So last night, Arizona and I couched it and watched the unrated version of WORLD WAR Z. Okay, it was totally me--he probably would've chosen a Discovery Channel rerun over zombies. But since we were on the comfy couch and I hit the 'buy now' button while he was web surfing on his iPad, he got to watch it too.
I won't spoil it for anyone who might have WWZ on their to-be-watched list. Instead I'll give it a generic review of: totally watchable, decent use of science, and overall not a bad use of $4.99 and two hours of my life. Interestingly, though, as the credits rolled, Arizona said, "I wonder what happened in the original ending?"
And I said, "Hm. Good question."
See, I'm a low-level movie geek who likes to follow the gossip, not of actors and their affairs and DUIs, but of directors, producers, and some of the big decisions that go into moviemaking. So, some months ago, I had remarked to Arizona that WWZ had floundered during post-production, a new team had been brought in, and they had wound up writing and shooting a new end to the movie. As a writer, I appreciated the balls it took for the Powers That Be to listen to their storytellers and commit the time and money to a re-shoot. Kind of like when I throw out the middle third of a book, not because it was horrible, but because I suddenly figured out how to make it awesome.
Was the 'new' ending to WWZ awesome? Well, it worked, but I wouldn't say it blew me away. Which does kind of make a girl wonder how bad the original had been. And it got me thinking about other movies that have made me think, Wow. I totally want to redo that ending.
And, yes, City of Angels, I'm looking at you.
Meg Ryan, Nick Cage, paranormal romance ... what's not to love? Well, for me, it's the &%*%%@@ ending. But I love the rest of the movie. Like, love it with whipped cream and a cherry kind of love. So whenever it's on TV, I'll plonk down and watch it ... right up to the last five or ten minutes. Then I switch over to a Discovery Channel rerun, or Iron Chef or something. Because in my world, I choose to believe that the movie is over. Done. Finis. Happy.
So how about you? Is there a movie where you really, really wish you could rewrite the ending? Hit me with it! (I'm sure I'll think of others as we go.)
OMG I HATE the ending of City of Angels! My grandma owns the movie and once Mom wanted to watch it and I just screamed NOOO!!!!! It was such an amazing movie until...dude I can't even talk about it.
ReplyDeleteMy sisters keeper is another bad ending. I read the book first and cried for like an hour after I finished, but once I watched the movie and saw that they changed EVERYTHING about the ending, the ending in the book made sense. It was devastating because I loved the character that died, but it made sense. The movie ending was just...boring. not profound.
I also hated the ending for the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie when Will became the next Davy Joans and could only see Elizabeth (AND THEIR SON) every 10 years.
Blah. Makes me angry just thinking about it! LOL
Knuckle tap for feeling me on City of Angels. Didn't see My Sister's Keeper, probably won't now! But, yeah, on the Pirates movie.
DeleteHere's a funny story. The first time I saw THE BODYGUARD (Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston), I came away convinced that they had wound up together. Only the second time through, I realized they totally didn't. In my head, the last scene (showing her at one concert and him guarding someone else) meant they were coming home to each other after work. Hmmm....