Devin Faraci:
The story-free modern blockbuster tends to default to the Star Wars settings; they plug in convenient pieces of Joseph Cambell’s The Hero’s Journey (look at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. There’s almost nothing in the film that qualifies as an actual story (and no, a story is not just a series of events that occur in a linear format), but the little bit of story that is there is simply ‘Sam refuses the call.’ And that’s it) and then they plug in ‘types’ – rogue, idealistic kid, snarky sidekick – and they use these tired devices as ways to get from action scene to action scene.
It’s more of a problem with action blockbuster films than any other genre of film. Other than Inception, can you name many other blockbusters that have great stories to tell?
People are familiar with The Hero’s Journey template movie, and if a studio’s goal is to be non-offensive to the largest audience possible and make money by dazzling with effects and explosions, the formulaic story is an easy out to take.
It’s a shame, because we should hold our blockbusters to a higher storytelling standard.
Read: The Devin’s Advocate: James Cameron Calls Out The Story Crisis In Hollywood | Badass Digest.
