Be sure to check out this brand new 'Zap! Review', which sees Roo deliver his opinion on both The Avengers and The Cabin In The Woods at maximum speed.
What's so shocking about the fact that both these movies aren't just good, but really good, is that they are essentially old, tired ideas. Superhero movies have been done to death and The Cabin In The Woods had the potential of being yet another Final Destination or Scream-type kill-fest where the whole point is to just watch adolescents get picked off one by one, some with their tits out while it happens.
So, what exactly is it that makes an old idea feel new again? Reinvetion. Final Destination 5 was refreshing because it shook things up. It seemed to take itself a touch more seriously but was well aware that it was also quite daft. Whereas, The Cabin In The Woods totally reinvents the teen-horror genre because around every single corner there's something unexpected. It's determined to blow your mind repeatedly until you can no longer take it. It writes itself into corners and then bravely fights its way out of them. It doesn't just count on the fact stabby-slashers rake in the money by default - it challenges that mindset and surprises a lot of movie goers with a pretty earth-shattering set of completely brand new ideas.
Make it for adults. Don't try and appeal to everybody, don't aim for the 12A rating and don't dumb your idea down. The Avengers is a 12A, yes, but it isn't 'The Hunger Games'. It doesn't censor itself - it does exactly what it should and stays true to its story, trusting itself 100%. What's happening on screen is the truth, a believable set of events taking place within an alternate universe. It has a lot of moments that adults and kids will undoubtedly piss themselves at, but it also keeps hold of its brain. Unlike Captain America, it's not paint-by-numbers. The damn thing is character driven, containing some brilliant dialogue, and it's shocking and quite chilling at times too.
A movie that takes its fictional universe seriously, that's prepared to
have a laugh along the way, but refuses to lose sight of the fact its
characters should be moving the story forward - leading to all sorts of
bad decisions, unique twists and turns and never-before-seen brilliance up on the cinema screen
- is the kind of movie we should be seeing more often. It goes to show
that reboots aren't all bad and a sequel doesn't always have to be cringe-worthy.
Roo