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Commercially successful but mediocre. Dialog in X-Men is still widely mocked (Whedon and Singer), X-Men 3 was horrible, Abrams has never made a great movie (get

Commercially successful but mediocre. Dialog in X-Men is still widely mocked (Whedon and Singer), X-Men 3 was horrible, Abrams has never made a great movie (getting the Trek and Wars franchises is a lot of help). I find very little about what Whedon writes believable (maybe that's why he does superhero movies). It's all lowest common denominator snark so they can make a billion dollars. Not sure why am going after you on this, but surely there are better examples than those guys.

npsimons 9y ago
> Not sure why am going after you on this, but surely there are better examples than those guys. If it makes you feel any better, I'm with you on this. A single line from "Avengers" really sticks out to me, and it seems all too Whedonesque: > "What were you lying?" I can understand that Whedon was going for a cutesy play on "what were you saying?", but it just feels so clunky. And it's delivered by a fairly widely recognized as at least competent thespian. This, and the fact that Whedon wrote the screenplay for "Alien: Resurrection" tells me that Whedon is not world-class. He's certainly very good, and definitely mainstream successful, but not in the same class as Kubrick, or even Nolan. Abrams also feels to me like a one hit wonder, relying far too much on his "mystery box." I actually liked most of "Lost", and his Star Wars and Star Trek were entertaining enough popcorn flicks, but not really memorable.
- mrec 9y ago
  > the fact that Whedon wrote the screenplay for "Alien: Resurrection" tells me that Whedon is not world-class I think that's a bit unfair. Joss wrote the original screenplay, but it was butchered en route to the screen. He's still pretty narked about having a story credit: "There is always going to be a shitty Alien movie out there. A shitty Alien movie with my name on it." I liked the original Avengers, and I think it did a great job handling a sprawling and convoluted brief (there's a 17-part breakdown out there if you're really keen [1]), but TV was his natural medium. Firefly, obviously, but there are moments in Buffy that I'd honestly defend as the best TV ever made. Not going to argue about JJ Abrams, though. Possibly the most overrated director ever, with a perfect reverse-Midas track record when it comes to franchises. [1] http://www.toddalcott.com/the-avengers-part-1.html http://www.toddalcott.com/the-avengers-part-1.html
mikepurvis 9y ago
Fair criticisms. I'm definitely coming at this from the perspective of a mainstream media consumer; I think the most off-beat thing I watched last year was Colossal, and I didn't particularly care for it. That said, despite everything else, these guys really do understand storytelling. Looking at Star Trek 2009 vs. Nemesis or The Force Awakens vs prequel trilogy, and there's just no comparison. And as far as Whedon, I haven't watched his recent superhero stuff; I'm basing that on being a long-time fan of the dialogue and plotting in Firefly.

npsimons 9y ago

> Not sure why am going after you on this, but surely there are better examples than those guys. If it makes you feel any better, I'm with you on this. A single line from "Avengers" really sticks out to me, and it seems all too Whedonesque: > "What were you lying?" I can understand that Whedon was going for a cutesy play on "what were you saying?", but it just feels so clunky. And it's delivered by a fairly widely recognized as at least competent thespian. This, and the fact that Whedon wrote the screenplay for "Alien: Resurrection" tells me that Whedon is not world-class. He's certainly very good, and definitely mainstream successful, but not in the same class as Kubrick, or even Nolan. Abrams also feels to me like a one hit wonder, relying far too much on his "mystery box." I actually liked most of "Lost", and his Star Wars and Star Trek were entertaining enough popcorn flicks, but not really memorable.

mrec 9y ago
> the fact that Whedon wrote the screenplay for "Alien: Resurrection" tells me that Whedon is not world-class I think that's a bit unfair. Joss wrote the original screenplay, but it was butchered en route to the screen. He's still pretty narked about having a story credit: "There is always going to be a shitty Alien movie out there. A shitty Alien movie with my name on it." I liked the original Avengers, and I think it did a great job handling a sprawling and convoluted brief (there's a 17-part breakdown out there if you're really keen [1]), but TV was his natural medium. Firefly, obviously, but there are moments in Buffy that I'd honestly defend as the best TV ever made. Not going to argue about JJ Abrams, though. Possibly the most overrated director ever, with a perfect reverse-Midas track record when it comes to franchises. [1] http://www.toddalcott.com/the-avengers-part-1.html http://www.toddalcott.com/the-avengers-part-1.html

mikepurvis 9y ago

Fair criticisms. I'm definitely coming at this from the perspective of a mainstream media consumer; I think the most off-beat thing I watched last year was Colossal, and I didn't particularly care for it. That said, despite everything else, these guys really do understand storytelling. Looking at Star Trek 2009 vs. Nemesis or The Force Awakens vs prequel trilogy, and there's just no comparison. And as far as Whedon, I haven't watched his recent superhero stuff; I'm basing that on being a long-time fan of the dialogue and plotting in Firefly.