The Curse of Lowered Expectations...

Rating: 2/10 (17 August 2004)

There is malignant growth that has been growing and festering within the movie industry and in the minds of movie goers within in recent years. It has a name: lowered expectations. And in a most disturbing way this malignancy has reared its ugly head with the release of Alien Vs. Predator.
Let me preface this argument by saying I am huge fan of the Alien and Predator movies. All of them. Including the ones that many people believe are sub par, like Predator 2, Alien3, and Alien Resurrection. In defense of those I say they are terribly underrated and suffer from the fact that they are very different from the ones that proceeded them. It is the change of style and flavor that irked many viewers, but not the actual quality of the films. Predator 2 being moved into a city setting dissatisfied many people, but taken on its own its still an excellent movie. The same is true for drastic changes in the last two Alien movies. Each film, individually, has its merits and has a place within the series and the mythos.
Back on point, the movie Alien Vs. Predator shamed its predecessors in many ways. But Alien Vs. Predators pitfalls and failings are not what I wish to discuss. Raging debate has ensued on many message boards and sci-fi printings as to whether or not people expected too much of the film. The argument for those who say the movie is passable is a simple one: that the audience expected too much of the film going in. This argument has a gigantic flaw, however. That flaw is called integrity. To those who thought that the movie was a passable entry into the series as long as one lowered their expectations I say this: why should the audience have to lower their standards in order to enjoy a film? Why must we become mindless drones for the movie industry to feed glitz, sex, and explosions too in order to now enjoy a series that was held to a high standard of quality in the sci-fi industry before? Why do we wish to continue to sit back and be fed, to be vulgar, crap, so that the industry can skimp on quality in favor of glamour?
Hollywood and the film industry in general is turning a corner. They are increasingly putting the focus on a marketable product rather than a quality one. This itself, however, doesn't make a lot of sense, because this philosophy has increasingly proved that it ultimately hurts a films ticket sales rather than help. Alien Vs. Predator may have made the number 1 spot this week, but its sales dropped dramatically from Friday to Saturday, which is actually extremely rare. Usually a weekend release does better numbers on Saturday than it does of Friday. It took one day for movie goers to tell people they knew that this movie was not worth seeing. It is likely that next week the movie will drop several, if not many, spots. If, however, the Fox had delivered a quality movie the word of mouth would have led people in greater numbers to attend the film on Saturday. That is the key: word of mouth. That is why Saturday does better than Friday, because many movie goers enjoy going opening weekend, but most want to see what their friends thought first. They wait for the most important review they will ever hear: those of people they know and trust. Not reviews on websites or in the paper, and not from cleverly cut trailers. So in the end the sub par product not only cheapens the theatre experience for movie goers, but hurts the entire industry because virtually every failed movie has an effect. In the time when movies on average cost between 20-150 million to make, every single failed feature impacts the industry to some degree. In the run for the quick buck many in the industry have lost sight of the long term picture. A bad movie affects their pockets for a long time to come. Fewer people see it more than once, fewer people attend in general, and in the end, fewer people by the dvds, and movie stations will pay less to air the film.
The Alien and Predator movies had always strived to be gritty, horrific, and frightening, while throwing a good balance of action. Some pulled this off better than others, but all did an admirable job at doing so. The movies also tried to be as realistic as a scf-fi movie could attempt to be, and to blend in amazing characters in rich well thought out environments. All of this was lacking in Alien Vs. Predator. Now the argument to save the film, as I have said, is a simple one: Why expect so much? And my answer: Why expect less? One should not lament on what could have been and be satisfied with an insufficient product. One should let themselves be annoyed that the industry increasingly insults our intelligence and their own integrity by expecting us to lower our standards of what a movie could be just so we can enjoy it. Remember this: you are PAYING for the movie. You are the customer. If you go to a restaurant and get a crappy meal do you lower your expectations and go back? No you don't, you don't eat there again is what you do. The longer the industry is intent on satisfying their profit margins rather than their customers the longer the movies they release will be less than quality entertainment and the more their profit margins, will ultimately, be hurt. This plague of lower standards is not just applicable for Alien Vs. Predator, and it is not exclusive to the movie industry. It is spreading across the board from television, to music, to literature, and even to news and media coverage. All of the entertainment and news industry is beginning to bare the stench of lowered expectations and those who cater to it.
It is time to stop having to walk into a movie thinking it will be horrible in order for one to enjoy it. Its time to stop watching bad television because 'it's the only thing on', or to accept inadequate news reporting just because its being reported to you by established news agencies. Don't accept what is being given to you. Take a stand. When you see a movie that was horrible, tell your friends. Turn off your TV or at least change the station when you are given a low quality product. Spread the word. The longer we lower our standards for the industry the longer they give us a product that is meant for only those level of standards.