Character Development

Character development is a key part of any movie. A lot of filmmakers, cough cough *Michael Bay*, think that character development can be excused in action heavy movies. This is a ridicules notion because action scenes are more enjoyable and immersive when you have developed a relationship with the characters in them. A perfect example of this the 2009 blockbuster and Oscar nominee District 9, practically the first half of the movie is used to develop the main character which made the second half of the movie all the more enjoyable when the action scenes make there appearance. As I blatantly referred to before Michael Bay the director of the incredibly successful Transformers movies tries to excuse character development for explosions and goes one step further in the second installment by excusing any type of story in general for more explosions. Which is a shame because this seems to be a waste of Shia LeBeoufs talent. To date, I still believe Shia LeBeoufs best work was Disturbia an incredibly immersive thriller in which a young man on house arrest believes his neighbour is a serial killer. Okay back to character development, In Predators, the remake, character development is almost none existent. In fact the movie starts with the main characters literally falling out of the sky. The movie sits them down in front of you and says, “These are heartless killing machines, that’s all you need to know.” That is exactly what they stay throughout the movie, heartless killing machines. The one character in which anyone can relate to turns out to be the worst of the bunch in the third act. This isn’t to say these movies are bad, they are gore filled mindless action movies and they pull it off perfectly. But if you want a movie with a little depth to the story I suggest something along the lines of Shutter Island, Inception, District 9 or a personal favourite Fight Club.