If you asked a critic: Summer softie and Disney desperation
You didn’t ask, but I’m going to tell you anyway.
The late great film critic Roger Ebert kept a regular column, "The Movie Answer Man," to respond to all the questions he received from curious readers. The Coeur d’Alene Press doesn’t field quite as many film queries, but we love pretending to be the size of a Chicago-based newspaper circa the '90s and 2000s.
As a result: "If You Asked a Critic," America’s fourth-favorite Coeur Voice recurring entertainment feature. We pose made up questions from made up readers, then provide REAL answers! Journalism!
Question: It seems like The Press rarely posts negative reviews of movies. Does the critic have super low standards? He likes everything! Why? — Paul W.S. Anderson, Rathdrum.
The short answer: I’m not a full-time critic. I see a fraction of the movies those big city critics watch every week. As a result, I don’t waste my time with too many movies I don’t actually want to see.
Unless I’m reviewing a big-ticket movie like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” I’m using this space to make recommendations. I didn’t bother with “Borderlands” or “Garfield” so I could instead see smaller releases like “Sing Sing” and “Kinds of Kindness.” However, many of this summer’s blockbusters have turned out to be pretty good! From “Furiosa” and “The Fall Guy” to “Twisters” and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” I’ve enjoyed many of the big hits this year. Even the monster hits “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine” delivered enough on my expectations. Or maybe I’m just a big softie!
Question: Disney recently announced release dates for a slew of new sequels and remakes, including “Frozen 3” and “Toy Story 5.” On top of that, the Marvel branch has entered pure desperation mode by bringing back Robert Downey Jr. to play Dr. Doom. The Press critic probably knows desperation well from his past dating life, so what does he think about Disney’s latest franchise moves? — Aaron Seltzer, Hayden.
Why do all these fake questions come with such nasty criticism? Anyway, I don’t think Disney’s strategy is all that new. The Disney model relies heavily on past success. Occasionally, that past success doesn’t quite work: See last year’s disappointing box office for “The Marvels,” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and the nostalgia-tinged “Wish.” Most of the time, however, familiarity sells.
While I probably don’t need another “Toy Story” movie, I do appreciate that Pixar is at least alternating between sequels and original stories. As for Marvel … well, yeah, it seems desperate to spend ungodly amounts of money to bring Robert Downey Jr. back to play a character who never removes his mask.
The financial success of “Deadpool & Wolverine” aside, the Marvel Cinematic Universe reached a natural, satisfying conclusion with “Avengers: Endgame.” Not everything since “Endgame” has connected as well with audiences, so it makes some sense for them to rethread what worked before.
Still, you can greenlight 10 smaller, original movies for the same price as a single Downey as Doom appearance. At some point, Disney will need a new stock of properties to sequelize.
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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdpress.com.
