Adora
10-12-2007, 12:53 AM
So we're currently in a whole new glut of fantasy films for kids (and, arguable, adults) ripped from the pages of literature. Bridge to Terrabithia, Lord of the Rings, The Seeker, and the Dark Materials, just to name a few.
The problem is, out of all of these, the only one that has any cred is the Lord of the Rings trilogy, because, perhaps, the creators realised that the adult audience had more weight with the books than the children did, and so put more care and respect into their work. The other three, I'm finding, are being universally panned for being crap and totally destroying the material they are based on for various reasons (political, creative, and otherwise).
But on the flipside, recreations that are too close to the original tend to suck as well. The first two Harry Potter movies attracted audiences because they still had that Shiny And New tint to them, but were the creative equivalent of brown paper wrapping. They were boring and safe interpretations that clearly lacked the vision Cuaron's following 3 films contain, which take a more liberal approach to the textual content, but remain true to the intent and themes of the books. One can only hope Cuaron does something good with the next two, because I think even JKR lost that truth and consistent themes in her desperation to finish the series.
Or maybe I'm just a terribly terribly bitter atheist who is pissed-off they're completely trashing the Dark Materials trilogy in one of the most cynical and pandering film adaptations yet. Who knows... who knows...
But anyway, I was thinking yesterday, why do they keep doing this if the films are crap and keep flopping? Why not just do them as animations that aren't horrible CG and maybe teach some Pixar interns a lost art? Realistically, with the cost of some of these films (The Golden Compass is one of the most expensive single films Newline has ever made, and thus they haven't begun production on the second two of the trilogy until they know whether it will be successful or not) wouldn't traditional animation be cheaper? And possibly, reap better returns if it even ends up being as successful as your average Ghibli (which even the most crap US CG films tend to manage)?
The problem is, out of all of these, the only one that has any cred is the Lord of the Rings trilogy, because, perhaps, the creators realised that the adult audience had more weight with the books than the children did, and so put more care and respect into their work. The other three, I'm finding, are being universally panned for being crap and totally destroying the material they are based on for various reasons (political, creative, and otherwise).
But on the flipside, recreations that are too close to the original tend to suck as well. The first two Harry Potter movies attracted audiences because they still had that Shiny And New tint to them, but were the creative equivalent of brown paper wrapping. They were boring and safe interpretations that clearly lacked the vision Cuaron's following 3 films contain, which take a more liberal approach to the textual content, but remain true to the intent and themes of the books. One can only hope Cuaron does something good with the next two, because I think even JKR lost that truth and consistent themes in her desperation to finish the series.
Or maybe I'm just a terribly terribly bitter atheist who is pissed-off they're completely trashing the Dark Materials trilogy in one of the most cynical and pandering film adaptations yet. Who knows... who knows...
But anyway, I was thinking yesterday, why do they keep doing this if the films are crap and keep flopping? Why not just do them as animations that aren't horrible CG and maybe teach some Pixar interns a lost art? Realistically, with the cost of some of these films (The Golden Compass is one of the most expensive single films Newline has ever made, and thus they haven't begun production on the second two of the trilogy until they know whether it will be successful or not) wouldn't traditional animation be cheaper? And possibly, reap better returns if it even ends up being as successful as your average Ghibli (which even the most crap US CG films tend to manage)?