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Half the movie will be characters explaining the plot

posted 4 years ago by LiquidOcelot (2412)
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If it's anything like Inception (also written by Nolan) half the movie will be exposition i.e. characters explaining the plot or how the time manipulation concept works. Exposition is a telltale sign of bad writing. Nolan needs to stick to directing.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

Must be why they made billions. Don't quit your day job.

[–] kukuxu (5409) 4 years ago

Exposition is a telltale sign of bad writing. Nolan needs to stick to directing.

Most great scifi movies have a common element: lots of exposition scenes. That's the case with movies like Blade Runner or Aliens (half of Aliens' beginning are exposition scenes). What about Matrix? Morpheus exposes, Smith exposes, the Oracle exposes, even minor characters expose. Jurassic Park? You have a tour which is basically a long exposition scene. Outland? (one of the most underrated scifi gems from the 80s), more exposition scenes.

Any scifi movie with a minimal complexity will have quite a few exposition scenes. You don't like it, that's OK, but then the problem is that you just don't like the genre.

[–] LiquidOcelot (2412) 4 years ago

All movies need some degree of exposition, your examples are all piss poor and irrelevant. Nobody watched Aliens and Jurassic Park and thought 'wow that movie had a lot of exposition'. The exposition was where it needed to be and then the movie flowed, it didn't get bogged down with inconsequential specifics. Half of Inception is the equivalent of two characters reading an instruction manual to each other.

The Matrix is a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy, much of the exposition is philosophical, and the characters are infinitely more compelling. Inception is a bunch of 2 dimensional characters explaining rules to each other, and then the rules are subsequently ignored. Not comparable in the least.

You don't like it, that's OK, but then the problem is that you just don't like the genre.

Inception does not represent the sci-fi genre, it's exposition laden drivel. The exposition is there to hide the fact that Nolan is incapable of writing interesting and compelling characters.

[–] kukuxu (5409) 4 years ago

Nobody watched Aliens and Jurassic Park and thought 'wow that movie had a lot of exposition'. The exposition was where it needed to be and then the movie flowed

Let me remind you your own words: "Exposition is a telltale sign of bad writing.". What you can't say it's that exposition is a telltale sign of bad writing... but only when it serves your argument. Otherwise, it "flows". How convenient, huh?

Half of Inception is the equivalent of two characters reading an instruction manual to each other.

Not quite.

The only part where there's a lot of exposition is the training of Ariadne. Indeed, Nolan uses it that training to expose the setting and the main ideas. That part is about 15 minutes.

The Matrix is a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy, much of the exposition is philosophical, and the characters are infinitely more compelling.

Good for you. Many people think that Matrix is the equivalent of three characters talking some pompous philosophical gibberish to each other.

When movies have quite some degree of exposition (and most good scifi has), if you don't like the ideas exposed, you don't like the movie. Many people think that Matrix is a shitty movie because they don't like the ideas exposed. And the same happened to Blade Runner when it was released: the ideas exposed (transhumanist scifi) were mostly unheard outside of scifi literary circles. Most critics thought Blade Runner was a pile of shit.

And that's the problem with movies with heavy exposition: people who don't like the ideas exposed often can't tell apart between it and the quality of the movie. That's why Blade Runner had mostly bad reviews when it was released in the 80s. That's why Jurassic Park had mostly terrible reviews even though nowadays it's considered a great adventure movie. That why so many people keep thinking Matrix is a shitty movie.

[–] uridon2 (184) 4 years ago

blade runner has lots of exposition? You know you're a retard right?

[–] kukuxu (5409) 4 years ago

blade runner has lots of exposition? You know you're a retard right?

Please, don't project your neurological disorders in other people.

Regarding Blade Runner, the movie has many exposition scenes. It's often done through a character explaining something to Harrison Ford, which is the trick to explain it to the public.

[–] uridon2 (184) 4 years ago

so you're a retard. Do I have to explain why you are a retard? is that the trick?