Another movie you probably haven't seen.
The Long Kiss Goodnight came up on social media recently. It is a movie that came out in 1996 which stars Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. Davis wasn't the guarantee movie execs had been counting on (Cuthroat Island anyone?) so the movie didn't get the budget it deserved.
I always liked this movie, but I guess it is a movie most people haven't seen. Geena Davis as the hero of an action movie is a bit surprising. But her character, Charly, reminds me a bit of Ripley in the Alien series, and a bit of John McClane in the original Die-Hard.
I think the subject came up for Critical Drinker, because the YouTube, social media, and what passes for entertainment news today is awash with female heroes and discussion of the same. The criticism leveled, when you have issues with the whining of She-Hulk or whatever, usually revolve around something like, "You don't like women heroes." Which isn't true. For me, or Drinker. People don't like bad writing, and that seems to be most of what is coming out of Hollywood the past few years.
Davis's character manages to be a tough, action hero, without having to pretend to be a substitute man. (Guy-ladriel from Rings of Power Prime anyone?) And she does take a beating when fighting men who are bigger and stronger than she is. She wins by being smarter, and with a bit of luck, and some help. And in the end by being unwilling to give up.
As Drinker notes, the movie didn't have a budget comparable to Die Hard or Alien, and they stretched a bit on some of the effects. But overall I thought this was a good movie. I haven't seen it in a very long time, but I may have to find a copy. I'm sure my local library can provide one.
This is the video from Critical Drinker: Drinker's Extra Shots - The Long Kiss Goodnight
If people don't like women heroes, explain the following. Alien, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, or Wonder Woman (2017 version not the abomination of sequel). Sure, people hated Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell, and Black Widow. The first was badly written, and it was a bad time to white-wash a bit of Asian IP. The second was about a character who had already died in the current timeline of the MCU. And it was poorly written. In video games I can reference several.
I have seen The Long Kiss Goodnight several times. It is one of my guilty pleasure type of movies. Of course not the huge budget movies, and some of the writing and plotlines are a little weak. But very enjoyable, and the always good David Morse was a bonus.
ReplyDeleteI saw the movie when it first came out. Then I saw it again - at least once - when it was on cable. I'm not sure if I've seen it since then, though I may have seen it during the prime of the Blockbuster/Hollywood Video days.
DeleteThe major downfall of Ghost in the Shell was the lack of faith to the anime series; it was as though those aforementioned poor writers actually thought so much of their own abilities, that they KNEW they could improve upon it- which was, of course, a huge error in judgement.
DeleteThat sums up just about everything coming out of Hollywood in the past 10 years. Or more.
DeleteThey have all this great intellectual property, from She-Hulk to Tolkien, and instead of just producing a TV/Movie version they "change it for their modern sensibilities."
Of course Peter Jackson didn't change Tolkien's story (much), and his LotR trilogy is a masterpiece. Rings of Prime is so bad that Torrent Freak reported no one is even bothering to steal it. But hey, Rings of Prime is Diverse. And stupid.
Ghost in the Shell. Ghostbusters. Lord of the Rings. Halo. They seem to be completely incapable of telling the story that fans want to see. But of course that is because they despise the fans. We are just paying the bills. But they don't care what we think.
Of course we have stopped 'paying the bills.' I haven't given any money to Hollywood in years. I doubt I will any time soon. I was done the MCU a long way back. I was refuse to give any money to an organization that could piss all over Lord of the Rings the way Rings of Prime does. I could go on...
FWIW, I thought Black Widow was primarily a "thank you" gift to Scarlett Johansson partially justified by introducing her replacement for the next MCU phases, Florence Pugh.
ReplyDeleteI saw this a couple of times and found it above average. I liked Davis's character.
ReplyDeleteIf Hollywood could produce an "above average" movie today it would be close to a miracle.
DeleteTop Gun: Maverick is amazing, but it took an old-school movie star, doing things with a minimal amount of CG to make a movie that looks like it came out of the 1990s. Everything I've seen lately has been a CG mess, with no story. Though I haven't seen what people tell me are the worst of that bunch.