Every summer the Cinema going public
are bombarded with an array of fast paced, explosion riddled,
adrenaline punching entertainment. Popular entertainment dominates
the Summer season. While the majority of summer fare can be dismissed
as disappointing, lacklustre and lacking moral fibre, recently there
have been exceptions to this rule. Over the past few years, there has
been a shift in the kind of popular entertainment we have seen; from
Dark Knights and Iron Men, through to commentaries on Social
Networking and mind altering dreamscapes, it seems Blockbuster Cinema
may be turning a corner. Audiences are finally getting the films they
deserve, with Rise of the Planet Of The Apes, Prometheus and
Inception all balancing impressive set pieces, and engaging
characters. They're popcorn entertainment but aren't afraid to bust
out intellectual ideas on evolution, religion and reality.
This isn't new, a revival comes every
few years when audiences are tired of loud, dumb, clichéd
entertainment that is only targeted toward the 14-18 market. So when
a Blockbuster like Inception came along, and proved that a tent-pole
film doesn't have to be void of charm and character, it was a breath
of fresh air and audiences lapped it up. Here you had a director,
treating the audience with respect, a plot you had to pay attention
to and a pay off which people are still talking about two years
later. With Inception scoring big at the box office, it was evident
that audiences were hungry for something other than explosions and
exposition. It seemed that studios took notice, and soon a slew of
intelligent big budget films hit our screens. So from Source Code to
The Adjustment Bureau via Super 8, the past few years have been great
for fans of intelligent, genre cinema.
This past summer has been no exception
with The Hunger Games scoring big with adults and teenagers, Chris
Nolan's conclusion to his epic Dark Knight Trilogy The Dark Knight
Rises, and Ridley Scott's Prometheus, all have juggled big themes of
identity, anarchism, sacrifice, science and religion with an epic
scope and crowd pleasing, awe-inspiring set pieces.
Some of this emphasis on high brow art
is connected with the current slate of Science Fiction, Remakes and
Comic Book adaptations we've seen over the past few years. Audiences
may crave something new, but they also want something recognisable
too. Hence why certain comic book films have deeper subtexts than
just wannabe heroes dressing up in Lycra jump suits. Take for example
The Dark Knight Rises, in which part of the film explores the
problems lower class citizens face in times of recession. When was
the last time a Blockbuster took the time to address this sort of
issue? Also see Rise of the Apes discussion of our cruelty in animal
testing, an allegory that is disguised in a slice of popcorn
entertainment. Its moments like this that remind me that Popular
Cinema still has the ability to discuss important topics.
With a roster of upcoming films that
includes Looper, Cloud Atlas, Catching Fire and After Earth, it seems
like there is no lack of high brow entertainment heading our way. And
why not, we sat through four years of Michael Bay's Transformers
series, I think we deserve a bit brains in our blockbusters don't
you?
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