I haven't read/watched/seen as much this week as I normally do. At least not new stuff. My girlfriend and I have been watching plenty of The Americans. The new (and final) season starts up March 28, so we're trying to finish the fifth season on Amazon Prime. If you aren't watching it, stop reading right now and watch the pilot.
I realized last night that I hadn't watched any movies this week, and I hadn't read any feature scripts. I didn't want to stay up too late, and I knew if I tried to read I'd fall asleep, and I didn't want to stay up too late, so I poked around for something that with a runtime on the shorter end. Supercop fit the bill.
This film is technically the third in the Police Story series, but that isn't too important. The only thing it sets up is the running gag of everyone, particularly Michelle Yeoh calling Jackie Chan's character "Supercop" as a dig at him, because they are clearly unimpressed with him, despite his previous victories.
Jackie Chan gets a lot of (extremely well deserved) credit for his action and stunts. Not only are they physically impressive, but well shot, well established, and nice little stories in their own right. Tony Zhou is much better at explaining this than I am.
What I noticed in Supercop is that Jackie Chan's character never wants to fight. Every step of the way, he tries to avoid physical conflict, even in the very moment of the fight. He's mostly defending, and then will only punch or kick back to get his attacker away from him. Now, we all know that Jackie Chan is not an ordinary man. He's a highly trained, highly talented martial arts professional. The film does not try to pass his character as anything otherwise. Supercop specifically calls out how unordinary he is, listing his many, many martial arts accomplishments. And yet he doesn't use these skills when attacked. He's not necessarily interested in being "supercop." None of this is explicit. It is not a character arc. But it is a distinction that I believe many action movies do not understand. (Or the Supercop marketing dept. for that matter.) But I think it is this distinction that allows Chan's character to be just on the ordinary side of the "ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances" character/story.
It really made think about audience empathy, and the great action heroes. Though I enjoy them all, I always empathized more John McClane and Indiana Jones than John Rambo and James Bond. John McClane is overwhelmed by terrorists. Indiana Jones is outnumbered by Nazis. They do not have superior gadgets like Bond, they do not have superior bodies like Rambo. These heroes have to use their grit and determination to win the day, because they don't have much else. (Yes, Indiana has more knowledge than the Nazis, but notice how Belloq pretty much cancels this out.)
But Jackie Chan in Supercop is both superior to his enemies. So how does the film level the playing field? Basically by making his primary character trait something other than his martial arts ability. He's a well-rounded, funny character that also happens to be really good at martial arts. Compare this to action heroes who are defined by their action abilities.
I'm sure there's plenty more to dig in to here, but Supercop was plenty to get me thinking about it, and it's something I'll be keeping an eye out for in action movies.
Other Stories This Week
I finished Myst. It was much shorter than I remember, but great. I saved it before the last part of the game so I could replay and get all the different endings. Also, because I purchased the Masterpiece Edition (the only one available for Mac) there's a new age that I can explore, but I haven't done that yet. I remember playing Riven (the sequel) as a kid, but it was too hard for me. Also, it was five CD-ROMs. I'd try it now, but none of the Myst follow-ups are available for Mac. What's the deal with that? Maybe I'll try using Boot Camp on my MacBook. We'll see.
I also finished Knightfall in the Batman Comics. (A couple spoilers coming up….) I was really surprised by how much Robin takes over the narrative while Bruce is recovering and Jean Paul's taking over as Batman. I also thought it was an interesting choice to have Bane finally defeated by someone other than Bruce Wayne/Batman, but I think it made an interesting point in clearly showing how Bruce Wayne/Batman is different than the criminals he hunts down. Maybe he could never have taken down Bane because of the line's he's unwilling to cross. I can see why this story is a fan-favorite.
My Stories
I received a lot of great feedback on the treatment for the screenplay I'm currently working on, and am in the middle of writing right now. I spent a lot more time on the treatment than I normally do, and I was afraid the writing process wouldn't be as "discoverable" because of it, but I've found that to be untrue. Plenty of surprises, and I feel much more comfortable making a couple deviations from the treatment because I know the story better. I might put up a copy of the treatment here. I'll have to get some advice on whether that's a good idea or not.
Not quite projects, but I regularly trade emails back and forth with a few writers where we do various "exercises" and I recently asked permission to post a few of them, so I'll be doing that here as well.
Other Stuff
- I saw Annihilation last night. Still thinking about it, so maybe next time you'll get full thoughts. By that time it'll be on Netflix.
- Purchased a new card game: The Grizzled. Haven't played yet, but I really dig the way it's cooperative, but people still make individual choices. Other co-op games can have an "alpha gamer" issue, so I'm excited to see the way in which this one avoids it. Plus it's WW1 themed and has awesome art.
- Started reading Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology. It's hilarious.
- Broken Finger Status: Still Broken (I think. Getting follow-up x-rays next week.) I'd post pictures, but they gave me initial x-rays on a CD. Glad to know my doctor is operating in 1997.