Film Clichés.

[Paralyzer Z]

So we have in the past all seen movies, some are predictable, some are not. Film has always been an art that tends to repeat itself. Regardless of that there always seems to be those reoccurring gags or event that seem to make it into nearly every film, these annoyances tend just appear in every movie you watch whether it be the greedy bad guy the bully, the car chase. Sure there are those that we love seeing reiterated, but let is focus on the worst one here.

Which ones are the ones that annoy you the most? The ones that you can't help but notice or even at some points point out. For me this has to go to the Comedic pause.

This is something that you, I swear see in about every damn comedy promotional ad. Whether we see it in a movie theater or on TV these usually very absurd ads tend to have that one moment where something "funny" is said and you get that squish sound (or DJ like sound)where the characters stare at each-other and you are supposed to laugh. It is much more effective in the theater, where 95% of the time you will hear laughs and then as it all is an artwork that works in balance and rhythm, just as they stop the timing kicks in and we get back to the trailer and the music that was playing at the time. It is as overused as hell, I am not saying that it doesn't work because it certainly does get most of the audience. This get under my skin because I see so damn much, audience are so used to seeing this that they don't even notice it. A little pet peeve of mine, that as long as I am a fan of movies and critiquing them I will have to live with.

What a movie clichés annoy you? Why?

 

[Blue Chipper]

A cliche in film that irks me, or one that I find ridiculous, is when in the climax of the story, when the protagonist needs to direly leave, their vehicle suddenly and inexplicably won't start. It's unrealistic. How many times have you got into your car, a car that is presumably in good condition, and it didn't start? According to this cliche, you can drive a vehicle everywhere, until you really need it, and at that point, when you start it up, it shuts down and says "screw you!". If you're getting chased by a madman, I hope you have sturdy legs.

 

[SalvIsWin]

By far, the worst movie cliche is when the bad guy has the good guy right where he wants him, and then wants to fucking talk about it. There's too many movies where the bad guy has a gun trained on the good guy, but before he shoots him, he wants to reveal his entire plan, give the good guy time to escape or come up with a plan, discuss his grocery list - well maybe not the last one but they might as well with all the time they waste.

I realize it heightens the suspense and it's supposed to illustrate a moment of extreme vulnerability in the good guy, or accentuate a flaw in the villain, but holy shit that cliche gets ridiculous sometimes.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

He's dead! We finally did it! No. Wait....He's alive!

Presumed dead characters are a common recurrence in horror films, and this particular cliché always drives me nuts. We always see Michael Myers and Jason make these unbelievable comebacks. This usually happens after they've been shot multiple times, burned, beaten with some type of blunt object, suffered numerous tranquilizer injections, and in some cases, these indestructible evil forces are beheaded ( Freddy's "demise" in Freddy VS Jason would be one example). These comebacks usually result in another attempted killing spree, and the main antagonist (usually Jason or Michael Myers) takes another shot at killing off the remaining protagonists. Towards the end of the film, the protagonists feel this enormous sense of relief, because they think they're in the clear, but the killer pops up of nowhere, and he tries to continue his murderous rampage. All of this usually leads to some type of cliffhanger, that will tease another film, because Michael, Jason, and others don't go away that easily.

When I was younger, seeing Michael and Jason make comebacks used to do something for me, but now a days, when I see this same type of formula in other horror films, it just brings an enormous facepalm out of me. This type of formula can lose its shock value pretty quickly, and everything feels so tiresome, because seeing the comeback of the presumed dead character isn't anything new, and I actually expect this, when I watch horror movies now. Also, the comebacks of presumed dead characters can feel very far fetched and ridiculous most of the time. For example, in The Curse Of Michael Myers (Halloween 6), Paul Rudd (Tommy) injects Michael with freakin' tranquilizers that are filled with some sort of corrosive materiel, and then, he bashes his head in with a lead pipe! Of course, Michael survives this attack, and the audience hears Loomis' screams to end the film. Micheal Myers is the king of comebacks for presumed dead characters, but his comeback in Halloween 6 was just laughable.

All right. That's it. You're going down once and for all..... Oh shit. I'm out of bullets.

This type of cliché usually occurs in action/thriller films, but you can also see this cliché in horror films. This type of cliché usually occurs towards the final moments of the big showdown at the very end. The protagonist has gained the upper hand, he or she usually gives some corny speech, and the main antagonist might beg for his life, because he knows the end is near. The antagonist's back is against the wall, and he can't hide. The protagonist pulls the trigger.....and he or she is out of bullets. The protagonist usually freaks out, and once they realize they have no ammunition, they'll continue to pull the trigger numerous times. A look of panic or frustration comes over their face, because they know they don't have the advantage anymore. The antagonist has a second chance, the fight continues, but the protagonist always comes out on top, because they'll receive help from someone else, or the antagonist will make another mistake.

The protagonist will always get some type of miraculous second chance in these type of situations, and this particular cliché can be very annoying, because it can feel so predictable and redundant, and you can usually see this coming from a mile away. Also, you should probably check how much ammunition you have before you decide to take on the bad guy in one final showdown.

 

[Plimp]

Romantic film cliche:
Break up 3 quarters of the way through a film only to end in recocilliation.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

This one is very annoying: The bad guys always have the worst aim while the good guy has perfect aim even while running and taking fire.

The good guy will will be surrounded by the bad guy and say 5 other henchmen who all have Uzis or some other machine gun. Good guy has a pistol. Good guy is taking fire from all directions yet somehow he manages to pick off each guy individually, with his pistol while only getting grazed by 1 bullet at the most.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

When I was younger, seeing Michael and Jason make comebacks used to do something for me, but now a days, when I see this same type of formula in other horror films, it just brings an enormous facepalm out of me. This type of formula can lose its shock value pretty quickly, and everything feels so tiresome, because seeing the comeback of the presumed dead character isn't anything new, and I actually expect this, when I watch horror movies now. Also, the comebacks of presumed dead characters can feel very far fetched and ridiculous most of the time. For example, in The Curse Of Michael Myers (Halloween 6), Paul Rudd (Tommy) injects Michael with freakin' tranquilizers that are filled with some sort of corrosive materiel, and then, he bashes his head in with a lead pipe! Of course, Michael survives this attack, and the audience hears Loomis' screams to end the film. Micheal Myers is the king of comebacks for presumed dead characters, but his comeback in Halloween 6 was just laughable.

I read that the REAL Michael Myers was the one that came back in Halloween H20. The other Michael Myers that "died" and came back were impostors. Take it for what it's worth, but that was the studios reasoning for Michael, who was supposed to be a normal person, to always die and come back.

Also I heard that Michael Myers as a person was possessed by the devil, that was the reason he was always coming back to life.

 

[Mustang Sally]

This may not fit exactly into the category, but a recurring theme that always annoyed me occurred in all six "Rocky" movies, in which the dumb Eye-talian fought with his arms at his sides, refusing to raise them in the classic boxer's pose. As Apollo Creed was throwing those lightning-fast jabs at Rocky's face, I was yelling at the screen: "Put your hands up, you stupid bastard!"

But he never listened to me, y'know? I was thinking he could have blocked more than half of those open shots to his mug if he wasn't leading with his face, for cryin' out loud!

In the second movie, Rock's manager alluded to the permanent eye damage suffered by his fighter in the first film, and how when Rock fought Apollo again, he needed to "protect that eye." How he intended that Rock do that was left unanswered, but I felt Mick yelling at him: "Raise your hands, you f**ckin' meatball!" would have been more effective than forcing his guy to fight right-handed instead of his natural southpaw.

Of course, in movies 3 through 6, the "permanent eye damage" no longer existed; it was never mentioned again and apparently ceased to be a problem. Perhaps repeated beatings from Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago, Tommy Gunn and Mason Dixon had the effect of curing Rocky's ocular problems by pounding his retinas back into place.

If that's the case, maybe I've got it all wrong; perhaps it's better to keep your hands at your side while a professional boxer repeatedly punches your unprotected face.

Defense wins fights, after all.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

In the second movie, Rock's manager alluded to the permanent eye damage suffered by his fighter in the first film, and how when Rock fought Apollo again, he needed to "protect that eye." How he intended that Rock do that was left unanswered, but I felt Mick yelling at him: "Raise your hands, you f**ckin' meatball!" would have been more effective than forcing his guy to fight right-handed instead of his natural southpaw.

Of course, in movies 3 through 6, the "permanent eye damage" no longer existed; it was never mentioned again and apparently ceased to be a problem. Perhaps repeated beatings from Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago, Tommy Gunn and Mason Dixon had the effect of curing Rocky's ocular problems by pounding his retinas back into place.

Funny thing is you're not far off Sally. If you rewatch the 2nd movie, in the middle of the fight with Creed Rocky mentions to Mick that he can see again. So, in essence, what you said about being pounded back into place again really did happen. But it happened in the 2nd movie so that's why you don't hear about it again throughout the series.

Many of the cliches mentioned here are quite common, and even made fun of in movies. Villains monologuing, while entertaining, is quite important to most movies though as it often reveals his motives in the plot. Chick flicks are plagued by countless cliches. That's why I hardly watch them because I can tell you the entire movie just by seeing the previews.

The ones that bother me the most are horror movie cliches. Scream did a good job at pointing some of them out (sex, drugs, "I'll be right back"), but it bothers me because it makes some of them too predictable. For example, the first time I ever watched AVPR,

Spoiler

the scene where Jesse(?) starts removing her clothes to go swimming in her bra and panties I thought to myself, she's not supposed to do that. She's the main character's love interest. She's not supposed to die. Sure as shit, she dies later in the movie.

I'm not even big on a lot of horror movies, save for a few, but even I can predict most of them just because of stuff like that. Hey Hollywood, against the grain occassionally!

 

[Champ1432]

Although my answer is similar to things already said, I too will go with horror movies and all their ridiculous cliches. Oh, and there are many.

The biggest one, as already stated, is the preposterous ways the serial killer is brought back to life constantly. One egregious example I remember is from the Friday the 13th series. I don't remember which one, and I don't really care to look it up. I think it was in the 4-6 range. Apparently, however Jason was killed in the previous film was pretty effective, because he's still dead when this movie starts. So this douchebag kid decides to go to his grave, DIG HIM UP and stab a metal stake into his already dead body as some form of revenge for someone Jason had killed in a previous movie. Naturally, as soon as Tommy Tough Guy sticks the metal pole into Jason's body, a rogue lightning bolt comes from the heavens, at that exact moment and at that exact location, and strikes the metal pole, reviving Jason and returning him to his murderous ways. I believe I said "come on" out loud. Obviously this is just one example, and a variation on a theme, but it's the most ridiculous exhibit I can remember in a long line of psycho-killer resurrections. Although maybe it's actually better that they gave a reason (however ridiculous it might be) why the killer was brought back to life this time instead of just the standard, "he's so evil he can't die" hogwash that usually sees the killer take damage that would kill a brontosaurus and still come after the screaming teenagers with the slow, methodical walk of doom.

Which brings me to another cliche, well documented but worth mentioning. The killer either cannot or doesn't care to break into even a half-trot, preferring to persue his targets with the usual plodding, slow footsteps despite the fact that the soon to be deceased are running for their lives. Nature also doesn't seem to help the victims, since they're forever tripping, falling, rolling down hills, and otherwise falling prey to all sorts of hazards that have no effect whatsoever on the killer. Slow and steady apparently does win the race though, since all those sprinters eventually end up on the wrong end of a blade.

There are many other cliches in horror movies of course, but these were the worst in my eyes. I would say horror movies generally have the highest number of cliches, which is why I really don't watch them much at all.

 

[Mustang Sally]

.... why the killer was brought back to life this time instead of just the standard, "he's so evil he can't die" hogwash that usually sees the killer take damage that would kill a brontosaurus and still come after the screaming teenagers with the slow, methodical walk of doom.

Which reminds me of something I always wondered why these Jason-killing geniuses never thought of: Why not dismember the motherfucker? After you've killed him, cut off his head, arms and legs.

Camp Crystal Lake was located in upstate New York, I think. So, bury the torso in New York......then take a road trip with the other body parts. Bury his freakin' arms in Canada. Throw his goddamn head in the Gulf of Mexico. Inter his shit-kicker legs in Iowa.

Let's see the fucker come back after that.

 

[Alex]

The contrived romance.

Disney does this a lot (especially the animated ones) with the female character meeting the male character and they fall in love in the space of a few days. But Disney gets away with it because those films are generally aimed at kids and they tend to be fantasy films anyway.

No I mean the Rom-Coms that seem to be so popular that ALWAYS have the same plot.

Guy and girl meet, back and forth banter, hook up, something happens to make them break up, dealing with being lonely, realise they need to be together, contrived way of getting back together, the end.

Its not that I don't like this cliche, but its been overused so much you can generally map the plot of one of these films from the get go.

 

[Champ1432]

Which reminds me of something I always wondered why these Jason-killing geniuses never thought of: Why not dismember the motherfucker? After you've killed him, cut off his head, arms and legs.

Camp Crystal Lake was located in upstate New York, I think. So, bury the torso in New York......then take a road trip with the other body parts. Bury his freakin' arms in Canada. Throw his goddamn head in the Gulf of Mexico. Inter his shit-kicker legs in Iowa.

Let's see the fucker come back after that.

Yeah, great point. I've had similar thoughts as well, just cut up his body into a hundred pieces after you finally kill him. But instead its, "well, let's just leave the body here. I mean, he's come back from death 21 times already, but this time we really got him."

Although even if they would do that, the writers of the next movie would somehow have him turn to liquid and bring all his parts together like the T-1000 from Terminator 2.