18 Oct 2016

And Then, Another Movie Moan...

This is my last movie gripe. At least ‘till I spot another.

Good guy, or gal, herein after referred to as goodies, finally knock down the bad guy. However, rather than taking a moment to deliver the over-and-out blow, they choose to make a run for freedom. Queue much fumbling with door lock and handle with many looks over the shoulder at the slowly recovering baddie. Eventually door opens and goodie makes it out. Goodie gets to the road, for a city suburb setting, or a dirt track for a countryside setting, and takes off a-running and grimacing.

Bad guy, given ample time to fully recover during goodies door fumblingness, gets up, goes out and, quite reasonably, gets in car or truck to give chase. This is when good person glances over their shoulder and sees lights looming large - it’s always night - and bearing down on them.

What do the goodies do in view of this revelation? Yup, carry on running right down the absolute dead centre of the road or track with frequent frantic glances over shoulder but with nary a hint of a thought of diving down one of the many narrow ally-ways or rat-runs clearly visible to left or right or, if on a track, diving into the trees and thick undergrowth that always lines both sides of a track chase scene.

The climax to these ‘chases’ varies very little and invariably involves one of - and occasionally all of - the following; a gas station, a diner, a convenience store or an isolated farmhouse.

The film folk will tell you that there’d be no excitement if the goodie did, indeed, veer left or right towards relative safety. However, for a lot of us, any excitement we may have had, I say again, may have had, had quickly evaporated with the observed rapid rise in the stupidity factor of the goody noted since scene one.

Moan and chase over; I’m breathless but safe behind the sofa.

Quote;  Alfred Hitchcock.

“Give them pleasure. The same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.”

2 comments:

Caratacus said...

You reminded me of Muhammad Ali describing George Foreman - "He move like a mummy [from the movies]. Man is runnin' at a thousand mile an hour"(and here Ali ran on the spot) "... and the mummy, he come" (arms outstretched, plodding slowly towards Michael Parkinson).

Also, a quote I read many years ago and which summed matters up rather well for me at the time, "That which does not kill me has just made a grave tactical error"!

Mac said...

Caratacus,
That Ali moment does ring a round one sort o’ bell.
Like the quote. I also like, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”