Current Events > "It was actually just a test" is the worst start to an action movie.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Enter the Ninja
Never Say Never Again

The last one didn't have enough action in the rest of the movie to compensate for the intro being a training exercise. Even if it did, it's just a bad way to start things off. You're presented with an action-packed opening that's meant to get you hyped, then you're hit with the disappointing feeling of "Oh..."

I don't get what motivates this decision. Maybe the writers think they're being clever and staying one step ahead of the audience. Maybe they think it's somehow funny. To me, it's like the equivalent of watching a wrestling match where the two men stop fighting, look at the camera, and say, "This is all just make-believe, brother."

"It was all just a dream" is also the worst ending to an action movie

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Do you not like Monsters Inc?

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FortuneCookie posted...

I don't get what motivates this decision. Maybe the writers think they're being clever and staying one step ahead of the audience.

I think a lot of it is this. And if you notice, a lot of tropes become so predictable that the normal way becomes the unpredictable way lmao

A bio terrorist group is threatening the world. We need the best of the best

*Sees the X-games on TV*

We need those guys

BilalPowell posted...

Do you not like Monsters Inc?

I have, um, not seen it. (Sorry.) Given the premise of the movie, it probably makes a lot more sense than when it happens to a world-traveling government agent.

JimmyFraska posted...

I think a lot of it is this. And if you notice, a lot of tropes become so predictable that the normal way becomes the unpredictable way lmao

It is a rare and welcome sight when a 21st century horror movie doesn't end with a "twist" of the hero dying / suffering a fate worse than death in the last scene.

It was neat when James bond did it in the 60s

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It worked really well in From Russia with Love.

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From a story structure perspective, I get it. For stories that are a bit of a slower buildup and don't have any action for a little while, it's a way to insert some action early on as a hook without needing to break the story to get it.

It's more to do with audience expectations than anything.

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Now I remember TC, another variant of this is "It's all just a movie scene." and the protagonist is in a harness or something "get me outta here"

yeah, hate it when that happens

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au_gold posted...

It worked really well in From Russia with Love.

only because Red Grant still killed the Bond impersonator