It shouldn’t hapen to a film journalist
Jamie does believe the hype.
In last month’s issue of Total Film I chatted to Colin Trevorrow, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard about Jurassic World; this month I talk to Channing Tatum and his bulging bros about Magic Mike XXL (page 76). Jurassic World is the fourth movie in the franchise and arrives 14 years – yes, 14 years – after Joe Johnston’s fun-butflawed third installment.
It hands the reins (plus $150m+ budget) to a director who’s previously made just one feature, Safety Not Guaranteed, for $750,000. Magic Mike XXL, meanwhile, is not directed by Steven Soderbergh, does not feature Matthew McConaughey and does risk upsetting the original’s winning formula by embracing an entirely different tone. In short, both movies take huge risks and might fall flat on their filmic faces. And yet I’m convinced that XXL will be absolutely, positively, crush-it-outthe-park brilliant, and Jurassic World will be even better.
Such confidence is ludicrous. I have seen no more than you, with Warner Bros and Universal opting to not screen the (unfinished) movies before my interviews, or, as is often the case, to line up some sequences as a taster. No, my certainty is based on nothing more than my being an eternal optimist, in movies if not in life, and that everyone I spoke to talked a great game.
History tells me that I should be more wary. The thing is, you see, everyone in this industry talks a great game, and even bad films are made by smart people. After all, nobody sets out to make a crap movie, and as Woody Allen is fond of saying, every film starts off perfect in the imagination before slip-sliding away until you’re glad just to have something to release. To paraphrase another master, Orson Welles, few directors get to make one masterpiece.
The point is, over the years I’ve talked to many creative, talented people who have said all the right things and clearly believed with every fibre of their being… and then the film’s turned out rubbish anyway. After talking to Johnny Depp and Tim Burton on the set of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, I had no doubt that an instant-classic was in the offing; Jan de Bont, at Pinewood Studios shooting Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life, erased my cynicism by frankly summarising all that was wrong with the first Tomb Raider movie, then outlining the astute corrective measures he had taken. Given his honesty, articulacy and the jawplummeting production design that surrounded us I spent the next six months telling anyone who would listen (and some who wouldn’t) that Tomb Raider 2 was going to be the best action sequel since Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Hmmm.
Maybe I’m just naïve, though I prefer to think I’m always hungry for the next ace movie. After all, there’s no reason to think that either Jurassic World or Magic Mike XXL will go the same way as Tomb Raider 2. They might be majestic. In fact, I’m sure of it… Jamie will return next issue... For more misadventures follow: @jamie_graham9 on Twitter.