2001, 2002, and 2003. Those three years would invigorate my love for the fantasy genre in a completely different way. Because those three years were the release of what will be considered one of the greatest film trilogies in movie history. That is Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.
It was a film that took fantasy seriously and presented it as a drama with a fantastical setting. It breathed a believable life into these characters in a world that can almost be viewed as subdued fantasy. Magic is not common place and only limited. The races are given distinctive cultures. Everything was just masterfully done. It is thanks to this trilogy that it would pave the way for what can be considered the greatest fantasy series ever achieved on television: Game of Thrones.
However, in its wake, there haven't really been a lot of fantasy movie to come out as a result. Many people believed that the Star Wars effect would happen. If you don't know what that means, to put it simply when the original Star Wars became a mega hit a lot of studios starting making vaguely similar sci-fi films or start banking on sci-fi properties. That didn't really happen when The Lord of the Rings finished its run. Sure, there was the Harry Potter film series, but not really the classical fantasy that I'm talking about. Then again there was the Chronicles of Narnia which had a great first film then slowly began to degenerate with the later films. And then there was Eragon....amazing cast, but nice try. The strangest thing to happen from Lord of the Rings is that all of a sudden films began incorporating large armies in movies. Which I guess is what studios thought made those films work?
But let's get to the point that I'm pretty much building to. The Lord of the Rings ruined the fairy tale genre.
Small scale becomes LARGE SCALE
What? How is that possible? The reason why I say this is because of three major examples that I can think of: Snow White and the Huntsman, Jack the Giant Slayer, and Maleficent. Three films that are based on fairy tales that are not large scope by any means yet their films made them so.
The classic fairy tale about a young maiden whose beauty was the bane of a vain Queen has been told countless times. It is a simple story with a very small cast of characters. There is the Queen and the Magic Mirror on the side of villainy. Snow White, The Prince, and the Dwarves represent the side of good. Then there is the Huntsman who becomes a wild card. It is a simple story about how one woman's vanity could cause harm onto others. But in this adaptation of Snow White, the story takes the dark tone but then magnifies it with Lord of the Rings tropes: the world has to be at stake; complex motivations drive the characters; there has to be a gigantic battle in the beginning and/or end. It is strange that the conceit now is to make Snow White some sort of warrior who can lead an army when she has no training whatsoever. All these liberties do make for visually pleasing film, but not exactly a great one. The performances are even questionable, ranging from strong to over the top to non-existent.
Another classic fairy tale, or rather two separate fairy tales rolled into one mainly because they both feature a character named Jack who deals with a Giant. It is a simple story, or rather the Jack and the Beanstalk story is. A boy buys some magic beans, the beans grow into a beanstalk, he climbs, he finds a magical goose, there's a giant, he climbs down, the giant chases, he cuts down the beanstalk, giant slain. There is a lot more added to this story along with borrowing elements of Jack the Giant Killer. In that story the young man in King Arthur's kingdom makes a living of killing giants. Obviously the idea of a kingdom getting attacked by a giant is borrowed, but enhanced in here as making them an army of giants. Jack is still our reluctant hero, but the small big world of the original story becomes overwhelming in this large world in a now even bigger story. Does this make it any better? Not really. At least the performances were great. But at the same time, "less is more."
Arguably one of the most iconic villains in not only Disney canon but in film history. The dark fairy godmother that was pure evil becomes a sympathetic character who has some motivations for being the way she is. Then of course there the overblown use of CGI to make a magical world and bring about creatures that are little more than decoration in a film that could've been put more simply. Also there is the gigantic battles that has now become a staple of fantasy films. While it is understandable why this story has them, one has to wonder did it really need all of them? Granted, even her original fairy tale counterpart wasn't complicated or misunderstood, she was just evil. That was something that seems to be lost in this film along with the overuse of needing to have gigantic armies crashing into each other. There is some gorgeous imagery and it is hard to deny that the only woman on the planet who can play Maleficent is Angeline Jolie, but again some things are better left simplified.
Fairy Tales are simple not epic
That is a common problem that I started developing towards these new wave of fairy tale inspired films. Usually there is just a hero or a heroine that has to confront a problem that only effects a town or a city. These days, it is not just the town it is potentially the entire human race. Granted, not all of them do that, but it always seems like the stakes are higher than they are suppose to be. That is something that I feel is missing. Or rather, I feel like what really is missing is the idea of personal fights. No armies. No extra monsters that don't add to the story other than just being there. Just a hero facing off against a villain. Each side surrounded by just a small group of allies instead of a massive army. That is something that the Fairy Tale Animated Disney films have done so well. Did Aladdin rally the people of Agrabah to storm the Sultan's castle? No, he just had his carpet and his monkey as allies. In Frozen there was no epic final battle where Elsa attacks an army. Beauty and the Beast straddled this line but not having an army but more of an angry mob. Even then the confrontation still resulted into personal fight between Beast and Gaston.
I know there is a need to bring these stories into an epic scale, but they are not epic stories. The Odyssey is an epic, Snow White's tale isn't. But with The Lord of the Rings, epic became synonymous with the Fantasy Genre so much so that even a small fairy tale has to be turned into an epic. That is not how Fairy Tales are and that's now how they work. And again, I'm not criticizing the way these films LOOK. In fact the filmmakers have the right tone and palette for their films but a completely unnecessary way of executing them.
Examples of Fairy Tale films done well with restraint
The Princess Bride
This is definitely one of the classic swashbuckling films as well as the classic fairy tale film. It keeps everything simple and small. There are no grand battles but there are grand fights which have a more mystifying effect than seeing two clashing armies. It is also a light hearted romp that joyfully takes the viewer through a grand adventure on a small scale. The Hero is a hero. And he is joined by a small band of allies in order to save the damsel who is perfectly capable of helping herself but not so overblown. The simplicity of this film is what adds to its charm. It really is what a modern fairy tale should be. Sure it is not dark and grim like the fairy tales of old, but it is not like it loses sight of that fact by dealing with dark subject matter. The performances are top notch and electrifying. Particularly Cary Elwes as Wesley and the now legendary performance of Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya. Heartwarming and dazzling with a tale that will surely make one believe in love. Or if you don't, its still entertaining.
Stardust
This is one of my favorite Fairy Tale stories, as well as my first exposure to one of my favorite directors: Matthew Vaughn. It is often hailed as being the successor to the flair of The Princess Bride and I would have to agree with whoever said that full heartedly. Based on a book by renowned Fantasy Author, Neil Gaiman, this story is a complicated fairy tale with many moving parts yet it still finds a way to be simple. It is not overblown, especially for a film that was made post Lord of the Rings. That is where I found the most enjoyment of this film. Other than a shocking twist involving a certain tough sky pirate, this film just gives off that flair of the whimsical swashbuckle that Pirates of the Caribbean held on to for a while but starting losing sight of it. The confrontation between the villain and the hero is once again very personal without too much over the top. It was just the right amount of borrowing the right elements from Lord of the Rings but not trying to imitate the epic storytelling.
Legend
Another one of my favorites and one that doesn't get a lot of recognition. This was Ridley Scott's only foray into the fantasy genre as he wanted to make a Disney story but in live action and darker. Sound like what directors are doing now right? Nope. What he meant was taking that simplistic nature of the Disney stories, but just bringing them to life. It is a hero of nature versus a villain of pure darkness. And what a villain this film had. Tim Curry displays a memorable performance as the film's central antagonist: DARKNESS! This villain is everything a villain in a fairy tale needs to be. Pure evil. Plain and simple. While it wasn't well received when it first premiered, this film developed a cult following that now sees it as an overlooked gem. People often laud the effects in the film, knowing that if it were made today it would be over blown and unnecessarily epic just like the first draft of its script. We'd be thankful if Legend remains the way it suppose to be: Legend.
Is it really a bad thing?
Seeing as how people flock to the theater in droves to see them, no. But filmmakers do seem to be losing sight of what makes a fairy tale strong. If it was any other fantasy genre, then this need to "Lord of the Rings it" is gladly welcomed. But for a fairy tale, it is best to remember that these stories are simple, but the ideas are grand. Not grand stories for a simple idea. Fairy Tales are not Epics, and they really shouldn't be.
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