It is amazing how the presence of a baby can completely control the tone of a movie scene. I am talking here about The Fate of the Furious. Two scenes in particular were dominated by this peculiar force. In the first, the baby clenched in Charlize Theron's evil grasp sent waves of motherly fear and heartache through me. The sickeningly evil calm of her threat was only magnified by the baby's happy coos. Yes, I know it's just a movie and that baby was totally safe, but simply the idea that a woman as evil as Theron's character could exist and manipulate in such a way appalled me. Theron did an excellent job playing her part. The scene was by far the most gripping and intense in the entire film.
On the flip side, Jason Statham taking down a planeful of baddies while swinging a baby around in an infant carrier was simply ludicrous. Truth: I laughed through the entire "action sequence." Yeah, he's a good fighter. The guy (or his stunt team or chi team or whatever) has skills. But the presence of the baby in this scene made the whole thing absurd, especially with the several "oh let's check on the baby" interruptions. If they were going for light-hearted ridiculousness, they succeeded.
Interestingly, butt scenes would have been average and likely forgettable without the baby, so I guess the director did accomplish something.
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