Do Toys/Cartoons and Action movies mix?

I went along to my local cinema last Thursday to kill some time and thought I'd give the new GI Joe movie a look. I'm happy to report that there is no change to what has become the standard Toys/Cartoon to Action movie mix of medium strength action, medium strength story line and medium strength.... well everything. I get the impression that the director and production crew said 'That'll do' a lot when they made the movie. It's not bad, and some of the mistakes made in production are hilarious but my moaning and sarcasm asides it’s actually an entertaining movie that manages to sneak past ‘Mediocre’ camp (home to GI Joe, Rise of the Cobra and the first 2 Transformers movies) and into the home base of ‘Enjoyable Movies’, likely bunked besides Transformers 3. This however brings me to the point of this week’s blog. Does the world of Cartoon heroes and toy action figures really work in movies? It depends, we know that Batman and Spiderman have been turned into excellent movie franchises but they were made by people with a passion for movies, the production of GI Joe was driven by suits in an office following a business model which can be summed up as follows:

Step 1 – Pick popular children’s franchise

Step 2 - Get a crayon and a napkin and write a script based on chosen franchise

Step 3 - bring Make believe heroes to life by casting with popular culture stars (Dwayne “can you smell what the rock is cooking” Johnson is the ideal selection)

Step 4 – Cast Beautiful women for Dads and their teenage sons

Step 5 – Produce roughly 5 gazillion action toys/ lunch boxes/ t-shirts etc and one poorly made movie tie in video game to sell when the film releases

Step 6 – Release film with a massive fan fair

Step 7 – Reap the profits of roughly 5 gazillion action toys/ lunch boxes/ t-shirts etc and one poorly made movie tie in video game

It doesn’t speak to me of the passion that Spielberg put into ET or Jurassic Park or the dedication Cameroon and his production team had to show to complete Titanic. The truth is, this is a money making machine that’s targeted at our Children, the films are getting better (although I hear rumours of a Transformer and GI Joe tie in, it could be great but most likely you should pray it’s just a rumour) but until Christopher Nolan or another person of equal talent, passion and dedication to movie making comes along these movies are going to be missed opportunities. It’s a shame because I think, given a descent script, the cast would really shine out. There is some real talent in this film.

So, Do Toys/Cartoons and Action movies mix? Yes if the production is driven by people in suits in a room with a spread sheet, no if production is driven by someone who cares about good entertainment. Fingers crossed for Transformers 4 then.

See Ya.