Summer is drawing to a close, and I have seen two summer blockbusters that, upon reflection, look like they were the same movie. Imagine!
But I enjoy comparing two similar stories, especially when it feels like one worked and the other...not so much. Today's quality comparison, then, falls to these two sci-fi-ish horror-ish films: Jurassic Word: Fallen Kingdom and the more recent The Meg.
Normally I'm not a huge fan of the people-getting-suddenly-eaten-by-large-toothy-monsters genre, but I made an exception because...well, I have a big sister who seems to be a fan and I have a hard time saying no to movie invitations. Lord help me if she ends up on a chick flick bend.
Still, I'm glad I went to see them.
Let us begin. I'll do my best to keep the spoilers to a minimum.
When I say that Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (henceforth "JWFK") and The Meg (henceforth "SHARK") have a lot in common, I mean they have a LOT in common. I thought it was only a mild case when I was walking out of SHARK, but after more time stewing over it, it's definitely more than that.
Overall, both are about large prehistoric carnivores awakened by rather reckless scientists and entrepreneurs. They (the carnivores) then go on to wreak havoc upon an unsuspecting yet strangely tasty world (do killing machines ever get full? Ever?).
Both movies have a fit, white, middle-age, devil-may-care, scruffy-and-rough-yet-handsome protagonist.
Both movies have a serous science-genius love interest for said protagonist. She's also fit and has moments of devil-may-care-ness.
Both movies have a young pre-10-year-old daughter figure who is good at sneaking around scientific facilities.
Both movies have well-equipped scientific facilities funded by wealthy white guys.
And yes, both movies make antagonists out of those wealthy white guys.
And yes again, both movies will provide a gruesome end to those wealthy white guys. (As a white guy myself, I now plan to be the most paranoid billionaire ever should I manage to grow up and become wealthy.)
Both movies will jumpscare the life out of you.
Both movies have ill-fated sumbersible missions.
Heck, both movies have spherical glass vehicle thingies.
Finally, both movies emphasize the importance of NOT remaining calm after trauma. Really, if anyone breathes a sigh of relief in these movies, that's the surest sign that person--normally a male--is about to become a toothpick for some serrated triangular dentures.
Okay, that's enough with the similarities (for now). SHARK and JWFK do have their differences, of course. For instance, the former is clearly a standalone movie, while the latter is begging for a sequel. But their biggest difference is what most definitely separates them in my mind, and makes me favor one over the other.
And the difference is...
...whether or not the movie allows the audience a breather.
JWFK, regrettably, did not give us much in terms of a safe haven. It was a straight-up tense-fest from the beginning, throwing out jumpscares towards the end like a machine gun throws out bullets. It didn't give me much time to focus on the characters, and above all, it got me desensitized to whatever horror was happening onscreen. If it'd been five minutes since the last spontaneous dismemberment, you could bet your blood-soaked bloomers another one was coming around the corner. Oh hey, there it is. Wave goodbye to another disposable white guy.
SHARK, on the other hand, had a few moments of peace and quiet. Oasises...um, oases...bah, a number of calm places allowed the characters to loosen up a little and maybe illustrate some character growth and/or dynamics. They quieted the nerves--which were often still thrumming from the last time something or someone got bitten in half. Afterward, the calm spots helped enhance each horrific subsection of the film; while JWFK kept the scares coming until they got boring, SHARK threw in helpful reminders of what not-scary looked like so that we could lose it again when the Megalodon reappeared. JWFK kept pounding us with ice water until we got numb, while SHARK allowed us a moment in the hot tub before ducking us with ice water again. And as anyone who has been in a hot tub knows, that makes the ice water so much worse.
I do have my complaints about SHARK. First, there was a scene with a multi-helicopter accident that was a bit much. Second, how come the Megalodon didn't become an angry balloon after ascending from the bottom of the freakin' Mariana Trench? The atmospheric pressure is LITERALLY over a thousand times greater down there...but whatever. As a story, I say it works better than JWFK.
Therefore I conclude with some practical writing advice; if you really want your characters to suffer, give them a break every so often. I've read YA books that seem to follow the JWFK model of pounding the heroes into the ground. When I read those, there's no suspense in them. I've already given up hope when the main character is trying something risky before the finale, so when the plan does go south, my response is a hearty "Knew it." It sounds a little counterintuitive, but trust me, hope is what pushes readers to the edge of the seat.
Once they're there, then you can start feeding people to the shark.
(P.S. SHARK also did a much better job with the precocious pre-10-year-old girl. She was a seriously excellent character. She wins my first-ever Mysterious Benedict Society award for her line, "8-year-olds hear everything.")
