Lately I find myself asking "what's the point" during movies a lot.

I'll start off by saying that I tend to be pretty forgiving of movies. I usually enjoy campy blockbusters that are maligned, as well as higher brow fare. Entertainment for me is separate from whether I found said thing to be good on a critical level.

But lately I have been wrestling with this question of "what's the point?" and I find it really starts exposing some major flaws and frustrations in movies. The most glaring version of this lately has in my opinion been all these "bring the original cast back 20 years later" type movies. Some of them are great and lead to necessary growth for the characters. But 90% of the time I'd say the "point" is to make money and tickle the fans.

Jurassic World has been the most glaring example of this lately. There's literally no reason for the original cast to be involved in the film, other than marketing. Candyman 2021 was a great film on its own that honestly didn't even need Tony Todd, but he was the most hyped angle. Matrix Resurrections did literally nothing to push the story forward. Mary Poppins Returns didn't even have the original cast and yet it's not like she learned some lesson. The "what's the point" is literally "so we can make another Mary Poppins movie." The list goes on and on. What's the point?

But "what's the point" also extends to unnecessary characters, action sequences, and plot points in any film. A great film will be tight and every scene and named character, ideally every shot, should serve a necessary purpose. IMO the original Star Wars is perfect in this regard. It's concise, driven storytelling and every sequence pushes either the narrative forward or provides for character moments that further define why these people matter. At some point I suppose audiences started wanting "more" of everything from movies, and we end up with bloat, meandering or incomprehensible plots, characters who are just tagging along for a cameo, or action sequences that have no stakes because it's action for the sake of action.

So I'll wrap this up by asking a two-fer. What movies do you feel are perfectly concise storytelling in which everything does have a point, and what movies do you find yourself asking "what's the point?"

submitted by /u/bonemech_meatsuit
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/vgto56/lately_i_find_myself_asking_whats_the_point/