Here is my five word review of the new Danny Boyle flick Sunshine: Amazing until the plot twist.
Why did this awesome movie have to be ruined by this totally unnecessary plot element? Unfortunately I can't talk about what the twist actually is and why I think it ruined the movie without potentially spoiling the movie for people who haven't seen it. But I can say I was on the edge of my seat loving the action and tension until the point where, in my opinion, this totally stupid and unnecessary element was thrown into the mix.
This isn't the first time I've seen a great movie or short story ruined by the same sort of twist. The fabulous French horror movie "High Tension" is another glaring example of this. As one Amazon reviewer writes: "High Tension is actually two films, and one of them sucks." High Tension is a squirm out of your skin, amazing freak-out fest for about 90% of the film until this super stupid twist at the end that ruins the whole thing. In this case, the twist is actually not even possible given what you've seen. No "Sixth Sense" "see what you missed" trickery here, the twist flys in the face of the perspective from which you've seen things unfold.
Both Sunshine and High Tension would have been amazing films if they had just left out the plot twists. So why did they do it? The drive to surprise viewers? In the name of blazing new ground and achieving something new?
I'm not sure. As my writing professor once said of the avant-garde poetry scene in the SF/Bay Area, when everyone is writing in the same non-traditional style isn't it more avant-garde to return to writing sonnets?
So please, if you are writing a kick ass story or screenplay consider leaving the twist out. You just might surprise your audience.
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