Sometimes it seems as though filmmakers take the concept for a movie to a studio only to show them the first 10 minutes. Which was enough of a taste to get the studio to green light, but as a misdirection. Why? Because some movies feel like all the thoughtful creative effort went into crafting the first chunk of the first act, and then there was no juice left for the remainder.
These are the movies that peak not just in the first act, but in the first 10 minutes. Now, that's not to say these films are poor, but their effectiveness does experience a rather rapid decline. From slasher sequels and original superhero films to Hanna Barbera adaptations and less original superhero film, these are the films that peak from the outset.
10 Scream 3 (2000)
Scream 3
-
- Release Date
- February 3, 2000
- Director
- Wes Craven
- Cast
- Liev Schreiber, Beth Toussaint, Roger Jackson, Kelly Rutherford, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox
- Main Genre
- Horror
Widely considered the nadir of the Ghostface saga, Scream 3 is certainly comparatively weak. But it's not so bad, even if it does peak in the beginning. The narrative follows Sidney Prescott as she leaves self-imposed isolation to help her pals face down what may very well be the deadliest killer yet. A killer with a connection to Sid's own past.
Why the Opening Scene Stands Out
After Columbine, many fingers were pointed at Scream and Scream 2. They were both box office smashes and they both showed flesh-and-blood humans killing flesh-and-blood humans. In other words, a strong connection was seen where there wasn't really one at all. The price of that? Scream 3 was neutered. Ehren Kruger, replacing Kevin Williamson as screenwriter, did his best, but at the end of the day, if Scream 3 is more funny than scary, which is not what Scream should be.
But the opening scene, where Ghostface toys with Cotton Weary on the phone before ultimately killing him and his girlfriend, feels like it could have just as easily come from the more effective Scream 2.
Stream on Max and TNT
9 Ghost Ship (2002)
Ghost Ship
-
- Release Date
- October 25, 2002
- Director
- Steve Beck
- Cast
- Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, Ron Eldard, Desmond Harrington, Isaiah Washington, Alex Dimitriades
- Main Genre
- Horror
The opening of this ghost movie is memorably bloody, but everything that follows is absolutely dreadful. Ghost Ship follows a salvage crew as they discover a mysterious vessel in the middle of the Bering Sea. After finding no one aboard, they see an opportunity to steal what's there and bail. Too bad the ghosts have other plans.
Why the Opening Scene Stands Out
Once the film shows the audience how the titular ship became a ghost ship (a steel rope breaking and bisecting everyone aboard), there's nothing of merit to the film. It's a group of recognizable actors barely playing characters walking around a drafty, cobweb-covered set meant to look like a ship.
Stream on DIRECTV
8 Scooby-Doo (2002)
Scooby Doo
-
- Release Date
- June 14, 2002
- Director
- Raja Gosnell
- Cast
- Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, matthew lillard, Linda Cardellini, Rowan Atkinson, Isla Fisher
- Main Genre
- Adventure
A box office hit with a few cases of spot-on casting (particularly when it comes to Matthew Lillard), Scooby-Doo is nonetheless a misguided affair. The narrative follows Mystery Inc. after they've been shown up and forced to shutter. But, now they've been called to a peculiar island for a new mystery, and it could be the very case to bump them back up to the spotlight.
Why the Opening Scene Stands Out
The opening scene of Scooby-Doo is essentially as close as a live-action film can get to recreating an episode of the original show, with them unmasking a supposed ghost who, of course, immediately claims he would have gotten away with his crimes were it not for the kids of Mystery Inc. But, once the gang gets to the island (and especially once Scrappy-Doo gets involved), the ship sinks fast.
Stream on Paramount+ and Max
7 Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Mission: Impossible III
-
- Release Date
- May 3, 2006
- Director
- J.J. Abrams
- Cast
- Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
- Rating
- PG-13
- Main Genre
- Action
J.J Abrams took over the M:I franchise for a round with Mission: Impossible III, a fairly forgettable entry that's mostly bolstered by a tremendous performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman. The plot follows Ethan Hunt as he loses a partner and throws away everything he loves to go on a vendetta of a mission.
Why the Opening Scene Stands Out
The opening scene, where Ethan rescues Lindsey (played wonderfully, and briefly, by Keri Russell) only to have a microchip in her head explode is about as memorable as M:I gets save for the Burj Khalifa hang in Ghost Protocol. Unfortunately, while not weak per se, the rest of the film just kind of plods along until the unceremonious resolution.
Stream on Netflix and Paramount+
6 Hancock (2008)
hancock
-
- Release Date
- July 1, 2008
- Director
- Peter Berg
- Cast
- Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Jae Head, Eddie Marsan, David Mattey
- Rating
- PG-13
- Main Genre
- Action
Peter Berg's Hancock follows a superhero whose attitude really isn't so super. Hancock has little issue with leaving lots of collateral damage and doing nothing to help clean up the same way he has little issue with open intoxication before noon. But, now that Hancock's saved some PR big-wig, he finds himself wrapped up in a campaign to improve his image.
Why the Opening Scene Stands Out
Hancock had a killer premise, Will Smith when he was still basically at his peak, Charlize Theron, and a budget. Yet, one would be forgiven for forgetting every scene save for the first (when Hancock drunkenly quasi-saves the day only to cause more damage than he prevented) and all the ridiculous stuff in the third act between Hancock and Theron's character.
Stream on fuboTV and USA
5 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull reintroduces audiences to the title character after an extended hiatus. This time, instead of seeking the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail, Indy's been dragged into finding a mysterious skull with entirely unknown origins.
Why the Opening Scene Stands Out
Crystal Skull is one of those highly-anticipated films that not only let down fans, it was nonsensical. But the first stretch of runtime, taking place at a nuclear weapon test site, is pretty much classic Indy (save for the fridge and CGI groundhog). There's the whip, betrayal, the title character's confidence...it's all there. Too bad it just grows increasingly silly from there.
Stream on Disney+, Paramount+, and DIRECTV
4 X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
-
- Release Date
- April 28, 2009
- Director
- Gavin Hood
- Cast
- Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Will i Am, Lynn Collins, Kevin Durand
- Rating
- PG-13
- Main Genre
- Action
Gavin Hood's X-Men Origins: Wolverine shows audiences the early days of Logan, AKA Wolverine. Recruited by a shadowy organization alongside his brother to fight in war after war, Wolverine eventually realizes he needs to throw away his dog tags if he wants any hope for a normal life.
Why the Opening Scene Stands Out
The opening montage, which shows Wolverine and Sabretooth fighting in the Revolutionary War, WWII, etc. via stylistic flourishes and snappy editing, is certainly memorable. It instills hope that the movie will be equally stylish and actually devote runtime to the complexities of the brothers' relationship. It largely fails to do so from then on out.
Stream on Disney+ and DIRECTV
3 Up (2009)
Up
-
- Release Date
- May 28, 2009
- Director
- Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
- Cast
- Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft
- Main Genre
- Animation
Pixar's Up tells the story of the elderly Carl Fredericsen, who has lived a relatively small but happy life. After losing his spouse, Fredericsen teams up with an adventurous kid to go out and live a little. How? Strap balloons to his home and float to South America.
Why the Opening Scene Stands Out
Just one of several Disney movies to explore serious real-life issues, Up is the biggest heart-breaker of them all. And, to be fair, the movie doesn't exactly go wrong after the gut-wrenching, elongated opening (which effectively shows a man's entire life, right up to the death of his wife). It's just that the film can never get back to that level of emotional poignance again.
Stream on Disney+
2 Spectre (2015)
Spectre
-
- Release Date
- October 26, 2015
- Director
- Sam Mendes
- Cast
- Dave Bautista, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Lea Seydoux
- Rating
- PG-13
- Main Genre
- Action
Spectre, Daniel Craig's fourth adventure as 007, shows the dismantling of Bond's life by an unknown, shady organization. Or, rather, the head of it, who may be just as involved in Bond's past as he is his present.
Why the Opening Scene Stands Out
Spectre was a known bear to make, just see Craig's regrettable and 'ungrateful' comments after its release. But the 24th Bond film, director Sam Mendes second and probably final after Skyfall, has its merits. And most of them come in the opening scene, set during a massive Day of the Dead festival in the middle of Mexico City. Bond listens in on a meeting only to be discovered, setting off a firefight that concludes with Bond fighting a helicopter pilot as the whirlybird swirls over thousands of pedestrians.
Stream on fuboTV, FXNow, and DIRECTV
1 Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Thor: Love and Thunder
-
- Release Date
- July 8, 2022
- Director
- Taika Waititi
- Cast
- Taika Waititi, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt2, Karen Gillan, Russell Crowe
- Rating
- PG-13
- Main Genre
- Superhero
Taika Waititi's Thor: Love and Thunder will likely always be seen as one of MCU Phase Four's weakest films, but some of its plot points are major. The story concerns the God of Thunder's teaming up with Valkyrie and his love, Jane Foster (now the Mighty Thor), to take on his greatest threat yet. Namely, Gorr the God Butcher (a scene-stealing Christian Bale), who is on a deadly quest of revenge that, hopefully, can be diverted or stopped altogether.
There's also Foster's illness to contend with...not to mention the fact that her using Mjölnir is only expediting the deadly process.
Why the Opening Scene Stands Out
Ever since Thor: Love and Thunder was released, MCU fans have been asking what went wrong. After all, Thor: Ragnarok was such a phenomenal course correction for the franchise and director Waititi's return certainly seemed like a step in the right direction. But Love and Thunder is a bit too much Waititi. His silly lovability gets a lot of mileage if it's done in moderation and paired with strong storytelling, which Ragnarok had.
And so to do Love and Thunder's Gorr scenes...there just aren't nearly enough of them. But he sure does make a strong first impression, losing his daughter while begging the gods for safety, only to meet his god and get laughter in return. It's devastating, and the viewer understands why Gorr picks up the sword.
Stream on Disney+
"Scene" - Google News
November 27, 2023 at 03:46AM
https://ift.tt/XzCOBWG
10 Movies Where the First 10 Minutes Is Better Than the Rest of the Movie - MovieWeb
"Scene" - Google News
https://ift.tt/OsKiF2Q
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment