ESCAPE FROM FANDOM EXPECTATIONS

ESCAPE FROM FANDOM EXPECTATION
On the Genius of John Carpenter’s
“Escape from L.A.”

Let me speak to the genius that is John Carpenter’s “Escape from L.A.” How ahead of his time was he with this film? Think about it. We live in a time of constant remakes and reboots, movies and television that try to revive past media either in name or concept but mostly entirely in nostalgic callback. In the last ten years alone, we got movies based on everything from comic books, to old TV series like “Miami Vice”, “CHiPs”, “Baywatch”, “21 Jump Street” and more, and cartoons like GI Joe and The Transformers. We are inundated yearly with wholly unoriginal concept movies, which is what they are in the end, that we dare not strike out into anything original for fear of being left out of the rock ’n’ roll, hipster-geek tip.

“Escape from LA” was Carpenter’s sequel to his underground cult hit “Escape from New York”. Carpenter has always been a filmmaker ahead of his time, with “Escape from New York” only gaining popularity on cable and home video. The rest of his Kurt Russell team-ups follow the same pattern. “The Thing” failed at the box office (Thanks to “E.T.”) but is now hailed as one of the great horror films of all time. “Big Trouble in Little China” also failed, but has since gained a hardy following thanks to its insouciant attitude towards the action genre, honoring of the marital arts genre that is balanced with great characters, great comedy, and a great twist on leading man action heroes.

In 1996, there were all together, including “Escape from LA”, about a dozen remakes, comic book movies, sequels, remakes, and reboots, and aside from “Star Trek: First Contact”, “Mission: Impossible”, “A Very Brady Sequel” and possibly, “Muppet Treasure Island”, not a one was successful. We are talking “Lawnmower Man 2”, “Flipper”, “Diabolique”, “SGT Bilko”, “Barb Wire” “The Phantom”, and “The Crow: City of Angels” to name the rest. Sure, one or two may have that hipster appeal now, but back in the 90’s we barely cared about remakes, sequels and movies based on old TV shows.

“Escape from LA” was a film much demanded by the fans of Carpenter’s works. It had been 16 years since the release of “Escape from New York” and the movie and the character of Snake Plisken grew in such adoration, that fans of the movie demanded a sequel to continue the adventures of their new hero. Now, Carpenter had never done a sequel before, or since. But once again, he was so ahead of his time. What he did with “Escape from LA” needs to be appreciated now in the light of our modern remake/reboot movie glut that we are in the midst of today. How would have thought that such a film could have predicted this slate of unoriginality in filmmaking that would happen over 20 years later.

In the meantime, Snake Plissken grew in adulation. He became the star of comic books that told prequel and sequel stories and furthered his adventures. Characters in popular video games were based on him and pushed his status further. The fans demand for a sequel adventure on the big screen reached the ears of the producers and John Carpenter, who was courted to direct, said he would not do so without the star Kurt Russell’s and his approval of the script. It seemed that everything was falling into line to make the innocuously “epic” sequel that fans were expecting of their favorite action hero.

When released, the film was met with such disdain not only from critics, but also from the very fandom that praised Carpenter. What we got instead was a retread of the first film almost beat-for-beat of the original. (Sounding familiar now?) “There is nothing original here,” we cried, yet, that is the very point of any sequel, not matter who made it or what genre it is, sequels can only ever be copies of the first film. That is the point Carpenter was making with the great “Escape from LA.” He did this way back in 1996.

Later on, an unused script laying out a brand new adventure based on the theme of escaping from Los Angeles was discovered and a big hubabaloo was made because it differed vastly and still the fans complained that this unused script should have been the basis of “Escape from L.A.” But since the sequel did poorly at the box-office, there can never be the possibility of a third film, for a trilogy. Yet, fans still clamor for an “Escape from Earth” triquel. I am happy with it never happening, because to me, the fans entirely missed the point of the sequel.

Think of it this way; “Escape from LA” is to “Escape from New York” as is “The Force Awakens” is to “A New Hope”, a long-delayed sequel produced only to appeal to and capture the adoration of the fandom that surrounded the original by practically remaking the first film with enough modern touches to set it apart. Fans wanted more of the same, disguised as epic and cooler. Carpenter made the only sequel that his sensibilities would allow, something unexpected, masked as expected, thumbing their nose at the producers and the over-eager fans wanting that more of the same. He did this back in 1996.

It is a filmmaking sensibility that lost on today’s generation of filmmakers who try to promote a Nuevo form of “Edgy” masked at fan appeasement. Films like “The Force Awakens”, unfortunately, the new “Evil Dead” series (Which locks poor Bruce Campbell forever in a role that he cannot grow as an artist.) and most egregiously, Fox’s “Deadpool”.

The first (Yes, I say ‘first’) “DEAPOOL” movies only wishes it reached such satiric heights of the action genre that “Escape from L.A.” did.” If the producers were as smart as Carpenter, they would simply remake the first film nearly scene for scene with different villains that are just the same villains in different costumes. With extensive use of CGI, they don’t even have to shoot the sequel, just simply replace the heads and faces of the secondary characters and locations. How completely “meta” would that be to sell their fandom the EXACT same film as the first? Now, that would be taking the concept to greater height that the first “Deadpool” failed to even attempt.

Looking on “Escape from LA” with this new lens, you see how much satiric glee that Carpenter bastardized his own film, to make a very subtle point about the point of sequels. Though this new perspective, I find that the genius of John Carpenter remains truly ahead of the game and way over the head of the very fans that worship him.

Judgment: “Escape from LA”: A MASTERPIECE OF SATIRIC CINEMA

Respectfully submitted;

Ernest M Whiteman III, 2017