There is little doubt that movies play a big role in today’s society, but as some movie-goers have found, many big blockbuster movie producers that usually do well have been missing the mark lately.
In an article from Vocal Media, Lawrence Lease writes “Many of the recent (Marvel) films follow a similar plot structure and tone, which can make them feel repetitive and predictable.” Other producers have also recently been facing movie flops. An example of this is Disney’s movie Wish, which only scored 48% on Rotten Tomatoes. “It’s the ultimate cop-out” Bilge Ebiri writes in Vulture Magazine “a lifeless, uninspiring mess of bland brand management.”
While it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what is causing the failure of these usually successful brands, there is something to be said about the recent obsession with quantity over quality. Lately, big companies have been focused on making as much content as possible, which has inevitably led to a decrease in the quality of the films. This may have contributed to the creative fatigue that has plagued producers for the last few years. A notable example of a company that has fallen victim to this is Marvel.
“The MCU has been churning out movies at a rapid pace, with up to three releases per year.” Lease writes in Geek magazine “This constant stream of content can be difficult to maintain, and as a result, the quality of the films may suffer.” The reuse of previously successful tropes and plotlines may have taken a toll on the number of viewers, especially since Marvel is known for being an innovator in the film industry, pushing the limits of what’s previously been done.
Whether it is because of this creative fatigue or not, audiences have also been noticing an uptick of movies being added to the end of previously finished series’ and storylines. One producer that is guilty of this is Disney.
Disney has been creating many sequels lately. Some notable examples of this include Lightyear, Moana 2, Toy Stories 4 and 5 and Frozen 3. While sequels aren’t inherently bad, many of them have started to feel more like money grabs than what is necessary for the plot and characters. According to Etan Bents in Trill magazine, there is a reason for this. Bents cites the reason as “an effort to rely on a pre-existing fanbase, knowing they’ll go and see the film, which generates more revenue for Disney at the box office.” Disney knows that many of its films have a massive fanbase, and sequels are an easy way to keep them coming back. This in itself is not a bad thing, when popular franchises reach four or five movies, it often begs the question: how many more do we need?
While these issues have been wreaking havoc on movie production, there are a few simple changes that could make a big difference. One is that they could hire different, more diverse people to work on their films, which would give them new, different ideas and perspectives. They could also take more time on each movie, removing the focus on quantity and prioritizing quality. These changes might help to fix the creative fatigue and open doors to a whole host of new ideas.
