the conventions of the action/adventure "hero-on-a-journey" movie.Jon Hastingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01030406521787423155noreply@blogger.com