What Was Wrong With 2010′s Movies?

Sunday, December 12th, 2010 at 9:30am
  • 116 Comments
 
What Was Wrong With 2010′s Movies?  

This year looks set to be the first in four years not to break records in terms of box office receipts, despite price hikes for IMAX and 3D movies. How did this happen – and what can be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again next year?

According to the Hollywood Reporter, this year’s box office take is currently estimated to be 3% down on last year – the first fall for four years, despite tickets costing on average 4.7% more than they did in 2009. Obviously, that means that less people are going to the movies this year, but why?

It’s an especially curious idea, given that this was the year when movies in theaters moved more towards an experience that – as yet – can’t be replicated at home: a record number of releases were in 3D, and those tentpole movies that weren’t, were in IMAX. While smaller movies (That is to say, everything that doesn’t fancy itself as a blockbuster, summer or holiday) can pretty much offer a similar viewing experience on DVD, BluRay or the theater, more and more large-scale movies tried to offer a theater-going “experience” that made the movie – and seeing the movie in a theater as an “event.”

Is it just that this year’s crop of movies didn’t hit a chord with audiences? I can see that argument, to an extent – 2010 didn’t have an Avatar (A movie that single-handedly rescued last year from breaking the run of box office record years) or a Dark Knight, and the summer felt curiously quiet in terms of runaway hits, or even original material (Look at the top 10 for the year: Only Inception, Despicable Me and How To Train Your Dragon stand out as non-remakes or sequels). It’s been a year, it seems, of disappointment, whether it’s films flopping (The Last Airbender, Prince of Persia, The A Team, just to name three blockbusters that failed to bust blocks), disappointing in terms of quality (Those three examples again, but feel free to add Iron Man 2 and Clash of The Titans to that list, too) or just plain not getting the recognition they deserved (Both were critically acclaimed, I know, but I still feel like Scott Pilgrim and The Social Network should’ve been much, much bigger than they were).

With the exception of Iron Man and Harry Potter, it also felt like a year when the mega-franchises took a break. Next year already feels very different – if anything, too crowded – with the likes of a new Transformers, two new Marvel superhero movies (and X-Men: First Class!), Green Lantern, Cowboys and Aliens and the final Harry Potter all fighting for attention during the summer, but this year seemed like a weird gap year; it may have been necessary, but it definitely felt oddly… empty.

But I’ll put it to you, instead: Why are fewer people going to the cinema this year? And do you think it’s something that will change in 2011? Feel free to leave thoughts and theories in the comments, as ever.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
← Older Comments
  • Brian from Canada

    Have to disagree with you here. People did want to see movies like Macgruber and Jonah Hex… until they saw the trailer and said “video.” And by the time it reached video, those who saw it in the theatre were saying “tv” instead.

    The problem here is money. Period. Big profits are being expected on formulas, but the formulas don’t always work. Sure, Macgruber was a popular skit, but was the plot strong enough or the jokes varied enough to make the movie more than a skit? Sure, Jonah Hex had all the coolness of other comicbook movies, but was there anything to the plot to make you root for the hero? It falls apart at script level, always.

    Call Toy Story 3 a “Pixar rip-off” all you want, but the movie stands on its own. And it does so for the same reason Star Trek stood out last year: the writers focused on a good script first, knowing that audiences expect a level of quality they need to deliver.

    Money is also the reason we have the wrong actors in these movies. If they’re supposed to be in love, there has to be a spark or some chemistry — something couples like Date Night or countless other romantic comedies lack. If they’re supposed to be friends, let them act like friends, not just claim a shared history. The A-Team didn’t have that tightness that The Expendables had, and you felt it. Or the camaraderie of Grown-Ups, which really feels like a buddy movie.

    Give us characters we can believe and care about, and people will like the movie. And then they’ll tell their friends. And then the movie will be a smash success.

    (Though I disagree with your impression of Inception: the movie didn’t give us a reality, so it was all a hoax, and the characters were just plot devices without any real motivation — but it did well because it looked really amazing visually in a way that had not been done before.)

  • Jaradams

    There are never enough movies with Bruce Campbell in them

  • MadJohnFinn

    what a load of rubbish,,,I dont agree with any of this. Just like to add that I dont think we should have black characters in comics. I dont agree with blacks in principle and wish to one day have a comic book industry that is all white.

  • Spidey

    KirbyLee70, you nailed every single reason why I only saw two movies in the theater this year. I thought #3 really hadn’t been mentioned yet, surprisingly. I anticipate seeing certain flicks with bated breath for months(sometimes years), and the biggest turn-off for me is to sit near some jackhole who’s busy entertaining his equally annoying friends. I go to the theater for an entertainment experience–the movie itself! I’ve already anticipated the expense, the time out of my schedule, but you never know how your movie-going neighbors are going to behave.
    As far as movie quality goes, that’s always going to be subjective. While IM2 wasn’t nearly as good as the first, there was enough in it to entertain me. Plus, I always make it a point to go to a matinee and smuggle in my own Skittles so I don’t feel like I got completely ripped off. . . ;)

  • Rich

    Man, that’s not even decent trolling. I recommend that you practice offline and try again.

  • Drew

    I don’t have the figures, but I’d bet that if you compare this year to last year and you ignore Avatar, we’re actually ahead of last year. Avatar is the biggest grossing movie in years (even adjusted for inflation) so it’s not surprising that you’d see a drop, year to year.

  • dani trejo (si como el actor)

    actually Jackass has been, in the past 2 years, the movie that uses 3D the best. I would say it was used in the smartest way ever.

  • Kirbylee70

    True, in past hard times people went to see movies. But the movies then offered more escapism than most of those we see today. They also offered more original movies than the same old same old the Hollywood has decided they need to make over and over again. The term “franchise” holds more value in Hollywood these days than original does.

    I disagree with comparing movies to items like Ipods or Ipads though. Those items are long term investments that you’ll have day after day until the next one comes along or you upgrade. A movie is in and out in under 3 hours usually with nothing but the memory to carry out with you. And with movies that aren’t worth remembering past that 3 hour mark we go back to the idea that the quality of films just isn’t what it used to be.

  • Lol

    Ticket prices are too high. No one wants to go often if it’s going to cost them that much…

  • Mikkithedon

    it actually was. nowhere near as good as the first one.

  • http://www.inanegeek.co.uk Inane Geek

    Yeah i totally agree with what you say but i did like Iron Man2 and oddly i probably went and saw more films this year than any before. I would say the price hikes and people being short of money probably led to the downturn

  • Evil_s2003

    What’s wrong with movies in 2010…well, remakes. Comic book based movies that, for the most part, don’t even feel like the books their based on. remakes. 3D. remakes.
    I think that about covers it.

  • Malthis

    Hate to break it to you but not all people live in USA, there appear to be other countries in the world too. Other countries where the police doesn’t give a damn about movie piracy as well.

  • Omegasaga

    IRON MAN 2 was good if you LOVED the first movie or the actors. Otherwise it wasnt that good really. ( i personally liked it ALOT)

    id say 99.9 percent of EVERYSINGLE event film in 2010 was horrendously beyond bad.
    Couple that with the fact that there is a MAJOR economic crisis going on. ….. im not talking about some little recession— this is THE GREAT DEPRESSION of the 21st century.

    people cant afford to eat– you think they can afford the movies??? lets be real people.

  • http://twitter.com/JordanPDorsett Jordan Dorsett

    are you kidding? your a freaking psychopath racist

  • nik

    you must have skipped over all those parts where he’s flying around in a robot suit blowing shit up.

← Older Comments
 

Recent Articles

<i>Arrow</i> Stars Tease Time Lapse, ‘Game-Changer’ in Season 2  
  •  

Arrow Stars Tease Time Lapse, ‘Game-Changer’ in Season 2

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013
Comics, Television
James Gandolfini Passes Away  
  •  

James Gandolfini Passes Away

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013
Movies, Television
HBO Passes on Chabon’s <i>Hobgoblin</i>  
  •  

HBO Passes on Chabon’s Hobgoblin

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013
Television
<i>Dumb and Dumber To</i> is Back Again  
  •  

Dumb and Dumber To is Back Again

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013
Movies
Movie Legends Revealed | Was <br /><i>Willy Wonka</i> a Big Ad For Candy?  
  •  

Movie Legends Revealed | Was
Willy Wonka a Big Ad For Candy?

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013
Movies

Contributors

Kevin Melrose

TJ Dietsch

Terri Schwartz

Katie Calautti

Keri Luna

Anna Pinkert

Kiel Phegley