Our Incurable Case of Sequelitis

HAHA IT IS FUNNY BECAUSE THE BROTHERS GRIMM ARE OFFICIALLY THE ONLY SOURCE OF FAIRYTALES EVER.

Doesn't make those films look any less ****y. Sorry. Thanks for playing.

P.S. The Little Mermaid sucks in all forms (Except possibly ballet), Hans Christian Andersen is a terrible writer.

 

Firstly, dark versions of classic fairy tales aren't bad because they're dark versions of classic fairy tales - when they're bad, they're bad for their own reasons. A person could write a story (on a bet) based on the premise along the lines of "A lost Roman Legion meets Pokemon," have them fight and then team up with giant wolfmen, and use the Zerg as the primary antagonists of the series. And that series might be quite enjoyable. (It is.)

Secondly, while the Brother's Grimm are not the only source of fairy tales, their tales aren't uncommonly dark when you consider older, pre-Disney and pre-Victorian versions of the stories that were cleaned up substantially. Like the Greek classics and the Bible, things often got dark and strange in ways Del Toro only wishes he imagined first.

So, if you have a problem with dark fairy tales, that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If only the white-washed versions of the stories appeal to you, that's not something I'm going to disagree with, everyone has their own taste. But claiming that they're inherently bad due to the premise is a very weak justification.

Nothing in fiction is good or bad based on premise. Everything in fiction is good or bad based on execution. Though in fairness, some premises are easier to deliver good on than others.

 

I don't have a problem with dark fairytales (Well, okay, I have a lot of problems with The Little Mermaid, but that's neither here nor there). I have a lot of problems with this crap right here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM8V3cHdSC4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPBFv8HJ_bo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY67V0wOlz8

See that? That's bad. I don't like that. That's what I'm talking about.

And don't go claiming the philosophical high ground when you respond to my original post with dismissive snark because you don't understand my gripes. But please, feel free to defend these films. I'm dying to hear a good justification.

 

Begging your pardon, but you were the one who responded with

That's dismissive snark.

In my first response to your posts, I used what I thought was fairly light humor in pointing out that fairy tales have a long history of being dark. In response to your second post, I elaborated and was serious - and it appears I don't understand your gripe.

As I saw it, your gripe was you didn't like "dark fantasy take on fairytales crap." My response was intended to be somewhere along the line of "It's perfectly OK not to like a genre, but no premise is ever bad in of itself. A lack of quality movies to date in a genre that you don't like anyways does not necessitate that no quality movies can be or will be made in that genre (or for that matter that you'd like the movies even if they were made)."

As for those films you linked, two haven't been released yet, and one was released with terrible reviews. I have no particular desire to see any, but if the two forthcoming films get good reviews on release I might check them out. I see no reason to pass judgement on the upcoming films now. With regards to Red Riding Hood, I have no personal judgement; the weight of bad reviews has also meant that I won't go out of my way at all to see it.

There is a difference between saying "I don't like science fiction and fantasy, so I have no interest in seeing Star Wars" and saying "Plan 9 from Outer Space was terrible, so people should stop making science fiction and fantasy films." I think that your argument has been closer to the latter than the former.

 

My original post was qualified with a specific example of an upcoming film - Jack the Giant Killer - precisely because I knew my wording was a bit nebulous. To me, it looked like you were ignoring that in favor of getting cheap jabs in, hence why I got really snarky there. Or, sorry, am I supposed to respond with insinuations that I am ignorant of a genre's past with cheerful good humor?

I think my argument probably is leaning towards the latter, but honestly this particular interpretational niche strikes me as fruitless. It's less "Plan 9 from Outer Space was terrible, so people should stop making science fiction and fantasy films" and more "Plan 9 from Outer Space was terrible, so Ed Wood should stop making science fiction and fantasy films". There's a good way to bring classic children's tales to the cinema with a more mature audience in mind and this isn't it.

 

They seem to be just running out of ideas.

 

"They"'ve never been particularly original.

 

Even a hackneyed idea can be executed well. Often, "they" don't even take the trouble to do that.