Jump to content
Awoo.

Good Things in Bad Movies


Ryannumber1gamer

Recommended Posts

So, in cinema, there is pretty infamous blunders that have ended up being complete disasters, messing up characters, storylines, hype, and everything else. But with that said, maybe there's something in a movie you personally dislike that you thought was actually done relatively well? Maybe there was something that below all of the horrible things, there is something decent in there. 

This is the thought that's been with me since I ended up watching one of the worst movies of all time, one of the ones people say killed a genre, and a character for a long while. So what's that movie?

Batman & Robin. It's still the same campy mess that it's known for and I certainly don't like it, but watching not only some of the promotional material, which seemingly tried to imply something deeper in the cast (Batman and Robin's dynamic beginning to die off, their family in danger, and such. But one of the most interesting things that I was surprised to find was that in the promotional trailer, specifically this one: 

One of the themes that was supposedly meant to be present was the idea that Freeze was kind of the opposite of Batman in a sense, at least in terms of the vengeance idea. Where Brice Wayne allowed his idea of vengeance to fuel his crusade as Batman, Victor Fries allowed it to consume him into a man who desperately believes the means justify the ends, and nothing matters as long as Nora Fries is cured of her illness that's killing her. And to be honest, that actually reminded me quite a bit of how the characters are supposed to be. Mr. Freeze as a villain is always meant to have been a sympathetic character who was desperately trying to save his own wife and constantly justifying things to himself in a vain attempt to save her. Heart of Ice from BTAS especially was the one who came up with the concept, and caused it to become so beloved.

Which is why it's a massive shame that Batman & Robin cause him to turn into a camp-fueled idiot who constantly jumps between "i'm cold-hearted" and "LEL ICE PUNS I LOVE BEING A VILLAIN". And with that, they messed up one of the best Batman villains, on top of Batman, Robin, and Batgirl themselves. 

But the question is...did they really not understand what they were doing here? At all? Upon rewatching the movie, believing this, I stumbled upon one scene that actually surprised me. Because under all of the absolute crap in the movie, the stupid and corny jokes, the horrible campy atmosphere that makes it impossible to take seriously, the bad characters, and everything else. I found one moment that actually showed a really good moment that understands the characters perfectly. The scene in question?

While there's still a lot of corny nonsense, and a few conveniences like Batman having happened to record Poison Ivy's admission of guilt, the scene itself I think actually works incredibly well and if it was done in a better movie, it could've been really effective and given us a Mr. Freeze moment as memorable as something like Heart of Ice.

Mr. Freeze is lying on the ground, beaten, helpless. His plan has completely failed and he eggs Batman on to kill him like he mistakenly believes he did to his wife (Poison Ivy actually tried to kill her). Batman clears things up and shows the recording of Ivy admitting to her failed attempt of killing Nora Fries and Mr. Freeze screams in agony. This scene could've ended here and now, especially in such a stupid camp fest like this. The bad guy is beaten, and locked away, Batman isn't accused of anything anymore, and Freeze is ready for a sequel. But no, that doesn't happen.

Batman not only assures Mr. Freeze that his wife is fine, but he moved Mr. Freeze's wife to Arkham Asylum, secured her and even set up a lab for Mr. Freeze to continue trying to save her. Batman then talks to him as a person, talking to him about how vengeance can drive us to harm others, in an attempt for false power, but real power is helping others, and giving life. It's easy to take it away, but more difficult to give. But more importantly, Batman reaches out to Victor Fries, believing that he, the good man and husband still resides in the frozen husk of Mr. Freeze, and he asks him to help him cure Alfred (Who's inflicted with the same thing Nora Fries has, only in a earlier and curable state), and Victor agrees, giving Batman the cure and going peacefully to Arkham.

To me, as a long time Batman fan, this was shockingly in character for both characters. As I already said, Mr. Freeze's entire point as a character is he's meant to be a sympathetic man, someone who has noble intentions for the crimes he's committing, someone who just longs to save his wife and live with her peacefully once more. But even better, this actually showed a side to Batman that I don't even think any of the earlier movies did.

Y'see, as much as I love the earlier Burton directed movies, things like Batman having no issue strapping time bombs and whatever else onto random people in Batman Returns never particularly sat right with me, mainly because as a character, one of the defining elements about Batman, on top of his no-killing rule is the fact he does want to help his villains and try to rehabilitate them, to the point it was a major theme of The Killing Joke, where Batman tried to convince Joker to let Batman rehabilitate him, realizing that if their cycle continued, the two would end up killing the other. Even by the end, it fails but I thought that was something that was really great about Batman as a character, and even later things like BTAS and Arkham showed him doing the same, especially with Freeze, with his final appearance in Arkham Knight being that he helps Freeze save his wife at long last and allows him to live a peaceful life.

 So to see Batman and Robin pull this off, and actually pull it off decently well as a stand-alone scene, it was kind of shocking, especially since I don't particularly remember any other Batman film before it trying to show this side of the character. It doesn't do a lot to save the film, and the film itself is still downright garbage, but I thought this was a relatively well-done scene that showcased an element of two characters that wasn't shown in the movie series before that.

So what about you? Is there anything in a movie you dislike that you think was actually done to a relatively good standard, or a redeeming factor for a bad movie for you?

  • Nice Smile 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Allow me to tell you about a movie I loathe. Jurassic Park 3. This movie looked at the other 2 Jurassic movies and decided to spit on them. You like the T-Rex? We made something bigger just to kill it. You like the scene in Lost World with the Raptors? Na, ours are way different, making it not make sense. Pteranodon's on Isla Sorna? Ha, no they are different and in a bird cage in our movie. Yes, it destroyed the series continuity, taking years for it to resurface. Only now has promotional websites for Jurassic World begun to fill in the gaps. But there was a diamond in the rough in this film. The last point I mentioned actually. The Pteranodon scene is actually REALLY GOOD.

The atmosphere is amazing, being so foggy you couldn't see the creatures swooping down. The Pteranodon's (not Pterodactyl's like everyone says) have a creepy design (though they have teeth, which makes the name 'toothless wing' redundant). The way they pick people up and peck them is chilling in itself. Seeing two Pteranodon's follow a man down a river and peck him to death actually really unsettles me, and I love it.

 

The thing is...they ruin it. At the end of the film, the guy being pecked to death SURVIVES. Why? The actor didn't want him to die. He sacraficed himsef, like a hero to save the group but no, he had to live. Movie blows hard, makes my blood boil what it did to my favourite franchise.

  • Thumbs Up 1
  • Nice Smile 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a whole lot good things in movies that are pretty bad. But lemme bring up one.

The KSI infiltration scene from Transformers: Age of Extinction.

People say this movie's terrible, boring, overly long and stupid. While I understand those stances and why people would think such... dammit, I'll defend this movie until I die and this clip is a perfect example as to why I think TF4 deserves more credit than just another "Michael Bay explosion-filled garbage pile".

This movie actually addresses the criticisms of the last films. Specifically, the robots themselves. Here, they have a focus, and not just CG eye candy but second fiddle to the human protagonist.

In the past few films, the deaths of fellow comrades in battle are barely mourned. Mostly though, they're shrugged off aside from Jazz. Here, the death of a long running character, Ratchet actually affects the Autobots, Optimus especially who should be concerned the most for the fall of his friends. Not in Decepticon hands, though, but by humans, who hired a Cybertronian bounty hunter for the sake of using his metal to create their own Transformers.

Optimus is furious. The people he spent all these years to protect, the planet he called home... has now turned against him, and his family. When Optimus screamed in rage "they slaughtered Ratchet!", it felt right. It felt like the one time I should see Optimus consumed by rage aside from the times in other movies where he's a merciless killer for no reason other than to look cool. His friends for thousands, if not millions of years are killed by betrayal. 

So the Autobots stage an attack on KSI to avenge their friends, but when confronted by Steve Jobs, Joshua Joyce, the head of KSI, Optimus is pressured to kill him. It's not out of character for this movie depiction of the character. As I said, he kills any enemy without mercy. But he spares Joshua. He couldn't bear to pull the trigger on those he still had a desire to protect.

And keep in mind, beforehand, Optimus stated he's gonna kill him. But he couldn't. He just couldn't.

Half-heartedly, sorrow in his Spark, Prime leaves despite the peer pressure, even if this would be the easy way out. Optimus has developed, succumbing to his emotions. Both anger, but also sympathy. 

Yes, granted he kills the head honcho behind it all, but this wasn't just for self-gratification. The planet was on the line, and Optimus had no choice. Killing him was the only option. 

Optimus is becoming more and more like his older incarnations, but also maintaining a more grounded edge and knowing when extremes are needed. He was developing, and it's why Age of Extinction is better than most think.

yes, the last knight nullified all of this, but that's not AOE's fault.

  • Thumbs Up 1
  • Nice Smile 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The easy example is The Room, a movie so unbelievably awful that it ends up being hilarious. Especially with Tommy Wiseau's mannerisms, it did end up spawning a ton of memes that are super fun to use. Also lead to a lot of inside jokes with my group of friends.

I don't know if that's the best example since the movie ended up being good in all the wrong ways, so another example I have is Harry's death in Spider-Man 3.

Finally seeing Peter and Harry reconcile after the first two films, seeing their fallen apart friendship come back together in his dying moments is legitimately heartbreaking and bums me out all the more that we never got a Spider-Man 4.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

You must read and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to continue using this website. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.