In a way my nerves answer that question, but Spielberg is (by my own admission) so powerful writing anything remotely unflattering about him is cause to worry. He actually could snap his fingers to ruin someone’s life if they’re in the entertainment industry, so I just have to hope he won’t take this article as an invitation to flex his muscle. I’m not really saying anything negative about Spielberg, I’m just asking if audiences will still go see any project with his name attached to it?
This is a valid question in a week that sees me review Cowboys and Aliens and Falling Skies (both produced by Spielberg). In fact, this is the FOURTH aliens attack project he’s been linked to in six weeks (he also produced Transformers and Super 8), but neither Super 8 nor Cowboys and Aliens exactly shredded the box office. Which makes me wonder if just his name attached to any project really means much to an increasingly ADD plagued public that might not remember Speilberg’s biggest hits of year’s past.
It isn’t that Spielberg is a relic. Far from it (he has two movies coming out in December), just that at one time his name alone was enough to make almost any film box office gold. And I’m not sure that time is any longer.
The dents in his armor first started to show in 2005 when War of the Worlds didn’t ignite the box office in the expected way. Much of this failure–even by Spielberg himself–was blamed on the film’s star, Tom Cruise, who was in full downward spiral after some crazy talk show appearances. And that was probably true, but then his second film that year (the guy seriously loves to make two movies a year as he did in 1993, 2003, and this year), Munich, failed to get a best picture nomination.
It isn’t that either of these movies was bad. In fact, I actually love both of these films. Just as I heavily enjoyed his first Tom Cruise collaboration, Minority Report in 2003. It seems as though the better his movies get, the more the response isn’t exactly stellar. [Maybe that was what motivated his decision to make a not-very-good 4th Indiana Jones movie]
And that’s a really bad message to send to an uber-powerful director that can more or less get any film he wants green lit. The question may also be why he isn’t choosing to get edgier films green lit. This Winter brings us both his The Adventures of Tin Tin (an animated film) and the likely PG-rated WWI drama War Horse, both of which will work best as family films. It’s a far cry from the guy that made alien invasions scary good in War of the Worlds or the even more serious business behind Munich, Saving Private Ryan, and the heralded masterpiece of Schindler’s List.
The alien invasion (Falling Skies, Cowboys and Aliens, Transformers, and the almost too-nostalgic Super 8) and family film overload almost feel like a director going through the motions, but that takes away from just how talented Spielberg truly is. I hope Spielberg’s name means the same to a new generation of tweeters and Smart Phone users what it did to those terrified, thrilled, and mesmerized by the craft of Jaws. But he will have to be genuinely excited to create those feelings in new hits instead of capitalizing on past works. The scariest thing about today’s moviegoers is that they don’t appreciate past resumes or legends (just ask George Lucas), but that doesn’t mean Spielberg can’t become a current master.