Big ideas...

Ok, so I normally don't really do 'critiques'. I don't critique movies and I don't critique preaching. I mean, I do A LOT of both in the privacy of my own mind and with my wife and maybe one or two close friends, but because I truly respect the amount of work/talent/perseverance/pain that goes into participating in both forms of communication, and work (in whatever reduced capacity) in both industries, I shudder to place myself in the position of judge.

That said, I had an interesting enough experience with two movies I saw recently that I thought I should share a couple things that occurred to me, as a warning to myself (as I work on constructing effective/redemptive story, and sermons that matter) and perhaps as an encouragement to you as you do your work.

'Chappie' and 'Jupiter Ascending'. Both in the Sci-Fi genre (probably my favourite of all genres) both by writer/director teams I admire and whose previous work I've enjoyed (District 9/Elysium and The Matrix Trilogy) both films whose development I tracked and whose trailer(s) I watched excitedly and repeatedly as their release dates drew near. I saw both opening week.

Of interest is that both films had received less than glowing reviews from online review sites whose opinion I have come to trust over time. That's a problem, right? When you're stoked to see a film and a reviewer you trust slags it? I usually go anyway and sometimes they're wrong; but sometimes they're right.

They were right on both of these.

Here's why.

The thing that jumped out to me about 'Chappie' was how overly 'strange attractor' it was in terms of its story design. The basic idea on 'strange attractor' is that a 'story' is more than an idea, it's an idea PLUS another idea that have never really been joined together until now, but now that you've mixed them, you've discovered storytelling dynamite. Stephen King in 'On Writing' and Steven Pressfield in 'The War of Art' really helped me with this one.

So take 'Carrie' for example. Telekinesis is not a story in and of itself, but a girl who discovers her telekinetic powers as a result of high school bullying and ends up using them to rock prom night; well, there you've got the beginnings of a story. Two previously unconnected ideas; telekinesis and teen angst. Put 'em together and you've got a story.

So, back to 'Chappie'. The idea of someone figuring out how to make AI happen is not a new idea. It's been done a thousand times in popular storytelling. That's often a good thing in film making as the 'industry' loves to do something 'familiar' yet different, fresh, or novel. A new 'take' on tried and tested material. So, I can imagine Neil Blomkamp (writer/director) doing some preliminary brainstorming on 'Chappie', wanting to do something with AI (he certainly seems drawn to telling stories of 'The Other', the fish out of water, the stranger in a strange land) and he's looking for that second idea to bring his AI story germ to life.

Often you can find your second idea by asking 'What if?' questions. Like, "What if a girl had telekinetic powers (part 1)...and used them to get back at her tormentors (part 2)?"  Or, "What if the daughter of a rich merchant was disenfranchised by her stepmother and step sisters (part 1--not a story yet) and ended up falling in love with the crown Prince almost by accident and getting everything she'd ever hoped for ultimately triumphing over her evil family? (part 2)" now it's 'Cinderella'.

Naturally, there's a lot of other 'storytelling stuff' you layer on top of the basic idea to get an actual film worthy story, but it all starts with the basic two ideas.

'Chappie'.

"What if a boy wonder computer genius invented AI (part 1--not a story yet) only to have that AI fall into the hands of (and be 'raised' by) a gang of low-life, jive-talking, Johannesburg criminals (part 2)?" Now it's a story.

Problem is, not a very BIG story.

It's essentially a family drama, contained in a big-buget sci-fi action film.

Even the posters for 'Chappie' sold it as a BIG film, see above...

"Humanity's last hope isn't Human..."

Great slogan, great premise. But the movie didn't deliver on that premise. At no point in the film was 'Humanity' ever in jeopardy. At worst, Johannesburg was gonna suffer some rioting and looting. Not exactly EPIC story stuff.

Now, make Chappie the lynchpin of 'World War Z'; you've got your very sympathetic character (as Chappie clearly was) facing an epic problem in a story with epic scale.

'Chappie' (as executed) was much smaller.

Now, let's be clear, there's nothing wrong with 'smaller' movies. All I've ever done (to be sure) is 'small' stuff. But, if you're going to bill something as BIG, it darn well better BE big, or your audience is going to leave the movie feeling ripped off, and your 'word of mouth' (which is a huge factor in a films' success and longevity) will sour.

'Chappie' had a simple story concept (AI gets raised by thugs) but got pushed as a BIG one and that's why it didn't ever seen to rise to its (promoted) potential.

Okay, on to 'Jupiter Ascending'.

I loved the scale. What an awe-inspiring film visually and in terms of it's GRAND premise. Coming up with BIG ideas, set in BIG worlds with BIG stakes is something the Wachowski's do very well.

So why didn't 'Jupiter Ascending' blow up the box office?

Because it lacked moral significance.

At the root of the film you have a set of all-powerful 'Human' families 'seeding' and then 'slaughtering' entire WORLDS in order to, effectively, put their humans into a big blender to turn their 'essence' into the river of life.

Pretty cool idea, right?

Interestingly, this is almost the same idea as 'The Matrix' except instead of a superior race of machines committing this heinous act, you have Humans doing this to other Humans.

Let's say it up front; this could have been a wicked, awesome, dynamic story.

But it fell short.

Why?

'Cause Jupiter is more interested in making out with her body guard (Channing Tatum) and playing 'Sky Surfer' with him (in the very disappointing final scene of the movie) then she is in saving The World (and every humanoid World in the Universe) from being turned into juice.

That makes her an unworthy 'hero'. That makes her story self-absorbed. That makes us not want to cheer for her and allows us to leave the theatre thinking, "Meh. Nice visuals and big premise, but it didn't really go anywhere..."

What a powerful warning to me, and maybe to you.

'Chappie' reminds us to not over-sell what we do. Make sure you're aware of what you can (or are planning to) do and only promise to deliver that; no more, no less.

'Jupiter Ascending' reminds us to do something noble, something that matters, something selfless with our lives and to tell stories (and preach sermons) that highlight these virtues and inspire then to life in our audience.

Anyway, my 'movie critic' thoughts for the day.

May I listen to my own advice.

T