Patty Jenkins Has dropped out of Directing Thor 2. Which was an odd fit from the beginning. That gave me hope either she would make the film more dramtic and character based with ok effects or effects heavy showing that Jenkins could be more of a mianstream director.
She has already Made MONSTER as a artsy independent film. That got her a foot in the door. She dropped out of this film over creative differences, But she managed to stay on good terms with the studio and saying she might direct a original superhero character film (Hawkeye???) Just not a sequel to a already started franchise shows the studio wants to keep a tone. Which would be great if thor was good or as good as Captain America movie, but the studio's winningness to hand the reigns to director's more attuned to television on one hand, Shows a willingness to give these rookie director's a step up to features a chance, but it reaks of hiring a director who is used to working fast and loose on budget if need be and will follow the studios orders and notes to a t. Afraid to lose the big break that they are getting. Not trying to make the film with their own artistic whims. Though very basically.
(Working in television, You have such a short schedule to shoot and edit. You hve to do it quick and fast) and know they will get not the best quality but disposable enough to entertain and make enough money to make a sequel. Not having to endure fights with a director who has a vision and has enough clout to get what they want or won't bow down and worries about not having their vision onscreen. If jenkins would have stayed it would have been a interesting experiment. As she would have been thor's second director. Who is more well known for directing dramatic films and more actor films then film with action. Kenneth Branagh i could see why he at leat took the first film as it is filled with tons of drama as it is a story about gods and mythology. isfilled with great family dynamics and tales of drama. yet he turned out a film that while entertaining with a greatcastwas pretty basic and uninteresting. Notentirely his fault but understandable why he would choose not to return. It also seemed more interested in effects and action. Whcihnever felt special or awe inspiring. In fact it felt almost second rate.
I'm starting to have problems with the way Marvel is running things, being a lot pushier on the studio end than they used to be. I know they had big plans with Avengers and all, but unless they want to be an old-fashioned Hollywood studio system and just keep certain directors on retainer, I think they are trying too hard to strong-arm things and it is hurting their films. They are becoming a little too George Lucas-like. Like, if you didn't know he directed Jedi, would you even know who Richard Marquand is? Marvel seems to be exercising too much control.
ReplyDeleteWe saw it when Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard in Iron Man 2. We saw it when the amount of studio monkeying led to Iron Man 2 buckling a bit under the weight of having to fit into the grand Avengers scheme. Then Ed Norton was recast, so Marvel will have yet ANOTHER Hulk. Forgetting that Iron Man with its solid script and Jon Favreau's direction is the reason for all their success, they basically pushed Favreau out of directing Iron Man 3. I mean, I think he totally would have done it had Marvel not gotten too involved.
Once The Avengers is out and done with, they should learn from their mistakes and back off some. Hopefully Thor 2 will be a step up, though I don't really see why Thor is getting a sequel so soon. There are enough Marvel projects out there already.
It's actually amazing to me that Captain America worked as well as it did. I thought it was the best Marvel movie since Iron Man, and Joe Johnston's best movie. At least his best since Honey I Shrunk the Kids.