Commentary: ‘Avatar: Fire And Ash’ Is Not About Plot Or Characters
There are many different building blocks to a story. It’s not just about characters and the plot they must undertake.
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Author: Frank Martin
Commentary — ‘Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come’ Took Inspiration From ‘Dragon Ball Z’
It’s interesting to see parallels between different stories, even if they are unintended. Sometimes, plots follow certain trends and formulas
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Commentary — ‘Avatar: Fire And Ash’ Mimics ‘Star Wars’ In More Ways Than One
The Avatar franchise is in a weird place at the moment. It initially started out as just one film, similarly
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Commentary — ‘Ready Or Not: Here I Come’ Opens Up The Universe
Some stories are so self-contained that it’s hard to imagine a spin-off with the potential to expand the universe. In
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Commentary — ‘Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters’ Has A Plausible Kaiju
Sea monsters have existed in the human consciousness for as long as people have ventured out into the ocean. Human
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Commentary: ‘Widow’s Bay’ Thrives On The Close Link Between Horror And Comedy
Horror and comedy might seem like opposing genres. One is about eliciting terror, while the other is meant to encourage
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Commentary: ‘Swapped’ And The Trouble Of Naming Kids Films
A film’s title is extremely important for a number of reasons. First: it communicates what the story is about, but
Read moreCommentary — ‘Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters’ Learns From The Lessons Of ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’
If the past is any indication, it’s extremely difficult to do a television show spun off from a successful film
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Commentary: Rachel McAdams Is The Most Challenging Part Of ‘Send Help’
It’s always fascinating to see beautiful movie stars play ugly characters. This is not even remotely a new trope, and
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Commentary: ‘Swapped’ Works Because Of Its Fantastical Conceit
Fantasy is a very powerful tool for a story. It allows plot and characters to extend beyond the natural world.
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Commentary: ‘Send Help’ Is A Different Kind Of Revenge Fantasy
Revenge fantasy is a very interesting genre. It involves a character — usually female — undergoing a traumatic experience only
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Commentary: ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ Should Remember Why It Exists
Premises are extremely important when devising a television show. This might seem obvious, but a surprising number of programs forget
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Commentary: The Most Relatable Character On ‘The Boys’ Is Also Its Least Relatable
Because of the nature of The Boys, it has an incredible cast of ridiculous characters. They include a horny living
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Commentary: ‘Your Friends And Neighbors’ Is A Vain ‘Breaking Bad’
Anti-heroes have become extremely popular ever since Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) forever changed television. Jon Hamm has already popularized an
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Commentary: ‘Devil May Cry’ Season 2 Opens In The Most Perfect Way Possible
Television shows and films based on established properties already have a foundation from which to build their tone. When something
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Commentary: The Reaction To Flight 37 Is The Most Realistic Part Of ‘The Boys’
Early on in The Boys, there’s a plot device that becomes pretty essential to maintaining the status quo. By the
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Commentary: ‘The Boys’ Builds On A Dark Side Of Real History
It’s indisputable that The Boys is a wild story. It has a ridiculous number of superheroes with crazy powers who
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Commentary: ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Ending Is A Perfect Allegory For Our Times
It’s hard not to see the real-world parallels within Daredevil: Born Again. The story centers on a ruthless and criminal
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Commentary — ‘The Punisher: One Last Kill’ Needs To Move Beyond The Character’s Tropes
At a distance, the Punisher is a fairly simple character. He’s a veteran whose family was murdered in the crossfire
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Commentary — ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Would Work Better As ‘Marvel Knights’
There was a lot going on in Daredevil: Born Again. With so many characters, the show often splintered into a
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Commentary — ‘The Punisher: One Last Kill’ Reveals There Are Different Varieties Of Punishers
Not all comic characters are the same. They can vary over the decades depending on the creative team. Sometimes, a
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Commentary: ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Has Too Many Characters
A key to any superhero story is creating a strong supporting cast. No hero can do good or be challenged
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Commentary — ‘Altered Carbon: Resleeved’ Only Works Because It Is A Spinoff
Spinoffs are an opportunity to expand lore and give fans more outlets for story. At the same time, these side
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Commentary: Critics Were Too Hard On ‘Pixels’
Time can be an interesting lens through which to view cinema. Often, films are subject to the era in which
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Commentary: ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ Jumped The Dino Shark
Right from the start, the Jurassic Park franchise always had a leap of imagination. Its premise centered on bringing dinosaurs
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Commentary: ‘Paradise’ Hit The Same Problem As ‘Westworld’
There was a lot of buzz when Westworld first premiered on HBO. Its premise of a no-holds-barred western themed amusement
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Commentary: ‘Pantheon’ Is ‘Black Mirror’ From A Different Angle
As artificial intelligence continues to dominate the current landscape, it’s going to become more prevalent within the stories told in
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Commentary: ‘Tracker’ Pointlessly Shifted Its Entire Cast
Although the protagonist is usually main draw for a television show, the supporting cast can be equally important. They fill
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Commentary — ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Continues An Annoying Villain Trend
There was always going to be a question as to who the villains in a Venom film would be as
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Commentary: ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ Has The Perfect Video Game Plot
Video games and movies don’t often translate into a one-to-one comparison. This is largely because the plot structure for
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Commentary: ‘Paradise’ Paints An Optimistic Apocalypse
Post-apocalyptic stories are very popular these days. Series like The Last of Us and Fallout take place in worlds that
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