In Which I Express A Contrary Opinion

[cmdr_zoom]

(following on from yesterday...)

I've already seen several of my fellow fans saying that Joss Whedon should be at the helm of new Star Wars film(s), and I reply: no, please no. I see nothing to be gained by replacing one auter director who can't write decent dialogue and has a history of skeevy treatment of female characters, non-whites, etc etc with another.

(And before anyone protests that Whedon writes great, funny dialogue: no, he doesn't. It's just him, talking through the characters. Everyone written by Joss Whedon sounds just like Joss Whedon, snarkmeister.)

I used to be a big fan of Whedon, but I've seen his entire act half a dozen times now. He has a small bag of tricks and plot points and fetishes, and it's gotten to the point where I can just sit down and tick them off as (or before) they come up. It's kind of sad, really. Because he's the one who taught me to look at entertainment this way, all post-modern and stuff.

I've yet to actually see Avengers (crazy summer), but I hear it's actually good and mostly free of the usual Whedonisms (mostly). I guess that, like Lucas, he needs to have other people in the loop telling him, "no, you shouldn't do that."

Comments

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

Since we're being cynical, I'd just like to note that I got no horse in this race; nothing set after Return of the Jedi has ever really worked for me, and I doubt the involvement or non-involvement of the Whedonator is going to make a ton of difference to the odds of that changing in the future. Rrrrrolll the crrrrrap! :)

However, Avengers really is good. I mean, sure, Tony Stark is a snarky bastard throughout, but then, Tony Stark is a snarky bastard. That was already part of the package, is what I'm saying. :)

"No hard feelings, Point Break, you got a mean swing."

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

It absolutely works for Tony, yes. I just want to see (and hear) some variation. The same voice does not work so well with Steve Rogers, painfully earnest man of the '40s. Or the Odinson.

I'm also not sure how to take the fact that what he did with Coulson is so predictable that many now assume he's actually planning to subvert it. On the one hand, great, something kind of new; on the other, maybe you could just, I dunno, not do that in the first place?
("In the sequel, you'll see I did not actually phone in the paint-by-numbers plot, I just cunningly made it look like I did! Ha ha!")

[seawasp]

Oh, he'd planned to subvert it from the beginning. Coulson's been acknowledged to have survived by Whedon himself.

[seawasp]

Oh, and while all the characters do get their own wisecracks, their language is not at all the same.

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

Good. Glad to hear it.

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

I can picture him in his office, reading the memo from Marvel about Coulson, his face falling as he thinks, There is no way on God's green Earth the fandom is going to believe that this was not my idea. :)

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

Steve and Thor both have their own voices.

I'm with you, both Lucas and Whedon need someone on hand to say "No".

That said, there are plenty of good directors out there, give them a shot at the Star Wars franchise. Not everything has to be Church of Whedon.

Also, the Avengers is the first movie in a long time that I've seen more than once in the theater because it's a good movie, and I wanted to enjoy it on the big screen. I heartily recommend it. It's not great cinema, but it's a fun movie and I was entertained.

As for Coulson, Whedon's said that the plan was for him to be alive for the S.H.I.E.L.D. television show.

[gwyd.livejournal.com]

I do think the voices were right in the Avengers, if it's any help.

[gwyd.livejournal.com]

I was never in the cult of Whedon. I like some of his stuff, sure, but it's uneven and problematic.