Downloads and Dragons: Look what they've done to Fantasy, ma - Page 2
© Michael Martinez
Today people do little enough in the way of soul-searching. There isn't much incentive for looking inward any more, because we are so stimulated by the illusions we create around ourselves. J.R.R. Tolkien may in fact be the only major fantasy author who motivates the reader to look inwardly almost consistently. Others attempt to do this, but they too often throw in modern "isms" (modern language, modern customs, modern ideas) to create a sort of gritty, pseudo-realistic fantasy. To the modern fantasy author, fantasy just doesn't seem like fantasy if it doesn't have some realism in it, no matter how badly that affects the story.
There is pseudo-realism in the "Dungeons and Dragons" movie. You can hear it in the dialogue between Justin Whalin and Marlon Wayans. Wayans cracks one-liners like a comedian. Okay, he is a comedian. Undoubtedly such dialogue is going to spoil the effect for many people who haven't played a fantasy adventure game. The real shame in such spoilage is that it is so unnecessary for people to react that way. The trailer says, "This is no game." Well, buddy, I've played my share of RPGs and it looks like a game come to life.
That's what is so great about it. "Dungeons and Dragons" is sure to ignite plenty of controversy in fandom. There are the self-appointed pundits who insist on taking exception to everything, battering every movie and television show with completely inane logic, oblivious to their own errors of perception and logic. There are the ardent defenders, people who learn every move, every line by heart, and practice a pseudo-cultic worship of the actors, writers, producers. These two camps will clash like two teams in a world-championship football game (anyone's version of football).
But like it or not, "Dungeons and Dragons" is going to set the pace for Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings". DnD gets to raise the bar first, and it will be the standard against which "The Fellowship of the Ring" is measured. I suspect that Peter will deliver a 1-2-3 punch, each movie surpassing the previous film in excellence and delivery. One reason I believe this is that no one knows how the third film will end.
Maybe even Peter isn't sure of how it will end. In the DvD for "Men in Black", Barry Sonnenfeld talks about how the cutting room makes the difference between a good movie and a bad movie. "Men in Black" is a good movie. It could have been much worse. The DvD talks about how a third race competing for control of the galaxy was cut out of the movie altogether. They accomplished this after filming had been completed, not by refilming scenes, but by changing the dialogue and cutting some scenes.
The copyright of the article Downloads and Dragons: Look what they've done to Fantasy, ma - Page 2 in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish Downloads and Dragons: Look what they've done to Fantasy, ma - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Michael Martinez's J.R.R. Tolkien topic, please visit the Discussions page.