After watching Law Abiding Citizen, I was confounded. Two guys I really respect liked this movie. What did I miss? I missed the obvious: it's a guy movie. Chick flicks take a lot of shit, but guys movies have a formula as well.
What makes a guy movie? Explosions. I would have said boobs were the number one requirement, but if you think about many classic guy films (Terminator and T2 for example), they have mucho explosions and not so much nakidity. Nudity is a bonus for guys, from my observation.
The protagonist should be an underdog out for vengeance, preferably working against the system - against the man. And to really make things over-the-top great for the testosterone set, there needs to be a secret. (Something along the lines of a hidden set of tunnels nobody knows about. I think guys like to dig, or pretend they're super spy ninja diggers.)
To be fair, we should balance this rant with a look at chick flicks. There are really only two requirements, and having only one in a movie will do in a pinch: romance (preferably with a brooding hero, but a sweet guy ignored by the heroine until the last minute is a good choice too) and great clothes. Bonus points are awarded if it's a costume drama. Woo hoo - costume dramas are good shit. This formula has worked forever - think of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. They wrote the shit when there wasn't even a thought of movies.
So next time a guy starts in on your favorite chick flick, just think back to 10,000 BC or 2012 or The Rock and start flicking shit right back at him.
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