THE HANDMAID’S TALE Could Be Better Than Any Sci-Fi Film In 2017
The Hulu series known as The Handmaid’s Tale is an eerily timely yet incredibly structured piece of television. Yet because it carries the aesthetics of what makes an amazing movie (great acting, good scriptwriting, beautiful cinematography, etc.), it so far has managed to surpass what is coming out on the big screen this year, capturing the filmmaking passion that I fear is being lost in mainstream film today.
2 1/2-Hour Teaser Trailers
I don’t want to necessarily say that franchise tentpoles, which do reign supreme at the box office, are ruining Hollywood. But I do think they are starting to become a symptom of why Hollywood has lost its creative touch. Not just because their plots tend to become the same but they also tend to act as teaser trailers for future installments which seems ridiculous because teaser trailers should just play before a movie and not actually BE it.
One culprit of this is Batman v. Superman. At about 2 and a half hours, it spends a pretty good amount of time setting up Justice League. Even the film’s subtitle is Dawn Of JUSTICE. Its setup is a lose-lose situation because it confuses those that aren’t familiar with the source material and when Justice League comes out, it’s going to make a lot of money anyway. It has Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman who are pretty teflon at the box office. Superman and Batman movies always open big and the latest Wonder Woman film is breaking records.
As somebody who does enjoy blockbuster films, I don’t want to sit through an overlong teaser. I want the filmmakers to be focused on just making a good film. Even though I wasn’t over the moon about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, for what it’s worth, I admired how it had some emphasis on the characters and the storyline and I appreciated how it managed to be distinctive from the other entries in the Star Wars canon with its “war movie” feel.
The Better Blockbuster Days
Some of my favorite science fiction films are those back in the 70’s and 80’s. I miss that era of genre filmmaking because even though they filmed on much lower budgets compared to what films are made for today, there was more soul put into the story and character development, while the special effects only aided the story without overshadowing it. That is the kind of science fiction film that I like. We do get more story-driven science fiction films nowadays like Arrival and Ex Machina but they still manage to be few and far in between which saddens me.
When I look at the spectacle films of today, I don’t see any soul. All I see are films with overblown CGI that gives me eye sores, characters given poor development, and cluttered stories. When I think of what made films like E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and the original Star Wars so great, I don’t immediately think of the effects. I first go back to the camaraderie between Han Solo, Luke, and Princess Leia when I think of Star Wars and the musical score when I think of E.T..
Story, Story, Story
The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian tale that may not be reliant on special effects or creature makeup or even an outer space setting, but it still possesses a key element to making great science fiction: By having a moral-driven story. For example, Arrival is a demonstration of the power of communication, Ex Machina is an examination of what it means to be human along with the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, and Jurassic Park is a cautionary tale about the repercussions of genetic engineering.
But The Handmaid’s Tale shows what could happen if religion is used for political purposes. While science fiction is meant to entertain, it is also meant to make us use our minds and hopefully make us think about the consequences of what we see on screen.
Conclusion
In closing, I want to applaud the makers of The Handmaid’s Tale for capturing the soul of science fiction movie making along with the soul of movie making in general. Admittedly, I do get occasional enjoyment out of films that focus on grand spectacle but the times in which I do are as sparse as the amount of times we get a genre film that has soul these days.
What do you think makes a good sci-fi film? Are you all about story or do you go mostly for the spectacle? Tell us in the comments below!
Season 1 of The Handmaid’s Tale is currently streaming on Hulu.
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.
