A-List: Event Movies That Don’t Disappoint
By Josh Spiegel
May 6, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
So, today, we’re talking about five event movies that did not disappoint, movies that plenty of people were excited to see that didn’t suck. That’s probably not being fair: I’d argue that all five of the films on this list didn’t just not suck, but they’re all pretty classic in their own right. It’s hard to know beforehand what makes a great event movie or not, and some of them have been left off this list, if only so I didn’t clog the list with all sequels (you could easily argue that The Godfather: Part II, Spider-Man 2, and the Indiana Jones trilogy - and just those three - could be on the list). We’ve all been lucky enough to witness the successful event movie, not just movies like the original Iron Man, which was anticipated, but not to the same level as the films on this week’s list. Let’s get to it!
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
James Cameron seems to succeed in the biggest way, every time. I’m no fan of his 1994 spy comedy True Lies (which appears to be on the way for a couple remakes this summer, with Killers and Knight and Day), but even that film was a hit. However, when it comes to solidifying how successful the man can be, look no further than 1991’s sci-fi actioner Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Cameron had written and directed the 1984 film that preceded T2, but I’m not sure anyone expected this film to dominate and permeate the popular culture as it did. The special effects of the T-1000, played by Robert Patrick, were revolutionary; what’s more, they hold up incredibly well nearly 20 years later. The effects are complemented by a familiar but well-told story, one of a surrogate father and son.
If you’ve seen the movie, you know the arc: young John Connor, soon to be the leader of the human revolution, is guided on his quest by a T-800, played by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the first film, this guy was the bad guy; now, he’s on the side of the angels, even if he needs to be told not to kill anyone. Cameron is able to make the scenes that fit between the intense and mindblowing action sequences not feel like lulls; as cheesy as it may be, it’s hard not to be a bit charmed by Connor teaching the Terminator to say things like “Hasta la vista, baby.” The relationship is why this movie is thought of as more than just an action film. There’s heart here (maybe pushing into corniness, but I don’t care), and it pokes through all the bullets, which helped the movie be wildly successful in that summer of 1991.
Toy Story 2
In about six weeks or so, we’re all going to know if Toy Story 3 should also be on this list (I don’t even want to consider the possibility that it would be on the opposite list, dear readers). And, just as I was cautiously optimistic in 1999 when Toy Story 2 was released, I remain cautious about the third film in the Toy Story saga. When Toy Story 2 came out, it was at a critical juncture for Pixar, whose second film, A Bug’s Life, wasn’t as widely praised as the original Toy Story. Would a sequel turn Pixar into a slightly higher-class version of the direct-to-video sequels Disney chugged out on what seemed like a daily basis? Thankfully, no. The sequel picks up as Buzz Lightyear and Woody go on another adventure, thanks to a nefarious toy-store owner who wants to sell Woody, a cowboy doll that’s far rarer than anyone could’ve guessed.
It’s hard to explain in a few words why Toy Story 2 is spoken in the same breath as The Godfather: Part II, in terms of being as good as, if not better, than its predecessor. The film offers more than what Toy Story did: there’s plenty of humor, pathos, and action, but there’s also more adult emotion. Watch the flashback to Jessie the cowgirl doll’s life, set to the tune of a Randy Newman-penned song sung by Sarah McLachlan and tell me you don’t get a little sad. Do this, and admit that you have no heart. When you’re a kid, you may not understand why the scene works so well, but once you grow up and have abandoned toys of your own, seeing this sequence may compound your guilt. You’ve been as guilty as Jessie’s owner. This is what Pixar does best: relates a story about talking, walking toys to humans who know that toys can’t do either. I’m skeptical about Toy Story 3, but I’m ready to see it.
The Dark Knight
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I’ve heard it all before. There needs to be a moratorium on A-Lists mentioning The Dark Knight, right? I always try, but let’s be honest: The Dark Knight was an event movie and it did not disappoint. Before Avatar came along, it was not only the fastest-selling Blu-ray disc, but it was one of the highest-grossing films of all time, and remains the highest-grossing film of all time not directed by James Cameron. And, come July 20th, 2012 (that would be the date when the next Batman film is released, so mark your calendars), there will be another potential event movie that doesn’t disappoint. So what was it about The Dark Knight that everyone was so primed for? Batman Begins was a successful film, but it wasn’t nearly so big as Dark Knight would be.
Of course, the far-too-early death of co-star Heath Ledger raised the film’s profile, if to a morbid degree. But even before Ledger passed away, the mere thought of Batman once again facing off with The Joker was enough to stoke even the most basic Batman fan. People like me may not know much about the famous Batman graphic novel The Killing Joke (okay, I obviously know its title and plot), but we know what it means when Batman has to go mano a mano against this laughing villain. The early teasers and six-minute IMAX preview only fueled the fire. The fact that the movie ended up being an instant classic (in my opinion, of course) has only helped make this film something more than the basic summer movie.
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Every once in a while, I wonder what it would have been like. I had the summer of 1999, when The Phantom Menace was released. But what would it have been like to have the summer of 1980, when people everywhere lined up at the cinemas to watch the follow-up to Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back. These days, when it comes to event movies that are sequels, there are only a few standards. This is one of them, the original. The movie was unique for many reasons, not just because it did something the original Star Wars did not: leave you hanging. The first movie could have been the only movie: the Death Star is destroyed, the bad guys are either dead or spiraling out of control. But Empire ends on a much more unsure note: Han Solo is given over to an evil and obese gangster, the bad guys are triumphing, and did I mention that Darth Vader is Luke’s father?
Nowadays, the idea that Darth Vader is Luke’s father is about as shocking as knowing that the lead character of Psycho is killed in a shower within the first hour. But in 1980, how could an audience have reacted with anything less than gasping in unison? Audiences wouldn’t have expected anything more than snappy dialogue from Han Solo and Princess Leia, goofy goings-on with C-3PO and R2D2, and some crazy science-fiction action. Certainly, The Empire Strikes Back has all of those things, but the stakes are raised, and the movie feels like something darker, something deeper. I’ll only make a quick note that the film wasn’t directed or written by George Lucas (yes, he helped on the story, but the lines aren’t his), but this much is true: being compared to The Empire Strikes Back can only be a good thing.
Inglourious Basterds
If I was most people, the final film on this list might well be Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 Kung Fu action film Kill Bill Vol. 1. Big shock: I’m not most people. As has been covered in the past, I’m no fan of the two-film series Tarantino chose to make in the early part of the new century. So when the hype for Inglourious Basterds, a World War II movie starring Brad Pitt and his silly Southern accent, ramped up, I was cautious at best. So it was to my genuine and pleased surprise to find that Inglourious Basterds was not only one of the best films of the past year, but was Tarantino’s best film in 15 years. Though the marketing on the film was deceptive at the least (I definitely did not expect Pitt and the title group to be so unimportant), the film was a blast.
Alongside The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds ranked as one of the most suspenseful films I’ve seen in years. Even with all of Tarantino’s colorful dialogue and strange humor, it was hard not to be tense throughout the opening scene set in a French farmhouse, or the protracted tavern sequence. It’s to Tarantino’s credit and to all the actors in those scenes that no famous actors named Brad Pitt are in them. Pitt’s fine in the film, and I enjoyed his comic take on the gung-ho, gruff military leader, but I was as taken as anyone else was by Christoph Waltz’s characterization of Hans Landa, a particularly nasty SS officer. Inglourious Basterds, like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, stands as a testament to why so many people of my generation and of Generation X go wild for Quentin Tarantino and anything he touches.