Finally saw Van Helsing last night. Not a bad flick. Tongue in cheek etc. Smidgin of story held together with bushels of FX. But, as the cinematic arts progress isn't it about time someone set down some ground rules for each genre ? Hell, if gamers can do it for our diffent systems it should be easy for the men in suits.

Here's some of my main gripes brought on by what I consider inconsistencies in yesterdays offering.

1. If a fictional character reforms and becomes a hero in a well watched film, you look cheap when you kill him off in your offering a year later. A good battle and escape should cover it.

2. Get the background right. Buddhist Monk weapon builders in the basement of the Vatican with Hindu assistants ???? Hello !!!! It makes me regard you with contempt.

3. If you must turn your hero into a ravening beast, then allow him some self control. (unless its a tragic thread essential to the plot)

4. If a villan survives the same accident 2 or 3 times in a film its unfair to rite him off with the same accident.

5. Do the basic homework. If most of your sources state a villan type would NOT perform a certain action. Don't have yours do it.

Sorry. Watch the film and you'll see what I mean.

Ogre

why would buddist monks have weapons?? very odd, unless they kill you with a very loud mantra blow your ear drums up!

I think my main whinge above is the incostencies we (as people paying for the product) are expected to swallow. Lets take Freddy Kruger as an example.

Freddy haunts the realm of dreams and gets his power/revenge/kicks from the nightmares inflicted therewithin (good word) that carry on to the physical realm.

Now if the new Freddy film had the crew of a Space Craft bringing back a strange pod with a mini Freddy bursting out of someones chest and spraying acid blood all over the place. I hope you'd be p****d off to say the least. Unless the film was obviously a mock of the genre. (deep stuff this for a Wednesday). Or if in Armagedon they all wandered around the asteroid in T shirts & Jeans.

I suppose the point i'm trying to make is that I like some form of consistency in my escapism and feel the movie 'industry' as a whole should now be grown up enough to give it to me.

(new Doctor Who film with Daleks on huge tripods marching across the landscape in the background going 'ULLLLAAAAAHHHHH -EXTERMINATEAAAAAAHHHH anyone)

Ogre

I hated this film - I thought it was trite, shallow nonsense with total disregard for the genre. Halfway through I was ready to walk out, and so was the person I was seeing it with - but we were both too polite to say anything to each other, so we ended up sitting through the whole thing!

I have to agree with you Ogre. If a writer/director creates a world, then it should hold water in whats been described. Its a cheat to introduce 'new' rules just to make the story work and its lazy!
This is my problem with The Village. NO SPOILERS. I loved M Night's other movies becuase he was clever enough to hide the truth in plain sight so you can rewatch the film and say, yip that works. The Village was different, he said...... look at this, here is a fact but then said no thats not true, I was just saying that to make the first hour of the movie have a point.
Not clever. I haven't seen Van Helsing yet.