Ever watch a movie and you just know who is going to live and who is going to die? Like, “Oh they're famous, so they won't die in this scene!” Tom Cruise has very rarely ever had a death scene, right? “Oh look it's Sean Bean! He probably doesn't make it to the end of this movie.”
It’s something actors used to fight over in Shakespeare companies, getting a grand dramatic exit. Some movies are a bit more shocking, stepping away from the idea of killing off a big name actor, but some are really predictable. I think it ultimately comes down to a matter of editing and tone. And if the character needs to die, you want someone who is good at it — and Sean Bean is no stranger to a good death scene.
But it has to make sense.
The “Alien” and “Predator” franchises had a really strong sense of character and story before they fell into each other and became the mess they are today. In the very first “Alien” film, each character has their own job on the ship. There's a doctor, a captain, and so on. It balances each character out pretty well throughout the beginning of the film. By the time the filmmakers start eliminating characters you wouldn't know that Ripley would be the last crew-member alive.
You know, if not for the three sequels also starring Ripley.
Those sequels are essentially spoilers.
The original movie, of course, doesn't focus on Weaver's character almost at all until the last act. The whole thing feels like an ensemble.
And it works really well.
The original “Predator,” with Arnold Schwarzenegger, leans into him being the lead. There's no confusion there. It's loaded with a lot of great character actors and they all bring so much to the movie. Bill Duke shaving out in the jungle, all the crass things Jesse Ventura says, which presumably were in the script and not his own ideas. You get to see the characters joking with each other and trying to act tough and not laughing, but they do.
And then they all die.
Which leads into the “Alien Vs Predator” movie, which loses all of this excellent storytelling. It doesn't take the "Alien" approach of not focusing on anyone, and it doesn't take the "Predator" approach either. Instead it kind of tries to make several people the main character, having entrances for them, giving them back story. Then all these other characters are introduced and they very swiftly get killed off.
Like, wow, the person who didn't get an establishing scene in the first act didn't make it to the third? Big shock.
That's how movies are made these days, to be more predictable.
It makes me think of the original “Jurassic Park.” We are introduced to our cast of characters and by the end four are killed. It actually strays from the book, which ones lived or died. The movie leaves out two major characters as well. It’s a way of keeping a sense of shock with some of the death scenes as well as giving them some weight in the world of the movie. Speaking of “World,” there's “Jurassic World: Dominion,” which does not kill off four main characters.
They had plenty of main characters to pick, but nope.
There's lots of random dino-deaths of side characters and extras, but the main cast survives. Which leads back to to the idea of some actors being too famous to kill off. Which results in a much more boring affair, and probably why big name actors end up having so many of their own affairs.
Oliver Graves is a stand-up comic and award-winning newspaper columnist. “Oliver’s World” runs the first and third Fridays of the month (more-or-less) in the Argus-Courier. You can find out more about Oliver at OliverGraves.com or on the Facebook page Oliver Graves.
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July 20, 2022 at 11:02PM
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Oliver's World: Are some actors 'too famous to die?' - Petaluma Argus Courier
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