cm + A. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mumblemutter) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
takers_20102010-11-03 11:35 am
mumblemutter) wrote in takers_20102010-11-03 11:35 am
Entry tags:
In defense of Takers
Takers Review – A Movie That Likes To Take From Other Films:
Now. If, like me, you discovered most of hip-hop just yesterday (because apparently you spent your entire life under a rock) and learned everything you know about b-boy culture from America's Best Dance Crew, you might actually see some parallels between, say, a hip-hop song and the way Takers works. (That is: if you *aren't* plenty clueless about these things, you might violently disagree with me.)
There's the U Don't Know from-rags-to-riches narrative, the Can't Tell Me Nothing sense of entitlement, the glamorization of (in this case ill-gotten) wealth, the crew as ersatz-family, the "urban" setting itself and, of course, Ghost's magnificent swagger. There's also the fact that the crew's slo-mo walk into the club seems to be taken directly out of a T.I. video and not the other way round. ALSO EVERYTHING IS SO SHINY.
In this context, the "unoriginal" elements of the plot simply become samples. I mean, come on, they put it right there in theliner notes dialogue. "This here is taken from The Italian Job, only we put the dude known for car stunt movies behind the wheel because that's hilarious and adds more meta." (Note: I have not seen The Italian Job.) It's pop culture, man!
For my next trick, I will respond to the critics who took issue with T.I.'s acting.
-A.
The unoriginality of some sequences is just shocking – the film literally takes from other films. Unashamed it even says it's doing so at one point when they discuss "doing it Italian Job style" before copying entire sequences from both the original and the remake. In the third act it steals the climax from True Romance with a hotel room shootout complete with a room that looks the same and even has the iconic white feathers falling through the shots.
Now. If, like me, you discovered most of hip-hop just yesterday (because apparently you spent your entire life under a rock) and learned everything you know about b-boy culture from America's Best Dance Crew, you might actually see some parallels between, say, a hip-hop song and the way Takers works. (That is: if you *aren't* plenty clueless about these things, you might violently disagree with me.)
There's the U Don't Know from-rags-to-riches narrative, the Can't Tell Me Nothing sense of entitlement, the glamorization of (in this case ill-gotten) wealth, the crew as ersatz-family, the "urban" setting itself and, of course, Ghost's magnificent swagger. There's also the fact that the crew's slo-mo walk into the club seems to be taken directly out of a T.I. video and not the other way round. ALSO EVERYTHING IS SO SHINY.
In this context, the "unoriginal" elements of the plot simply become samples. I mean, come on, they put it right there in the
For my next trick, I will respond to the critics who took issue with T.I.'s acting.
-A.