2011 in film (let's not forget what this blog is about folks) was overall the year people came but nothing changed. We're all still unsatisfied. British Film did well overseas both financially and critically. A number of the great directors returned to the screen. 3D limped on. And we had more forgettable comic book movies and two hour trailers for next year's The Avengers than anyone could have imagined.
The King's Speech was a motion picture no-one knew at the beginning of the year, yet it emerges with $414,211,549, four Academy Awards and it brought people back to the cinema who had turned their back on the cinema for years. It remains a personal favourite of mine this year (A Top Ten will naturally follow) and everyone elses. Like Slumdog Millionaire previously, the international audience embraced it and it proved that the appetite for adult cinema is still out there.
Not only did that film succeed on a monumental level, but both Harry Potter (most popular book in the Solar System sold a lot of tickets at the box office - surprise sur-fucking-prise) and, more interestingly The Inbetweeners Movie brought in huge audiences both here and abroad. The three films all told are wildly different yet brought people to the cinema. This is always a sign that we, the Brits, can still make home grown films that work both here and abroad. Keep that going and one day we can coax a top director here rather than to Hollywood (un-fucking-likely).
The Summer was an interesting time. With Joss Whedon's The Avengers looming. Marvel had to get its other key players in step for what they bill THE MOVIE EVENT OF THE DECADE. Both Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger arrived to fill in audience's gaps but a large problem loomed.
Unlike The Incredible Hulk or Iron Man, the new titles this year did not have the same cultural register. Captain America was a cartoon designed out of US Patriotic Propaganda and Thor was pure fantasy, several steps removed from the reality of the comics that Iron Man and, even Hulk existed in. Essentially despite occasional strengths (Art Departments and Chris Evans)the films acted as nothing but a two-hour back-story for Marvel's behemoth film.
Elsewhere, X-Men: First Class was a prequel that despite being the most interesting of the comic films this year managed to arrive with no-one really interested. While Green Lantern was a film that rather evidently had suffered at the hands of a thousand interfering hands.
The more pressing concern of course is the lack of originality on display here. The Summer tent pole picture is now almost entirely reliant on pre-existing audiences. The cultural recognition of the X-Men or Thor supposedly outweighs the notion of an original movie. Take for example, a film like Source Code. Whilst an original screenplay with name talent like Jake Gyllenhaal behind it, the film had an incredibly low budget (£22 million) next to a standard summer release, like Captain America ($140 million). In fact, the only notable films this year that did well at the box office that were not based on pre-existing material were Bridesmaids and Super 8. Originality is dwindling in Hollywood (as is England, The Inbetweeners is, after all, based on a popular sitcom) and there are no signs of that changing. Super 8 could almost certainly be tried on its own account though. The film is a mish-mash of cultural touchstones that help assuage an audience's reservations. The film is essentially every family film Spielberg ever put his name to. Not to shit on the film inherently though. I actually adored its nostalgic style and period detail, with astonishing child performances and a real sense of the personal mixed with the eventful. Not to totally criticise Hollywood business model, mind you. Rupert Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes was actually a wonderful film that managed to be both a well told story with ideas, as well as a blockbuster filled with explosions.
My own list of favourites, both this year and previous ones, are filled with films that themselves adaptations or a blend of films past (like I said, stay tuned for them) but there's nothing to say original films don't score well.
Nolan's Inception last year was a gigantic smash hit and a phenomenal film. Similarly, there are filmmakers and films within the English speaking film community that are making great original films, but their endeavours should never be so fraught. Paul Thomas Anderson and Alexander Payne should never have to spend five years getting films financed.
That said I am my own worst critic. With 2012 now getting started I find myself once again anticipating The Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus and The Avengers the most. All of which are based upon pre-existing franchises and characters. But by God, let's try harder people.
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