169. Hollywood Learned the Wrong Lessons from John Wick

Alex & Justin discuss their views on how Hollywood may have learned the wrong lessons from the success of the John Wick franchise.

We explore how studios have focused on replicating the stylized violence and action, while overlooking the importance of world-building, character depth, and storytelling that made the John Wick movies stand out. 

• (0:01) 3-year return of TalkingSmac!
• (1:38) Cultworthy promo
• (1:58) Hollywood's history of copycat success: The Matrix, buddy comedies, rom-coms, superheroes, Jason Bourne
• (4:04) Marvel didn't copy the action, but Extraction, Nobody, Violent Night, and others did.
• (10:14) Needing emotional connections; Jackie Chan's method of building a fight scene
• (14:08) Relatability of heroes and losing that connection: Die Hard, etc
• (21:49) John McTiernan, Shane Black: letting writers have passion for a project
• (26:00) We need heroes that fail: suffer injuries, lose battles, have problems, and feel vulnerable
• (33:56) Hopes for Ballerina: Ana De Armas and future movies

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