It’s a pet peeve

Posted Mon, 08/24/2009 by Dave in response to Confirmation Required

One of those movie cliches that has really started to get on our nerves over the years–the guy falls off the building/cliff/out of the airlock and everyone assumes he’s dead, until he comes back later in a big “gotcha!” moment. I don’t mind as much if it’s in a good way (e.g., Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, but horror movies in particular use it all the time, and it sucks. Even directors I think should know better do it–I’m looking at you, Tarantino! *coughDeathProofcough* Seriously, folks. It’s not campy, it’s sloppy, and it makes the characters look worse than Han Solo shooting second.

Just have your good guy climb down the cliff and shotgun the bad guy to the head. Confirm the kill and everyone can go home happy. Well, except the bad guy, and the movie studio that was hoping to milk the franchise for all it was worth.