Assignment 1-4-5: Formulas

Hollywood is running out of ideas; it becomes more and more obvious, as every television show, or movie, gets a nostalgic remake. Transformers, Red Dawn, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and even the Shaggy Dog have a remake. The occasional remake would not be so bad if all the other movies were original ideas. Sadly, a majority of movies follow formulas. The film’s premise matters little, because the formula will stay the same. A movie could star two talking horses in love during the 1800’s summer solstice, fighting off man-eating lemurs, and one could still guess what would happen next. If the movie is deemed a romance, it will follow the typical romantic formula. Chances are the horses will come into a conflict, separating, only to embrace in the end under the backdrop of those maniacal lemurs. We have seen this story a million times, and The Avengers too follows a simple formula. 

Would be a great story....if not for those lemurs

The Avengers is a stereotypical military movie along the lines of The Dirty Dozen or Uncommon Valor. While The Avengers is a story involving flying superheroes, demi-gods, aliens, and laser blasts, it still involves a formulaic plot. There is a team in conflict that faces a loss, which brings them together, and then united together as a team to overcome the mission.  These types of movies create a perfect formula, or arch, for the viewer to follow. Initially, we are presented these characters individually. We slowly learn who they are on their own. When they come together after their loss and conflict, we begin to get more involved with these characters, and to care about their loss. The movie moves towards the final mission or battle, and this is when we are fully invested in the characters and wait for the mission’s success. While seen in many movies, this formula is tried and true. This formula builds a reaction and journey for the viewer, pulling them into the film. Some might call this a roller coaster effect, having your emotions go up and down. 

Nope....nothing like Dirty Dozen at all...

The insights I gathered from applying this theory to The Avengers is that this is a formula that I enjoy, and plan to see in the future. Going into a movie involving many characters and personalities, the formula will stay the same. This is not necessarily a bad thing. As the formula proves itself over and over again with the release of similar blockbuster movies, backdrops will change while the formula stays the same. We viewers would not have it any other way, either.