2020-08-01 【Aiden in English】 I have yet to see a movie about aliens where I felt fully immersed in their world. What I mean by that statement is that with every fictional alien society, I find myself picking holes in logic or viewing the overwhelming laziness in the details. For example, Krypton, in the latest Man of Steel film starring Henry Cavill sporting the newest rendition of an ironically patriotic uniform, presented a seemingly complex reality for the opening twenty minutes. When Kal-El’s (Superman) father flew through the crumbling war-torn city of the alien world, I found myself very engaged in the setting. “Wow, this is terrific detail and world-building,” I thought.
Then, with a second analysis, I realized that such an advanced civilization that can send spaceships through wormholes shouldn’t be using biological flying mounts for transportation. Later, when that pterodactyl-like creature spun through falling debris and explosions, I wondered why a biological flying mount could ever escape a weapon developed by scientists who can travel through wormholes. And call me overthinking or stupid, but the entire image of Krypton somewhat dissolved.
However, that is not the only turn-off for my overly-critical taste. Plots of movies tend to lean towards the “just because” line of thought. While “just because” occasionally suffices, oftentimes the movies sloppily mask the simplistic reasoning with a political message or a bogus character trait. Kal-El is Superman because he loves humanity. Fair enough. However, that love should not grant a power surge when facing the gravity of Krypton (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, just watch the movie).
In Star Wars, the ultimate “just because” is the Force. If the Force is with you, any insurmountable problem magically dissipates. Facing a row of enemy troopers while blind and armed with only a wooden staff (Rogue One)? The Force is with you. Stranded outside a ship in the vacuum of space where your skin is likely frozen and blood likely in a gaseous state (The Last Jedi)? The Force is with you. As a writer who enjoys creating scenarios of conflict and solution, it always feels as though the Force is a “get out of jail” card, except that the writers spam the hell out of its uses.
Other famous examples of “just because” include “love transcends space-time” from Interstellar regarding sending messages back in time and the absurd reasons why Godzilla fights for humanity in every recent sequel (I haven’t seen the old versions, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt).
But are there movies where I don’t question a thing? Absolutely. The Dark Knight is by far my favorite superhero film and may very well sit as my overall favorite. The story between two characters revolving around order and chaos, justice and anarchy, black and white is developed perfectly. I continuously try to find areas of contention, but there’s always a reasonable justification. For example, the origins of characters, mainly the Joker, are left ambiguous. As I see it, Christopher Nolan intentionally does so in order to shroud their intentions as a mystery. No one knows how the Joker received those painful scars, why he burns the pile of money, or why he feels the need to tear down society, and I guarantee that we will never know. On the flip side, Batman is a hero with seemingly no motivation other than a rather cliché superhero origin of “my parents were murdered.” However, among the many thousands of video essays and internet raves regarding The Dark Knight, the common consensus is that Batman is not a hero, but rather symbolically society adapting to chaos and destruction. Much like how physicists see life as resistance to entropy, Bruce Wayne is the force against disorder and requires no explanation for his actions.
As a result of movies like The Dark Knight, I can’t live with cheesy motives fueling complex characters. No human is thin enough to be affected by a break-up in a way that results in mass murder or villainous acts; it’s a multitude of factors compiling into the wave of ambition. Stories that encapsulate that aspect also capture my attention and admiration. Those who fail tend to create some character garbage like Star Wars or even better, Green Lantern.
【红霞译文】
我尚未看过能让自己彻底融入角色世界的外星人电影，言外之意，所有虚构的外星社会要么逻辑上漏洞频出，要么剧情拖泥带水。
举例来说，新片《超人：钢铁之躯》由亨利·卡维尔主演的氪星族身着迎合时宜的爱国制服，开场廿分钟就揭开看似复杂的现实。当卡尔·艾尔（超人）的爸爸让他飞离饱受战乱之苦的外星人世界，电影场景深深吸引了我：“哇，拍摄水平堪称世界一流。”
仔细再想，我方才意识到一个单凭虫洞就能将宇宙飞船发射升空的高级文明不该把魅影坐骑用作运输工具。后来，当设计成翼手龙状的天外飞物被炸成碎片旋转坠落，我想要搞清楚魅影坐骑为何能避开科学家精心打造可以穿越虫洞的武器，说我多虑也好，骂我笨蛋也罢，氪星族整体形象略有逊色。
然而，这并不影响我爱找茬的癖好。电影情节惯于落入“仅仅因为”的俗套，虽然偶尔“仅仅因为”未尝不可，但电影经常屈从于政治意向或虚设人格。卡尔·艾尔是超人，因为他热爱人类，说得没错。不过，面对氪星引力（假如你听不懂我的意思，那就去看电影再说），这种爱没法产生电涌。
在《星球大战》中，最终那个“仅仅因为”就是原力，如果原力与你同在，那么所有难以克服的问题都会消失。面对一群义军，仅靠手持木棍的盲侠成吗（《星球大战外传：侠盗一号》）？原力与你同在，哪怕被困在飞船外真空宇宙之中，皮肤也许会冻结，血液可能呈气态（《星球大战8：最后的绝地武士》）。原力与你同在，对于善于设计冲突与解决方案的作家来说，原力如同“保释”卡，除非文采殆尽。
其它“仅仅因为”的范例还包括 《星际穿越》中“爱能超越时空”，说的是有关及时回传讯息以及像《哥斯拉》各部新版续集为人类而战这种荒谬理由（我还没看过旧版电影，权且对片中悬疑保留看法）。
但究竟有没有我毫无质疑的电影？肯定有的，迄今《黑暗骑士》是我喜爱的超级英雄，算得上本人最喜欢的科幻片。故事塑造两个角色，完美再现了秩序与混乱、公平正义与无政府状态、黑与白之间的博弈，我一直在努力寻找争论的地方，可始终难解谜底，例如：角色身世（主要是小丑）全都含糊不清。依我看，导演克里斯托弗·诺兰故弄玄虚，没人了解小丑的痛苦伤疤是怎么来的，他干吗烧掉抢来的钱、为啥毁灭社会，我敢打赌大家永远找不出答案。再说，《蝙蝠侠》是位好汉，除了背负“我父母被谋杀”这样俗套超级英雄式血海深仇外，似乎别无动机。然而，在成千上万有关《黑暗骑士》视频文章和网络狂欢中，人们普遍认为《蝙蝠侠》算不上英雄，充其量只是一个杂乱无章和千疮百孔的社会象征，正如物理学家认定生命必须与熵增抗争一样，布鲁斯·韦恩倒是抵抗邪恶的力量，这一点毋庸置疑。 正因为像《黑暗骑士》这样的电影问世，我才看不惯复杂角色都别有动机，其实没有人会容忍大规模残杀行径，善恶到头终有报。说到这里，影片中善恶交融令我感慨，这些隐恶扬善的表现手法让《星球大战》相形见拙，更叫《绿灯侠》自愧弗如。 Today in History(历史上的今天): 2017: Capitol Debate Camp Day-3(国会辩论夏令营第三天) 2014: YMCA Camp─Play B-Ball w/ Fever(基督教青年会营─带病上阵) 
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