Every once in a while, my whole family sits down around my brother's Xbox and he treats us to a few movies. Yesterday was one of those times. The list of movies included: Inception, Bigg Snoop Dogg Presents: Tha Adventures of the Blue Carpet Treatment, and Sharktopus. (What was Inception doing in there? No clue.)
Now I could do a lot of talking about Inception and Tha Adventures of the Blue Carpet Treatment (and I'm sure you're all curious), but I wanna talk about Sharktopus instead. This movie was truly laughable. The horrible CGI, the underwhelming performances from ALL the actors, the unbelievable amount of cliches...
Hell--just take a look at this trailer:
Ahh--that's classic bad right there.
But, despite all that, I think the worst thing about this film is the idea itself.
"A half-shark, half-octopus creature created for the military, creates a whole lot of terror in Mexico while a scientist who helped created it tries to capture/kill it."
That's the tagline. Granted you can get passed that repetitive wording, let's take a look at the central premise. The military (the Navy, specifically) commissioned a scientist to genetically engineer a shark/octopus.
What?
Why did they do that? They explain the military wanted to use it as a weapon. What made them think a sharktopus was the way to go? Instead of, y'know, missiles and torpedoes and those other weapons they typically use. I mean, sure--they were under the impression they could control it with those neuron-thingies, but why would they want to use a genetically engineered sharktopus? WHY?! It doesn't make good sense and they never really explain it, so...
This idea is flawed right from the get-go.
My point here is pretty simple. Some ideas just don't work. No matter how hard you try (and they definitely weren't trying with Sharktopus), the audience isn't going to buy it. I'd be hard pressed to pick out a book with an idea that just DIDN'T work, but in this age of "fresh and original" being synonymous with "out-there and bizarre," I can imagine there may be some popping up soon.
The only suggestions I can make (based on all the of ridiculous movies I've seen over the years) are:
--AVOID SILLINESS.
Just say the word "Sharktopus" to any random person and see what happens--I bet they laugh. That's not the reaction you want from what is supposed to be the scary monster in your story. If the name/description of your villain/monster/demon/whatever conjures up a silly image, you're pretty much boned.
--LOGIC! USE IT!
Yes, I'm talking to you too, fantasy writers. Just because your book isn't set in the real world, logic still applies. But let's go back to my sharktopus example. Why is the Navy suddenly turning to genetic crimes against nature as weaponry? Did normal weapons not work as well as they wanted? But how would a sharktopus work any better than normal weapons? And just how the hell did they go about creating the sharktopus? I'm sorry, but there's only so much you can just throw at your audience. I might have accepted the Sharktopus without asking for an explanation of how it came to be if they'd been able to give me a good reason for why the military wanted it to begin with. So, please, please, PLEASE! Don't ever disregard logic.
On a side note--do I suggest you watch Sharktopus? Yes, I do. It's not all that long and it's a great way to get a few cheap laughs.
Now, if you want to see a good genetic engineering movie, I'd go for Splice. Definitely one of the better "crime against nature" flicks I've seen recently.
Have you ever come across an idea that just didn't work?
HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!
The only suggestions I can make (based on all the of ridiculous movies I've seen over the years) are:
--AVOID SILLINESS.
Just say the word "Sharktopus" to any random person and see what happens--I bet they laugh. That's not the reaction you want from what is supposed to be the scary monster in your story. If the name/description of your villain/monster/demon/whatever conjures up a silly image, you're pretty much boned.
--LOGIC! USE IT!
Yes, I'm talking to you too, fantasy writers. Just because your book isn't set in the real world, logic still applies. But let's go back to my sharktopus example. Why is the Navy suddenly turning to genetic crimes against nature as weaponry? Did normal weapons not work as well as they wanted? But how would a sharktopus work any better than normal weapons? And just how the hell did they go about creating the sharktopus? I'm sorry, but there's only so much you can just throw at your audience. I might have accepted the Sharktopus without asking for an explanation of how it came to be if they'd been able to give me a good reason for why the military wanted it to begin with. So, please, please, PLEASE! Don't ever disregard logic.
On a side note--do I suggest you watch Sharktopus? Yes, I do. It's not all that long and it's a great way to get a few cheap laughs.
Now, if you want to see a good genetic engineering movie, I'd go for Splice. Definitely one of the better "crime against nature" flicks I've seen recently.
Have you ever come across an idea that just didn't work?
HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!
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